blew a coolant elbow D:

[Mirraco]

replaced the air filter in my 04 gt with 165K miles..

got a half mile from my house, pulled onto the highway, and got about 50 feet and noticed my tail pipes were smoking really bad, like what happens when you seafoam a car.

pulled into a parking lot and checked the engine, coolant everywhere.. Then looked and seen my coolant elbow was MISSING. Just broke right off..

My question, why did the car smoke so bad, and is that only because of the coolant elbow. It did not overheat from past the halfway mark and could see exactly where it happened on the highway from the coolant leakage.

Another question, to replace the coolant elbows you need to take alternator and belt tensioner off?

[Russosaur]

If white smoke is coming from the tailpipes then your LIM probably let go. Coolant elbows would just piss coolant everywhere in the bay not come out the exhaust.

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[HighOctaneRacing]

Alt and tensioner have to come off and obviously replace elbow. If the intake gaskets are plastic, replace them at the same time as the elbows

[Mirraco]

i could not see any oil coming out of the intake gaskets, not sure why the smoke but i can do the gaskets later this weekend if they did actually go. not sure how to tell besides the oil/coolant mixing, and oil leakage.

[Russosaur]

Well you might have just seen a bunch of coolant steaming off the block and not coming out the tail pipes. Have you got the car running and driving yet? Oil in coolant or burning coolant are usually dead giveaways its the LIM. Your LIMs might be fine.

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[Mirraco]

Well you might have just seen a bunch of coolant steaming off the block and not coming out the tail pipes. Have you got the car running and driving yet? Oil in coolant or burning coolant are usually dead giveaways its the LIM. Your LIMs might be fine.

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yeah coolant elbows are in, car took the whole gallon of coolant, and radiator is still not full so the car ran a little hot, ganna get more coolant tomorrow. it more than likely was coolant steam, i noticed alot of steam/smoke out my rearview mirrow didnt know if it was exhaust or just where i had been. honestly thought my car was on fire for a little while

[Russosaur]

It happens, I've blown mine out too. Luckily I was only 1/4 mile from home and coasted almost into the garage. If you need a coolant bleeding technique I can post one scotty uses.

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[Mirraco]

It happens, I've blown mine out too. Luckily I was only 1/4 mile from home and coasted almost into the garage. If you need a coolant bleeding technique I can post one scotty uses.

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sure that would be helpful, my uncle looked it over and said it needed more coolant and to top the tank off too. never had this happen, ive blown a belt on my 98 malibu and coolant went everywhere. the guy said it was leaking coolant, i didnt notice anything, but i found out why the coolant elbows were both shot, one just went missing on the highway.

[Russosaur]

now to bleed the air out, let it idle rad cap off till the fans turn on, (when the fans are on the temp is over 195 deg, the t stat is wide open) then open the bleeder screw on top the t stat housing a few turns till a steady stream of coolant comes out the hole, shut the screw, top off the rad. cap it.

But for the most part the system will self bleed pretty well unless the LIM is empty. just make sure to keep topping off the rad.

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[Mirraco]

now to bleed the air out, let it idle rad cap off till the fans turn on, (when the fans are on the temp is over 195 deg, the t stat is wide open) then open the bleeder screw on top the t stat housing a few turns till a steady stream of coolant comes out the hole, shut the screw, top off the rad. cap it.

But for the most part the system will self bleed pretty well unless the LIM is empty. just make sure to keep topping off the rad.

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OK the idle radiator cap is on the front part of engine by the battery am i correct? And the t stat is on the manifold on the right hand side? I am pretty sure this will be a piece of cake, my uncle did say the t stat was stuck closed and thats why the heater did not work and was saying it was overheating.

[Russosaur]

Yep, and if once you bleed the system and still dont have heat or hear like sloshing from near the dash you need to flush the heater core to get the air out.

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[Mirraco]

Yep, and if once you bleed the system and still dont have heat or hear like sloshing from near the dash you need to flush the heater core to get the air out.

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I actually did hear sloshing from near the dash yesterday i didnt know exactly what it was but not i assume it was something to do with what happened today.