I think my 99 Park Ave has 2 coolant elbows ????

Does anyone have a step by step on the easy way to chg these ??

Thx

I don't believe we have one here, but really do need one. I might be able to make something up next week. I'll try to hit the high points here.

Disconnect battery.
remove serp belt
remove the alternator
drain some coolant.
remove bolts holding tensioner/alternator bracket on.
Wiggle bracket off.
Remove elbows
clean up the ports real good
Lube up the elbow O rings good, some use Vaseline, I use a think layer of red RTV
put it all back together.
connect battery last.
refill coolant.

you do both at once or is there only one ?? Are the new ones still plastic ?? My cr has 200k on it how long do these last ??

Get them both. If there not leaking, I say leave them alone. But if your going to do a LIM gasket change, then change the elbows.

it sounds pretty easy to chg these.

1).Are you saying my car has 2 ??

2) If they do leak and I need to chg are the new ones plastic ??

3) to chg I dont hae to remove the UIM ?

Yes, you should have two of them.

Yes, new ones are plastic, I think they cost about $5 for the set.

Just take off the alternator bracket, the elbows are both on there.

Dorman part number 47065 contains both elbows.

I prefer not to use RTV, because the next time (if there is one, it'll be a nightmare to clean up).

The bracket is held on by three bolts. The furthest back is not visible, feel for it on the bracket. I find that wiggling the top elbow as you tighten the bolts to ensure it does not stop wiggling when everything is tight is the key to not having it leak again. If the elbow get pinched and won't wiggle, then it deforms with heat cycles, then leaks.

I've got some pictures of that process half way down this page.https://www.gmforum.com/showthread.p...e+cover&page=2

**Edit - You don't need to do everything that I did on that page, but you can see where some of those tricky bolts are for the tensioner with that the coolant elbows are on.

I've done this 4 times in the last couple months on my car, was going to take pictures but either forgot the camera, batteries were dead in the camera, too cold and in a hurry, and didn't have the camera again since it was unexpected.

This was on my SSEi, never had a problem just lubing the o rings and sliding the new elbows in on this car. My SLE is the one I've done 4 times now, last time because I had to replace the tensioner, and even with a brand new tensioner and brand new elbows, the bastard is still leaking from both ends of the elbow going from the tensioner to the LIM.

Did you try Bill'* trick to see if it leaks then ?? Bill do you lube the oring ??? How long do these elbows last ?? My car has 200K on it, may have been changed before but ive owned it for 150k and havent chgd them ???

They vary.. most of the time you'll get near 200K and the LIM'* will be getting done, so the elbows are automatic.

I use vasoline on the elbow o-rings. I'm pretty liberal with it. I also ensure that the LIM/Tensioner holes are clean. Always have steel wool on hand. A clean surface and new lubed o-ring haven't failed me yet and I've probably done 150 LIM jobs.