New to the board, but I've done a lot of reading and you all seem very knowledgable about this car.

I have a 96 3.8 with about 177k on the odom. Just purchased. My first 4th gen. Drove it about 3 hours home from purchasing it the other day and the temp was fine on the highway all the way home. Got home, put in park, temp shot up to near the red zone. Heard a hissing under hood, saw steam, located the area of the leak.

From what I can tell, the lower intake manifold elbow is the culprit. I don't think the elbow itself is shot, but I can wiggle the entire piece with my hand and its very loose.

Just curious if anyone has any advice for ease of getting to this. Doesn't look like too difficult of a job, but any advice prior to me busting my knuckles up is appreciated.

I'm also curious if anyone knows why this would make the car overheat? The only conclusion I can come up with is that all or most of the coolant has leaked out. Other than that, I can't see how this leak would make the car run hot.

Also, when the a/c is engaged, I'm getting a pretty wicked clicking from the compressor and the car idles rather rough. The click isn't just a one time thing when the compressor engages. It sounds like a playing card in a bicycle wheel or a helicopter blade.

It should also be noted that I'm not pulling any codes.

 

Specifically......Like how to get this motherf&*^%$ing tensioner pulley off?!

 

did your fans kick on when the temperature shot up?

 

check to see if the fans are on when the temp shoots up like that, if not then the relay may be bad. typically if there is a coolant leak the your going to overheat.....duh.....the reason that the ticking may be happening could be caused by one of the fan blades to be broken? Idk just a thought.

 

Yeah, the fans kick on.

The car hasn't actually gone HOT. I haven't let it. But it HAS gone as far as the third line (line just before redline) up on the factory temp gauge.

I truly think it's because all of the coolant leaked out.

Oh, and I ended up breaking the goddamn tensioner trying to pry it out. Broke it at the tube that inserts into the water pump. Fortunately, was able to dig out all the debris.

Sadly, a 4 dollar job has just turned into a SEVENTY four dollar job.

The clicking is coming from the A/C compressor. Possibly clutch bearing?

 

I had an overheating problem on my car and went through a complete headgasket replacement before I realized it was the fan relay. This was a good suggestion.