If my coolant elbow goes bad how hard is it to chg ? What process to chg ? Also do they make a metal one ?

The easiest way I found was to remove the alternator and tensioner assembly and then change both. It was pretty quick and easy and you didn't have to tear apart most of the top end (as I had forgot to change the coolant elbows when I changed my LIM and UIM gaskets and therefore did not want to tear it back apart again). To my knowledge there are no metal ones. Just get the $5 ones from Autozone, lube them up with some coolant, and stick them in the hole.

theres more than one ??

A lower and an upper. You can't hardly see the lower one while the motor is all together and in. It hooks into the back of the tensioner. Make sure when you do them put the new ones into the tensioner first then carefully fit the other ends of the elbows into their respective holes.

im confused, the elbows go thru the tensioner ?? Any diagrams ?? So all you have to do is remove the tensioner and alt ?

Yes, and I think Brian may be confused??? Maybe I am too?

Only one coolant elbow on the L36 engines that ever need to be replaced that I know of.

This one...

Hardly Mike since mine has two elbows and is an L36

They go into the tensioner and then there is a channel in the tensioner to connect elbow to elbow. Don't forget to take the belt off too

Am I missing something Brian? Show a pic maybe?

96-99 had a tensioner that the lower elbow was molded as part of it. The issue here was that when ganking the tensioner off, people would break the timing cover. A change was made to 2 plastic elbows. The below picture shows an 00+ tensioner with the second plastic elbow labeled lower. Some 99'* had a 96-98 looking tensioner and a second plastic elbow. See Mike..you aren't losing your mind (that happened loooooong ago)