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plastic elbow replacement

J

jspangler22

New member
I need to replace the front plastic elbow piece o ring is bad. Do i have to tear the whole top end off. Or can i reach in and pull it out? I have haynes manual but says nothing for supercharged engines
 


no you take off the accessory tensioner, its 3 bolts 1 you cant see. and you want replace both elbows. they crack easily so it probably not the o ring.you can get them in the HELP! section at the parts store
 
you will need to disconnect the battery remove the coolant tank abd the alternator. you will then see one of the bolts right beside the idler pulley and the other is right underneath of it. The other bolt is the one you cant see and it is on the back of the bracket behind the pulley twd the fire wall. The elbows are more than likely going to break off in the holes so make sure you have a pick handy.
 


less coolant will come out if you remove the lower radiator hose and drain the coolant first. and a little patrolium jell on the elbows helps them slide in easier too.
 
this is probably an all day ordeal so ill wait till its nice i just wont boost it. why dont the haynes manual have info on the supercharged 3.8
 
Haynes does have a Supercharged 3.8 manual last time I checked, and the setup for changing coolant elbows is the same as the N/A motor.

It should take no longer than 45 minutes to replace both elbows.
 


The Common Parts thread has the part number etc.

Procedure to put them in .. lube o-rings with vasoline or oil. Put them in the tensioner and slide it into place. Start the three bolts holding it to the head and as you tighten these, Wiggle the upper elbow. Ensure that once you have tightened the tensioner fully the elbow is square to the motor and still can wiggle a little.

I've only had one leak (pre that procedure) and never had issues. Maybe I'm good, but my girl might tell you otherwise...lol
 


It is pretty simple like many say just changed mine a couple weeks ago the part on taking the belt, alt, and bolts off is simple the tricky part I found was that since the elbows are leaking the will break off and taking the broken pieces out is a PITA almost an hour if not more and just so you know the holes on the accessory tensioner don't have any stops on the inside if it look like there's some thing on the inside there probably is after every thing is cleared your ready to go start putting every thing together again.
 
well good news and bad news i replaced the front elbow no leak. But i could not find the rear elbow. Also when i was removing the piece that the front elbow connects to the intake manifold a metal tube looking piece snapped and now the car is leaking coolant again i think its the water pump but not sure.and i think its coming out from the metal tube that snapped do you think i could jb weld where it snapped at? So these are symptoms coolant leaking the temp gauge is reading above 210 for a little then it drops below 210 and goes back up any ideas suggestions
 
what year is the car?

You may need a new front cover or a belt tensioner bracket.

its more likely the bracket. but without seeing it i cant be 100%
 
my car is a 97 3.8 supercharged I just know its the piece where the plastic elbow in the front goes into. behind that there is a metal piece that goes into that bracket but it just snapped i dont understand how something soiled metal snaps but now its leaking coolant so i was figuring putting a cold weld liquid on it
 
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