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coolant leak! temp very high.

Lionel

Lionel

New member
So I'm sitting in a parking lot. I've traced down the leak to an elbow just beside the pulley tensioner. I've been parked for about a half hour and the temp is sitting at the halfway mark. If I drive it climbs fast. So to prevent any further damage I gotter parked. Also, I got a lot of brown gunk in my reservoir its probably been about 50 000 km's since my last flush.

I'm wondering wether my water pump let go? Or if there's blockage somewhere?
 


replace that elbow.

because its broke it let air into the system and is causing the overheating.

and flush the coolant really well and convert to green and never have the sludge again.
 
The elbow can be found in the help section at Oreillys etc. The brown gunk you are seeing is more than likely the mix of the two coolants Dex and Green. It creates a sludge in the system. If you didn't completely flush your system and switched to green that's probably what it's from.

The elbow you need is like a $3 part. If it's been in there awhile it will probably break off as you are removing it. Just get a pic or screw driver to make sure the rest is out. I find it easier to remove the tensioner assembly if needing to replace the elbow.
 
Its a bigger job then I thought. It was broken inside, and nothing could take it out, I had to buy an extractor and it did the trick wonderfully. But of course the elboy I didn't see under the tensioner broke off too!

Good thing gm is open til midnight. I'm sitting here in a parking lot with a little led flashlight.

Fyi gm charged me 24$ for the upper elbow.

Thanks for the help guys, at first I thought I had a cracked block.
 


road side repairs! your just like me, i aint calling no frigging tow truck!

i never leave home with out basic tools, that way you've got 1/2 the battle won.
 
alright, so im now leak free, but my temp is still climbing fast. after i shut off the car air goes into the reservoir tank, doing glug glug about every second... and it lasts for about 15 seconds. i starting to think either i got a clog, or my waterpump let go,

also when i squeeze the big rad hose on passenger side, it seems as though theres no fluid in it, and its cool to the touch. but the hose on the drivers side is really hot.

how can you test a water pump? on my old saturn, when it let go it leaked out of it.
 
nope, what's the procedure to bleeding it? just taking off that cover by the radiator, draining all the fluid then refilling it?
 
Nope. Locate your thermostat housing and on top there should be a little nut.Its 7mm, undo that and start the car.Once coolant starts leaking out of the hole close it up.Thats it.I would do it twice just in case.
 


Wow! 24$? I bought both at napa for 5$ this weekend when I did my intake gaskets! I used a screw driver to Tap on the bottom of the broken peice, it causes it to piviot... Then just pull it out with needle nose pliers... Works every time, no special tools needed...

If you ran it too long without coolant the head gasket could have went.... Happens to the 3100s and 3400s all the time... more then likey it just needs to be bleed though. Make sure the car reaches operating temp, then crack it... ya want to make sure the t-stat opens.
 
bleeding it fixed the problem, what's the procedure to flushing out the cooling system? I just started the car and put a hose inside the radiator cap and removed the bolt on the t-stat housing and it seemed like it only flushed the radiator, how do i flush the whole cooling system?
 
you want to pull the lower rad hose off the radiator, let it drain, remove the upper hose, put garden hose in the upper hose,( or remove the thermostat and put hose right into the intake) run engine till clear water comes out the lower hose, you can fill it with water, run it around a bit let it cool and drain it again, then add green antifreeze, then re bleed the system.

before you re fill it let the lower hose drain, then start the car for 30 seconds or so, that should pump out what ever clear water is left in it. put hoses back on car, you can fill the block with antifreeze right through the thermostat till its full and then fill the radiator, run car, top off, bleed it, done.
 
or back flush it with a kit. cut one of your heater hoses and put a t pipe in it. thread a garden hose on it with leaving the rad hoses attached. and turn the hose and car on with heat fully on. it with flush the whole system and shoot out of the radiator neck
 


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