Thread: Engine overheats, heater blows cool air, leak by egr tube

Originally Posted by twillroth

The other day my wife's '02 GT was running normal, then all of a sudden the temp shot up to HOT within seconds. I shut the car down, and there was a sh*t load of steam coming from under the hood. I popped the hood and started looking around, and saw a steady drip/leak from above the water pump...I believe it's the EGR tube (a plastic elbow). I let the car cool down for about an hour, topped off the reservoir with water, and drove it home. It's only about a 3 min. drive from where the car was, to my house. It overheated about half way there, so I cranked the heater. Problem is, the heater was blowing cool air. I'm wondering what could be causing this...? Is it the water pump, or could it be an intake gasket? Anyone else have this problem with their 3.8? I know the gaskets are a common problem, but it should still be pumping water through the heater core if the pump is good, right? Any info would be greatly appreciated!

1) The EGR is for your exhaust not your coolant system
2) what you described is having the coolant elbows fail.......this is very common on the GP's.
3) There has to be enough coolant in the system for it to cycle through the heater core to produce heat.
4) Replace your coolant elbows and refill with coolant hoping that you did not do any permanent damage by overheating your motor twice.
5) check what little coolant you have left if any and your oil. Make sure that the levels are proper and that the liquids look like they should(not milky, etc.)
Make sure after you fill up your radiator and coolant(after replacing the coolant elbows) overlow tank......you must get all the air out of th system by leaving the radiator cap loose until completely full and also by releasing air through the bleeder screw on top of the waterneck(this is what holds the thermostat tight to the motor) Hopefully all is well after new coolant elbows, and refilling and bleeding the system. Good luck

You don't have to take the water pump off to replace the coolant elbows........ all you remove is the alternator and the heater bypass ( the thing the 2 heater hoses connect to). IIRC its held on with 4 bolts and pulls off, one elbow is on the bottom side, the other goes from the bypass to the LIM. Pretty straight forward and easy to do not to mention good maintaince.

Just remember, when you pull off the bypass you'll most likely break off the ends of the old elbows. Be sure to dig out the plastic piece and oring before installing the new elbows, and use some sort of grease on the new ones. Make sure to replace both coolant elbows while you are in there......hope this helps.

I was told that the video in the link has a demonstration of how to replace the coolant elbows.........I personally was unable to watch the vid.......so I dont know for sure. Hope this helps........http://www.grandprixforums.net/f73/l...tall-6524.html

I concur with the other doctors.

Coolant elbow bites the dust, coolant leaks out, now you get to fix it. Only thing I'll add is to change the oil as well. When oil overheats it breaks down and should be changed out.

here's a pic of the alternator tensioner/bracket assembly w/o an alternator on it. It may not be your exact bracket, but the holes are the same. You can ignore the writing, it was originally done for another purpose.

yeah........good luck. Did you watch that video? IF so, was the coolant elbow change over in there or not?

Here's a how-to:

http://www.naioa.com/v2/modules.php?...wtopic&t=17376

I used a flush kit personally.......but you could just use water too.......get it up to temp for a while.........then flush it good. make sure to get everything out. do it several times..........glad to hear it went ok.
If you get the Peak flush kit( I did) it is like six bucks or something, and has all of the instructions on the bottle. Just be sure to burp the system.......when you are flushing it leave the rad cap off until you get all of the air out. There is also a bleeder on the waterneck on the motor to help with this.

it just turns about a 1/4 turn.........dont go any farther as it will break. It may be clogged if you got it to turn that far......fwiw.

not sure on yours for sure, but mine does pop out a bit too........if you pull on it after it is turned

you just jinxed yourself............

Don't ever wait for the upper to hydrolock your motor to get you moving.

Pull upper, plug it.. smile

everything working good now?