My elbow has been seeping for years only when cold. Going to replace this weekend.

Any suggestions of things to watch for doing the job?

What lube do I put on the new o-rings to push them in? One place suggest silicon grease; another penetrating oil. Another had said just use coolant.

Engine oil or silicone grease will work fine.

What else are you replacing during the project?

Hope your using the newer aluminum elbows instead of the cheap plastic ones.

I did get the aluminum ones. The current ones are 3 years old and replaced by a shop I had to the upper manifold and lower gaskets because I was in a hurry. The LIM seal has always seeped when cooled down if there was still pressure. Now leaks without pressure. No leaks warmed up. I believe the mechanic used a silicone sealer on the elbows when assembled. The current elbows are Dorman plastic that lots of posters have had trouble with.

Thought about doing rear valve cover. But I'm not getting leakage right now. I'll do that later if I need to.

If your lower intake gaskets are the cheap plastic ones, replace them with the newer metal framed gaskets. Even if they are still new. Once those 2 issue prone things are replaced, you should be worry free for the next 100,000 miles.

Right. When I was in a hurry, I had the APN metal-sleeved UIM and the FelPro metal lower gaskets. The mechanic was happy to install my parts.

But the upper elbow seeped and it took me a year to actually catch fluid under the UIM end of the elbow. It would seep only if radiator still had pressure.

Yep, you have the typical symptoms of a failing elbow. They will either leak under pressure, or when hot or cold.

I just went down that road last week myself. I had the cheap plastic Dorman elbows and they were only about a year old. The upper elbow was leaking right at the 90° when the system was under pressure. I put the aluminum ones in this time. Hopefully that'* the end of that problem.

Greg

I went through 5 sets of plastic elbows on my 03' SLE before I traded it in. This was all within about 9 months. On the other end of the spectrum, I've never had an issue with the plastic on my SSEi... Let us know how the aluminum ones work out.

Thanks for the comments from those who have done this procedure. How should I clean the bores before putting in the new elbows? A youtube video said to use fine sandpaper. Sandpaper sounds a little strong. I was planning to use bottle (testtube type) brushes.

Did you find any buildup that needed removing?

my original one came out in pieces, make sure all the plastic junk is out of there. i put a little black silicone sealant on mine for extra insurance