The wife's car has developed a coolant leak that I first assumed was a water pump. After changing it & the T stat last night in the dark, I discovered this morning that the water pump was only a minor problem. There was a coolant residue trail comming from the weap hole but, while that prevented a future brake down, the main problem still exist. The leak is above the water pump and under the front part of the upper part of the intake. I dont know the 3.8 as well as you guys do but, it looks like there is a tube in that location that the leak is comming from. How do you access this? also what is it called? I want to be able to request the right part from autozone rather than saying " its a coolant hose thingy under the thottle body thingy" lol. Is this a pretty common 3.8 leak?

 

Here is the answer to your problem

Dorman Help! 47065 - Heater Hose Connector | O'Reilly Auto Parts

IT is very common and a total pain in the backside.

Make sure all of the old ones come out of their holes and also that you use some RTV or grease to help them seal up when putting the new ones in.

Massey

 

Post an annotated photo, it's easier to be clear about the problem part.

 

Thanks guys for the quick reply. just got back from autozone. tore it apart, replaced both elbows, reassembled and good as new. I used to work at autozone and sold many of those but until today I didn't know where they went. Why GM thought it would be a good idea to route coolant through a belt tentioner/alt bracket I will never know. the worst part was digging the broke junk out of the hole but after that it wasn't all that bad I guess. Thanks again.

 

This is a 02 motor its a common problem I have posted this pic about 20 times showing the issue. The shinney part is where the water pump will mount. THe only reason I took the pictue was because someone was having the issue on the day I was assembling my motor.

 

Yup why don't we sticky these threads? I bought car for cheap because they thought it was the intake.

 

Belt tensioner pulley elbow.
Replaced mine about a year ago and holding up well so far. Yeah makes you wonder about GM running out of time and over budget in a meeting one day - well we will just use this plastic elbow and run coolant through the pulley. I wonder what they were thinking.

 

Its cheap and if made it past the warranty time line. That what they where thinking. Thats all they ever think.