LIM coolant elbow!

Just did mine on the 96'. It took 15mm for the belt. Three 13mm bolts for the alt. Two 13mm bolts for the bracket, and some pulling and pushing, but I finally got it in the hole. Filled with antifreeze, purged system. The old part had broke of at the o-rings on both ends.

Hell yeah! High fives all around!

that black plastic doesn't hold up to heat very well (over the years)

On my 95 contour SE...the waterpump impeller was black plastic like that...and it broke...thankfully the Contour forums helped...

Contour..was a good looking car, but JUNK...

sorry, off subject

yeah...I should of changed stat over while messing around

Had to change the coolant elbow for the second time because of the faulty o-rings that flatten on the Dorman 47065. Went with an AC Delco from the dealership this time. Here is the part number 24503423. More expensive than the Dorman, but it is worth it if it doesn't have the same problem.

I recommend the aluminum elbows ZZP sells. I think Intense has the same ones. Perfect fit and no leaks.

just did this and all was well till the housing neck broke off in my water pump! temp fix of rtv to last for two weeks ugh then new pump and tensioner and hoses for me. come on friday the 12th!

i bought some aluminum coolent elbows and not goin to put it on until i have other goodys to put on, but has anybody tried these? if so they work well? and i was researching and found out that cant put a manual in these but has anyone ever though about paddle shifters? my trans is gettin worse, sometimes it hesitates to go to first when i mash the gas and tachs out a couple times b4 i catch it. then when it switchs to 2nd its rough ( already check the fluid) actually changed the fluid and filter about 2000 miles ago... and also when i first start it in the morning and its still idleing high and put it in reverse it does some horrible jerking. then put it into drive it does another jerk, but once the idle is at normal, it doesnt do it.

I used aluminum elbows on the last two 3800s I've worked on and they've been great so far.

Hi guys, my coolant elbow on the intake manifold, near the alternator is leaking when the car is cold, anyone know how I can fix this? I was thinking of puting some rtv around it but anything else without to much labor would be nice?

bmcd9179 wrote:

Hi guys, my coolant elbow on the intake manifold, near the alternator is leaking when the car is cold, anyone know how I can fix this? I was thinking of puting some rtv around it but anything else without to much labor would be nice?

I have the same leak, however mine is a VERY small leak. Did you upgrade to the aluminum elbow? Either way I have tried putting RTV on and it did not help, I think the last option is to take it out and re-install it with RTV on the o'ring itself.

That's stupid, I just did my intake manifold gaskets, damn, how about that weld stuff at Walmart? JB weld I think it is

Or is there a easier way to get the elbo off without taking of the manifold, I'm new at these engines.

replace the elbow. If I did this solo with no help, it means ANYONE can do it.

CAUSE IM A ULTRA NOOB.

bmcd9179 wrote:

Or is there a easier way to get the elbo off without taking of the manifold, I'm new at these engines.

You should be able to take just the alternator bracket off and get it off that way. But you will also need to drain the coolant.

Yah thanks guys! And I do everything solo, have to

Todd , is that a Maserati Forged decal ?

Lol I never looked at it like that. No it's a decal from http://www.forged.com/  It's a clothing store founded by a Navy Seal ( hence the trident). From their site:
"Forged® was born on the Battlefield of Iraq in late 2006 by its co-founder and CEO. During an intense fire fight in the streets of Ramadi, Iraq, a teammate and close friend sustained catastrophic injuries that left massive burns, and later led to the amputation of one of his limbs. When the team returned stateside, Forged® and a few teammates decided to create a tribute shirt to honor their wounded Brother, and to raise some much needed money to help with his recovery. This is where it all began… "

But the emblem.....haha....Maserati....I LIKE.

Howdy Folks,

The Dorman ("Help!") black plastic coolant elbow that I installed no more than 5000 miles ago failed and started leaking recently.  The elbow cost about $7 but the coolant that was lost probably cost twice that - and then there was the time to do the replacement.

I replaced it with a Dorman aluminum elbow which looks better anyway.

I inspected the failed plastic elbow to find out why it failed so soon and discovered that the O-ring groove has a square profile and it cracked right at the inner corner of the groove which obviously provides a feature to concentrate stress due to thermal expansion and/or vibration.

If I had a plastic elbow that I was thinking of installing, I wouldn't.  Not unless it was an OEM part and the O-ring groove was radiused and not square like the Dorman.  The original part lasted almost 200k miles so it wasn't a bad part.

The aluminum Dorman part had a radiused groove and I suspect it will work just fine. That's my two cents.

Nice catch, and good report. It goes to show how plastics can vary in quality. The Help! products are fine for some things, but don't trust them for critical areas like this. I paid a little but more for the OEM plastic version and haven't seen any leaks for 35k miles. My original lasted 246k and never failed - I broke it removing the manifold. The aluminum versions look nice. If my plastic version ever breaks, that's what I'll be getting!

I have personally seen 2 Dorman coolant elbows fail (one catastrophically - split open at the seam) and read about many others. Now I will only use the OEM plastic or aftermarket aluminum version.

Please please please don't buy this part from Dorman (Help!). It's total junk.

I checked the Write-Ups, I found info.changing the water pump, great photo of the bypass pipe! Nothing on the bypass pipe.
Has anyone changed this pipe, any shortcuts, what about availability of the pipe?
Many thanks for any assistance!
Bunchabuix

They are the coolant elbows you're talking about. Try and get the aluminum coolant elbows. They should be available at you're parts store. There's a write up on here somewhere just use the search feature. You need to remove the alternator and belt tensioner assembly. It might be a good time to replace the belt tensioner if it looks crappy. I think the coolant elbow is included with the tensioner.

I'd like to say a word of caution about removing the belt tensioner assembly. When my uncle and I were doing my lower intake manifold gasket, we forgot to put the coolant elbow in the lower intake manifold before setting it in place and tightening everything down. Instead of taking the lower intake manifold off again, we opted to remove the belt tensioner assembly. After double and triple checking for any bolts we might have missed, we attempted to remove the belt tensioner assembly with just our hands and it would not budge! We checked for bolts again and attempted with just our hands to free the belt tensioner assembly. Again, it wouldn't move. We grabbed a rather long pry bar, set it up against something solid and started prying. We could see it finally start to move and then "BANG!!" We removed it, but upon further inspection, the coolant passage built into the belt tensioner assembly actually sheared right off. My guess is that it corroded together and there was nothing we could do about it. Now, I know the ideal fix is to get a new belt tensioner assembly, but we put a dab of RTV around the mating surfaces and I haven't seen any leaks from that area or noticed any ill effects. I do plan to replace it soon, and if I wasn't in a hurry to drive my car again, that's what I would've done the first time around.