The mysterious leaking coolant - Elbows, water pump?

[zguy]

All,

My 2001 GTP is at again. Window motor, wheel bearings, washer fluid pump, etc. This one has been building up for sometime as I have been pushing it off but the time has come. My coolant level is slowly going down over time. There is no coolant in the oil and the intake manifold was serviced before from a local dealer for a very special price. Joking here, I got ripped off to make that repair but that's no surprise.

I know the 2001 GTP has two elbows but I can only see one while looking at the intake manifold on the passenger side right above the tensioner pulley. I have seen some traces of coolant there so I believe there has to be some seepage from that elbow at a minimum. While under the car looking at another issue I saw some drops of coolant hanging off some of the lines near the bottom of the motor near the crankshaft pulley.

I don't know if the elbows were replaced when the dealer serviced the intake manifold several years ago but I believe it is safe to say that I need to change the elbows out for safety. My car has 130k miles on it and has never had the water pump serviced.

What do you guys think? Do I just replace just the elbows or do I replace the water pump too while I am in there?

I can't tell if the water pump is leaking or even how hard it is to do. How long do they last and what are the typical symptoms when they go out? In addition do I buy the AC/Delco elbows or do I go with aftermarket metal ones. I was reading and saw comments that Dorman elbows leak which is who I thought the metals ones were made by.

Appreciate the advice... Thanks!

[lewis1952]

The top elbow you can see the bottom only when you pull the bracket off. Go with the aluminum ones. Plenty of youtube videos showing you how to change them.

[Scottydoggs]

grab the water pump pulley with both hands, then do a push pull deal, if the pulley rocks the pump is bad.

if you follow the two heater hoses to the alt bracket, you can see one turns at the bottom of the pipe, you can stick your fingers in there to feel the elbow for wetness. engine off of course.

[zguy]

@lewis1952 - Any recommendations on where to buy the metal ones and who the manufacturer is?

@Scottydoggs - Can this test or check be done on the GTP as is or do​I need to disassemble anything first?

[chrisdaboss]

Here you go. Dorman 47065hp. You can buy it anywhere, Amazon, Advance Auto Parts, O' Reilly. Advance always has really good coupons, so if you need to buy some more items coupons are good. We bought two of them. First my stock elbows were leaking, cool brittle, denigrated plastic bro .We had to change my elbows again, Valve cover gasket had to be replaced. The second set one of the elbows was larger than what it was supposed to be, so it didn't fit. We just reused the old aluminum elbow and put a new o-ring on there. But yeah, one of the elbows I got was defective.

[Scottydoggs]

you can do it with the belt on still, but some time taking the belt off will let it move where it wont with the belt on.

most local part stores carry the new metal elbows, they are made by dorman in the HELP section.