Thread: Dorman Coolant Elbows... Two Blowouts in 8 Days...

Just to throw this out there. I have heard complaints that the Dorman/Motormite/Help coolant elbows like to leak around the O-Rings, but that is not the problem I've had with the last few sets I've bought. On two separate occasions, within 8 days of each other, I've had my upper coolant elbow (only one on the '97) essentially blow out from the manifold side and fold in on itself. Both times, the piece has been split along the inner portion of the elbow after retrieving it. The O-Rings, in both cases, looked to still be in great shape. Has anyone else seen/had this happen? BTW, Each time this occurred, I was WOT.

My fix was to scuff up the outside of the elbow and apply some JB Stick Weld to form a triangular shape across the two legs and hopefully prevent the previous problem. This was done a week ago, but I haven't been able to really test its strength as I have another issue that needs to be addressed...

I double-checked both times I installed the elbows to ensure they were seated as far in as they could go without the elbow flexing. I've been a bit rough with the car this past week, but have a cam code I'm diagnosing and don't want to be too obnoxious with my driving until I get that cleared up...

I did pressure test the system after I installed my back-up elbow after the second blowout and saw no leaks or loss of pressure. Could there be a potential restriction in my heater core causing this? The heat seems to work perfectly fine, however.

I would check the cap to ensure it's not overpressurizing. I exclusively have been using that brand of elbow w/o issues. The only things I tend to see if is you push the elbows in too far or they stick out too far..the heat will warp them out of a 90 degree shape and then they will be able to leak/blow.

My cap maxes out at 16 PSI on the pressure gun.

With my JB Stick mod, I sure hope there is no possible way for the elbow to change shape, now!!
Both blowouts were after driving the car for at least 30 minutes, so heat-softening may have played a role.

Someone needs to market an aluminum or a steel replacement for these things. If I had the resources, I'd be all over it, but the most I have is a dremel and some JB Weld - and I guarantee that wouldn't look too pretty...

I installed my new dorman elbows three months months ago. This weekend out of no wear the elbow into the engine started to leak and was if it could be easily pulled out. I pushed and wiggled it back in place. No leaking this morning, but plan to replace them tonight.

Hope this doesn't happen again. I was wondering if I lubricated them to much.

I'm starting to wonder if the plastic is a little too soft and flexing just enough to cause leaks. And, in my case, there may be enough restriction somewhere for the elbow to flex, then blow out. When the snow clears here, I'll see if I can get a picture of my modified elbow on the car and post it up. It only took a few hours, including the time to harden between each layer I added.

you sure you have all the broken pieces out where the old one was?

Affirmative. The end pieces were intact on both elbows.

Mine was doing the same thing at wot and the cap tested fine so I just drilled and tapped it and ran the hose to the heater

Thanks for the humor, Bob! Tapping it and screwing a hose fitting into the manifold sounds like a possibility if I have any problems out of my super elbow.