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Engine overheats, heater blows cool air, leak by egr tube

twillroth

twillroth

New member
The other day my wife's '02 GT was running normal, then all of a sudden the temp shot up to HOT within seconds. I shut the car down, and there was a sh*t load of steam coming from under the hood. I popped the hood and started looking around, and saw a steady drip/leak from above the water pump...I believe it's the EGR tube (a plastic elbow). I let the car cool down for about an hour, topped off the reservoir with water, and drove it home. It's only about a 3 min. drive from where the car was, to my house. It overheated about half way there, so I cranked the heater. Problem is, the heater was blowing cool air. :th_scratchhead: I'm wondering what could be causing this...? Is it the water pump, or could it be an intake gasket? Anyone else have this problem with their 3.8? I know the gaskets are a common problem, but it should still be pumping water through the heater core if the pump is good, right? Any info would be greatly appreciated!
 


twillroth said:
The other day my wife's '02 GT was running normal, then all of a sudden the temp shot up to HOT within seconds. I shut the car down, and there was a sh*t load of steam coming from under the hood. I popped the hood and started looking around, and saw a steady drip/leak from above the water pump...I believe it's the EGR tube (a plastic elbow). I let the car cool down for about an hour, topped off the reservoir with water, and drove it home. It's only about a 3 min. drive from where the car was, to my house. It overheated about half way there, so I cranked the heater. Problem is, the heater was blowing cool air. :th_scratchhead: I'm wondering what could be causing this...? Is it the water pump, or could it be an intake gasket? Anyone else have this problem with their 3.8? I know the gaskets are a common problem, but it should still be pumping water through the heater core if the pump is good, right? Any info would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
1) The EGR is for your exhaust not your coolant system
2) what you described is having the coolant elbows fail.......this is very common on the GP's.
3) There has to be enough coolant in the system for it to cycle through the heater core to produce heat.
4) Replace your coolant elbows and refill with coolant hoping that you did not do any permanent damage by overheating your motor twice.
5) check what little coolant you have left if any and your oil. Make sure that the levels are proper and that the liquids look like they should(not milky, etc.)
Make sure after you fill up your radiator and coolant(after replacing the coolant elbows) overlow tank......you must get all the air out of th system by leaving the radiator cap loose until completely full and also by releasing air through the bleeder screw on top of the waterneck(this is what holds the thermostat tight to the motor) Hopefully all is well after new coolant elbows, and refilling and bleeding the system. Good luck
 
Thanks for the reply. I obviously have no clue about GP's :th_laugh-lol2:.....so the elbow above the water pump, coming out of the idler pulley body, is the coolant elbow, correct? I just wanna be sure of what i'm looking at/replacing. It sure looks to me like it's leaking from where it enters the intake. Is it easy to replace? Thanks again.
 
You don't have to take the water pump off to replace the coolant elbows........ all you remove is the alternator and the heater bypass ( the thing the 2 heater hoses connect to). IIRC its held on with 4 bolts and pulls off, one elbow is on the bottom side, the other goes from the bypass to the LIM. Pretty straight forward and easy to do not to mention good maintaince.

Just remember, when you pull off the bypass you'll most likely break off the ends of the old elbows. Be sure to dig out the plastic piece and oring before installing the new elbows, and use some sort of grease on the new ones. Make sure to replace both coolant elbows while you are in there......hope this helps.
 
I concur with the other doctors. :D

Coolant elbow bites the dust, coolant leaks out, now you get to fix it. Only thing I'll add is to change the oil as well. When oil overheats it breaks down and should be changed out.

here's a pic of the alternator tensioner/bracket assembly w/o an alternator on it. It may not be your exact bracket, but the holes are the same. You can ignore the writing, it was originally done for another purpose.
IMG_3103-1.jpg
 


Awesome info guys! I appreciate the replies. I'm getting ready to go out and tear into it, so i'll let you all know how it goes and if it fixes the problem. Either way, for $17, can't hurt to replace em.
 
Liquifire said:
yeah........good luck. Did you watch that video? IF so, was the coolant elbow change over in there or not?
Click to expand...

I watched the video. There was a quick little discussion after they pulled the bracket off about changing the elbows because they broke. Nothing in too much detail, though. I got em swapped out...went really good, except getting the belt back on. Not too terrible hard, just a pain. Other than that, it went real smooth. Now i'm gonna flush the cooling system and check for leaks. HOPEFULLY the elbow was the issue. It was definitely broke. The o-rings were in good shape, but the plastic was FUBAR. Any tips or links for flushing the cooling system? Should I buy a flush kit or just use water? Thanks guys.
 
I used a flush kit personally.......but you could just use water too.......get it up to temp for a while.........then flush it good. make sure to get everything out. do it several times..........glad to hear it went ok.
If you get the Peak flush kit( I did) it is like six bucks or something, and has all of the instructions on the bottle. Just be sure to burp the system.......when you are flushing it leave the rad cap off until you get all of the air out. There is also a bleeder on the waterneck on the motor to help with this.
 
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Well, I got it all flushed and filled back up. I just used water, ran it, drained it, filled it again, etc, etc...So far so good. Ran the car around town running errands and it ran great. Temp was normal with no leaks. Thanks again guys for all the info.

By the way, I don't know about y'all, but I couldn't get the radiator drain valve open for anything. I got a 1/4" ext. in there, turned it, and nothing. It didn't unscrew or pop out...maybe i'm just an idiot, but I couldn't figure it out, and I didn't push the issue, because, if it can break, i'll usually find a way...:th_laugh-lol2: I just took the lower hose off and drained it that way. So, that being said, how exactly does the drain open?
 
it just turns about a 1/4 turn.........dont go any farther as it will break. It may be clogged if you got it to turn that far......fwiw.
 
I probably could get it, but I just pulled the lower hose and drained 'er that way. Thanks, though. I may have to use the info in the future when the UIM takes a dump! :th_laugh-lol2:
 


Yep, everything's good! Cost me a total of $53 after coolant, drain pan, and two elbows...I definately expected a much bigger bill!
 
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