After getting home I notice some steam marks on the lower right side of my hood so I opened the hood and got a steam bath... I had this problem like a week or two ago but I replaced the waterpump and refilled my radiator with the proper 50/50 mixture. Im guessing that I have a leak somewhere and I dont believe its my radiator because I have no spots in my driveway... I did notice some ??water?? along the edges of the lower intake manifold and a hissing noise or water dripping onto something and burning off type noise. Could this be a bad lower intake manifold gasket or the coolant elbows or should I change both?

 

elbos are very likely . easy to do. just make sure u clean the tensioner of the cheap plastic very good. mine didn't leak as profuse as u make it sound but its probably easier and cheaper to start with that. like an hr and 5 bucks... intake isn't as cheap but probably no more difficult. chance r if u replace ur wp its cuz thats where u thought the leak was. so its probably elbo cuz its the sames area. if u find the water on a different side maybe ur intake. take a really good look at where u smell coolant the strongest

 

Thanks for the fast reply, I will have a good look tomorrow after work. Looks like im carpooling with coworkers until friday... :/

 

that sux. do they have a monte? ha

 

One does but we dont get along to good (has horrible work ethics).
Ill be carpooling in a 90 something FORD MUSTANG

 

Do yourself a favor and get the radiator pressure tester from your local parts store (this should be part of there "loan-a-tool" stuff). This will allow you to leak check without having to deal with a hot engine.

I believe you have a 3800 under the hood? If so, it's definitely suggesting the coolant elbows have gone bad. Those take like 30 minutes to do and cost $5-$10. But best to make sure that's what you need.

If it is the LIM gaskets, that job is not tough to do (been there, done that myself on a couple of 3800s/3100s/3400s). The 3800 is a lot easier to do in my opinion. If that is the case and you intend to keep the car, spend the extra $20 or less to get the Fel-Pro aluminum gaskets.

 

Riding in a Mustang is better then no ride @ all...
Hope he is a safe driver & keep us updated on the solution to your problem...Hope it's a E.Z. fix & not a expensive repair $
Good Luck Deron 4-Sure

 

Ok so after work I got my coworker to stop and get a coolant elbow from O'Reilys and it was $4.35 with tax. I started to take stuff off of my car and finally got the new elbows in and was super happy. Then I get to the step where I have to put the belt back on and to my luck the tensioner bolt housing thingy was stripped and wasnt allowing me to push it back :/. So I call around and get an average price of $100+ but I cant see myself paying that much at this point in time (money tight). So I take a ride in our truck to pull a part where I find that admission is now $2 instead of $1!!! :p. Anyways I couldnt find a Monte or Impala with an engine in it or and Buicks. As I was leaving in disbelief the forklift brings in and Pontiac Grand Prix. I literally got in front of him (now that I think about it, that was dumb) and said let me check out that car, DROP IT! He placed it in an open area of the lot and let me take off the tensioner bracket and pulley, it was nice of that guy. He said he was supposed to do paperwork before he could let anyone take parts off but he said was going to do it after I finish. He gave me a vacuum fitting and told me to hand him the tensioner bracket and go pay for the vacuum piece, So i paid $.75 (lol) and went to the parking lot and saw him waving me over. He told me that he had a Monte that had problem after problem and ended up selling it and he knew how troubling they could be so he gave me the part! I was afraid that it wouldnt fit because it looked different but It went right in. I had to literally beat the hose endings off of the bracket because they were rusted and stuck. I cleaned that baby up real good got all the rust off and it fit like a small latex glove on a hot day. Started the Monte up and no leaks or hissing! I hope this is the end to my overheating problems. I do have to say that my car doesnt start the same anymore... Its like its harder for it to start (not really harder but sounds like the starter is going out :/) Forgot to add that the coolant elbows had the tips stuck in the tensioners smh and I had to scrape them out and put them in my evidence log