Leaking coolant elbow

[ssms5411]

So I found my coolant leak on my car, thought it was the water pump, but yesterday after starting it up I had coolant shooting out the coolant elbow. So i figure doing the elbow is probably less work than the water pump. But i had just installed the alm. elbow in November so i dont know why it would fail. I did some research and it appears the Dorman uses a smaller Oring on theirs compared to GM. So I ordered both to compare the 2. Will let you know what i find. Rock auto had the A/C Delco and Zzp had the Dorman ( which is whats on there now).

[ssms5411]

Finally got the elbows, the Gm looks definitely looks better than the dorman one. Orings look bigger too. Will get started when my back feels up to it. Took me a week just to rewire my icm harness so i think this is easier than that. Ill try and post pics of the 2 together so you can see the difference. The Gm elbow looks more like the plastic version. The dorman looks like they tried a funnel on the ends.

[FirebirdGT]

Do you have the plastic or aluminum elbows?

[ssms5411]

Their the new aluminum ones, the Gm ones look more like the plastic ones. Im trying to post pics but having trouble. I had the aluminum dorman on there for 6 months and it has failed, leaking pretty good. So after some research online i found that the dorman has had alot of failures, and most usually try to use rtv or switch to the Gm one.

[ssms5411]

Got the tensioner off but broke off the lower part of the tensioner where it goes to the water pump. Oring was in bad shape, it was completely disintegrated. Will have the new tensioner here this week and ill get it back together. I have pics on my phone but cant seem to post them on here.

[ssms5411]

Heres a pic of the bad coolant elbow with the orings ate up.

[LETZRIDE]

looks like there isn't even an O-ring on the bottom portion. That doesn't surprise me it would leak, but I will be entirely honest Steve that I don't think that will fix the water in your oil problem...I think that is still a separate issue - great you can cross one problem off your plate though!

[ssms5411]

[ssms5411]

Heres the 2, dorman on top.

[ssms5411]

Yeah , Mike this was a separate issue , water in the oil is something different.

[LETZRIDE]

They look fairly similar...o-ring on the bottom looks a little bigger but I guess that is enough to make a difference...all these years to make an aluminum elbow and they skimp on the O-ring

[ssms5411]

Yeah, and i hope its made out of different materials than the other one. Got the new tensioner on today, just letting some things dry and waiting for a new belt. Rock auto has some super shipping speeds.

[ssms5411]

Got it back together today, no leaks yet.lol Its raining so just bled the coolant, will try and take it for a spin tomorrow.