LIM coolant elbow!

crstump wrote:

my elbo peice busted on me just 15 min ago. right at the elbo. i was not sure if it ran directly to the intake or not cause i couldnt find any other broken peices laying around. so the elbo runs from the belt tensioner to the intake??? if you can post a pic of this so im 100% sure were on same subject

There should be a write up on elbow replacement on the site. You should check to see if any pieces are still in. You might want to check your tensioner and see if it needs to be replaced anyway, now would be a good time.

I kinda doubt you need a picture; that's the only place on the manifold having a coolant line.

Be very very sure you get all the old pieces of elbow out. It will take a small pick, some patience, and a small mirror to see inside the holes.

Don't know if i'm too late with this but there was a defective batch of those help/dorman coolant elbows that were kept stocked as I found out earlier this year when my 3 week old one started warping and pulling its self out. I think they took care of the problem but there's still bad ones out there. I got my replacement from the dealer.

I ended up replacing the belt tensioner assembly when i needed to replace the coolant elbows. I believe that the elbows are included with the assembly. It wasn't too bad. I did encounter some issues along the way

guys...what is this tube? I'm leaking coolant pretty bad, car is at work and I'm stranded!

What is this L shaped tube coming out of the idler pulley arm there at the top (the black L-Shape)???

How does it come out? Single piece?? Whole new idler pulley??

Thanks!!

found it, coolant elbow

its such a dumb design. the 95s is similar,but the elbow can be replaced without having to remove any hard parts. my plan is to tap the waterpump and fit it with an NTP fitting.do away with the difficulties.

Nate, coolant elbow can be changed by removing the tensioner assy - you don't need to pull the LIM.

Worst design part on the 3800!!! I've had more problems with these over the years.

I think Dorman makes an aluminum one, much sturdier. http://www.dormanproducts.com/p-52351-47065hp.aspx

fixed it in the parking lot at work.

Went to O'Rielly, got the elbow. Took alternator, then alternator bracket...the tube runs through it (you guys know this already)...

about 1.4 hours total... refilled with 50/50 and back on the road. Total cost with coolant (bought more than I need)...$35

Love this site!

Thanks Amigos!!!!

oh... I cleaned up the mess...sure did dump a lot of coolant taking off the alternator bracket!

I suspect the part was OEM...I'd never changed it.. or taken that bracket off... It had broken on both ends...

It can be tough to get all the old pieces out!

Larry, thanks for pointing out the aluminum elbow! I didn't know they made that!

deekster_caddy wrote:

It can be tough to get all the old pieces out!

Larry, thanks for pointing out the aluminum elbow! I didn't know they made that!

You're welcome. Haven't had to change mine yet. That will be the way I go though.

The metal elbow (I've seen it called "steel" in a vendor's description, seems to be pretty hard to come by, based on the availability info I'm seeing on a number of parts stores websites. Earlier this year a Monte SS thread had a link to it for sale on RockAuto, but it's not there now, just the plastic ones.

Advance Auto Parts shows you can order it.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/buy/products/1132562-heater-hose-elbow-by-dorman-help-part-47065hp-heater-hoses-fittings.html

Rockauto still has an information page on it.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=3887103

Probably have to call them.

metal elbow on ebay

I bought two sets from this vendor. Very good to do business with. Buy one or two and never look back.

On my stint around the net, I have read many times that the DORMAN Part # 47065 elbow is no good because of a manufactor defect concerning the size of the o-ring that renders it no good. This defect may or may not have been corrected.

On Rockauto this is the only elbow I can find. I hear there's a GM and AC Delco type around somewhere. And the aluminum Dorman elbow I have my doubts about because of the stuff i've read about the plastic Dorman.

Anyways, anyone know where else to buy an elbow that's not the plastic Dorman?

ACDELCO Part # 1534066

ACDELCO Part # 24502846

Buy on rockauto. Throw these on the Dorman aluminum elbows. Top is orange (x3) bottom is purple (1). Or hit up local NAPA for them.

On a different 3800 car (impala) I've been helping my buddy with I had one dorman elbow explode, and an Oring fail on a GM elbow, now the car is leaking from the elbow AGAIN...

On my old Riv the elbow just started dripping. It's got an older dorman in it.

Fed up with the frikkin elbows!

it is odd to have a 90 degree turn like that. In a pressurized system, it's not wise to make a moving fluid do such a direction change. That's momentum being slammed into the elbow..

BUT, I've had my Riv for 6+ years (OMG really??) and that part was never leaking..

Not a hard fix...

I commented to the buddy helping me fix the Riv in the parking lot how easy she is to work on. You can do so much with minimal hassle...

I was checking out my bow yesterday. Previous owner for sure tried to replace it and put some kind of grey sealant around it. It's leaking. Awesome.

How the F do you even get to it? The SC snout is in the way, the alternator or is it the starter is in the way? Also, I see alot of these come with two different elbows. are they just there for size variance or are there really two bows? I can only seem to find the one that goes from the pulley to the LIM.

You can swap it with 3 quick bolts and a belt.
Pull the belt off the accessories and feel around your alternator bracket. 3 15mm bolts should be holding it on. (disconnect batter and I usually leave the alt in the bracket, although removing it may make alignment easier.

As soon as I get my elbow and the balls to do try this, I will take pictures.

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it is odd to have a 90 degree turn like that. In a pressurized system, it's not wise to make a moving fluid do such a direction change. That's momentum being slammed into the elbow..

It depends on the volume per minute, diameter of the pipe, pressure. It's not really a big deal if coolant enough coolant is being moved and the pump isn't overtasked. The way I look at it, my original elbow lasted 14 years, 246k miles. Mine was probably "seeping" in the very end, but not enough for concern.

The cooling system in the Riviera is among the best I've encountered. Parts last a long enough time, the system cools quite well when it's' working. The OEM water pump was a champ, lasting 236k miles. The radiator was made partly of plastic, which eventually cracked and leaked, but it also lasted 236k. Both did their jobs well up till that point. Even the hoses were in top shape. Very reasonable cost for replacement and not difficult to work on.

My feeling on the coolant elbow, if you're not tinkering with your engine often, the plastic part will work just fine. If you're one who will be removing the LIM or accessory tensioner again within 50k miles, the metal version makes sense, since it will take the abuse of multiple installs. But the plastic version should not fail unless you mess with it. And if it does, it's an $8 part. Owners of other cars should be so lucky...

Quote :

How the F do you even get to it? The SC snout is in the way, the alternator or is it the starter is in the way? Also, I see alot of these come with two different elbows. are they just there for size variance or are there really two bows? I can only seem to find the one that goes from the pulley to the LIM.

The alternator and SC snout are two very simple things to remove from the engine. The alt will come off in 10 mins with some basic tools. You don't need to remove the snout (but it's not hard if you want extra room). The starter is on the bottom of the engine, so don't be concerned. A complete write-up for tensioner removal can be found here:

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t7519p15-write-up-replacing-accessory-belt-tensioner#120136

My aluminum elbows arrived today from that Ebay seller. Took a couple weeks, as they stated.

I got mine on zzp's Black Friday sale. $10 shipped. Can't wait to them installed.

I was about to do this today, but before I got too far along I wanted to better investigate the seals that were made by the previous owner.

I am terrified that I will have to scrape these things clean and in doing so, change the bore size of the sockets. Of course my new elbows wouldn't be able to fit UNLESS i use some kind of silicon sealer too.

So, before I make my car undrivable, I wanted to see what you guys thought.


What happens if the grey stuff wont come out and prohibits the new elbows from sealing correctly?!