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Coolant Elbows, does anybody have a better solution for these?

1977

1977

New member
On the 3800 those little plastic elbows keep cracking.
Is there something else out there that can be used?
I noticed on the GXP V8 it has a more significant hose.
 


yup as he said the aluminum ones are the only solution and the plastic ones are known to crack on these engines.
 
Be sure to use GM or AC Delco o-rings with those elbows, the o-rings supplied with mine started to deteriorate very quickly. Replaced with the ones I mentioned, still holding up strong. Aluminum elbows are a great long term investment.
 


Aluminum elbows are going to be an issue. Just a guy with experience here. No worries..use those "gonna break my timing cover" elbows all you want. :th_winking:
 
i went through like 4 or 5 plastic elbows in less then 3 months later had to replace tensioner pully and entire assembly($50) it came with elbows from gm havnt had to replace them for 3 months now and when it gets warm im putting my alluminum ones in but hell i beat the piss out of my car and baby her at the same time so you might have better luck with the plastic ones Search: 47065 | Heater Hose Fitting | AutoZone.com
aluminum heater hose connector | eBay
 


Sure

In 95 when the Series II motor came out the lower elbow was cast as a part of the alt/tensioner assembly bracket. This means that only the top elbow was plastic. GM made a change to the W bodies starting in 99 and the rest of the bodies in 00. The change was to make both elbows plastic. No manufacturer makes a change like that unless there is a good reason.

If you read enough, you'll find posts where I tell guys to wiggle the hell out of that older style with the cast lower elbow to the radiator and firewall only. If you put much pressure on it toward the passenger strut, you may have a lower elbow leak when you put it back together. Except, it's not a lower elbow leak, you cracked the timing cover. Where the elbow goes into the cover, it's thin and weak. The plastic elbows have flex to a degree. Then there's corrosion over time. Plastic doesn't corrode a whole lot. :th_winking:

Next up, you guys think the elbows leak based on what?
1. O-ring? Plastic and metal use the same o-rings. I don't buy an o-ring as the issue. Clean the damn holes and lube the rings.
2. Elbow deforms? If your upper elbow is deforming, then there is pressure on it when it's being tightened or your cooling system is building more than 16psi that the cap is rated. Wiggle the elbow as you are tightening the bolts. The elbow shouldn't be immobile when you tighten things. If it is..then something is binding it, once heated it will likely deform.

These are the typical things I see blamed for why they leak. A year or so back Dorman published that they had trouble with a run of the elbows and said, they'd replace them for free. So there was a bad batch of them out there. It's not as widespread as the issues though. I know I'm not a genius or the worlds luckiest guy, yet I never have elbow issues....at least since I realized why mine became a 45 degree angle instead of a 90. I had pressure on it. I do a lot of these elbows and to date, two have leaked or had an issue, out of say 100+. One could say I didn't put those couple in properly, especially since I know I did on one of those.
 
That should almost be stickied since everyone is converting to aluminum ones nowadays, I would be lieing if I said I wasent using aluminum ones, I'll have to be super careful when I remove them
 
Are you saying if you use the aluminum ones you could possibly crack your timing cover, before or after you install it? After meaning once it heats up and cools a few times.
 


Basically the issue is that aluminum is stronger then plastic, and if your careless and unlucky, instead of cracking the elbow when you pull it apart, you'll crack the cover. When you force things, something's gonna break. I for one am a huge fan of the aluminum elbows, but we'll see how they hold up in the long run.

-Rob
 
See what Rivman/Rob wrote. I'm saying when the o-rings leak a few years down the road. That's when someone that doesn't do this all the time, is going to likely crack the timing cover.

My friend Rachael called me one night after she cracked hers. Although Rachael is kinda cool, she breaks a good amount of stuff that most never would. Then I saw another few guys do it.

I'm not sure why.. I simply don't have issues with the plastic ones.
 
Well my palstic elbows lasted me years on both my 3800s, but since im changing the ones on my GS figured ill give the aluminum elbows a try. 99% of the time though its the gasket seals that goes bad and not the elbows but it depends(but if the elbows are bad then it may be a good chance that the gasket seals are worn too).

Heres a pic of the aluminum elbows i've had...
20130430_190258_zpsb3d1fa0f.jpg
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