I have a 2003 Monte Carlo LS. The other day I was driving it around and I heard a belt sqealing so I broght it home and looked at it and I saw coolant leaking all over. It was somehow getting on the belt and that made it spray and made the belt sqeal really loud. Well I figured that it was the lower radiator hose. So I replaced it and refilled it with coolant. I drove it around and everything was good again. Well I was driving it a few days latter and it did it again. Now I am thinking it could be a water pump. Could that be?

 

Sounds more like one of the plastic elbows that feed the heater core.

I have an '03 and just replaced these elbows, I went ahead and replaced the water pump while I had it all apart.

 

That's exactly what happened to my '03 last month. Stupid little plastic elbow pipe broke, spraying coolant everywhere except into the engine. So much so I had steam pouring out of the engine bay whenever I drove more than 5 minutes. Made for some embarrassing moments :P

 

A shop can test your water pump. They fill your system to the proper level with coolant, then put a pressure tester where the radiator cap goes. They increase the pressure to 15 pounds or so and if the pressure holds there is no leak. Then turn on your heater and watch for the pressure to drop. Also keep your car doors closed and the windows up for awhile with the heater on then open the door and smell around for coolant and look for wet areas by the passenger floor board. If all is good here then the heater system is sealed. If you are losing pressure then look to see if coolant is being forced out of the water pumps weep hole, radiator, hoses, plastic waterpump bypass elbows to the heater, drain petcocks on radiator and engine. Look for any dripping and follow it back to the source. If you are having a hard time finding the source of the dripping, add a Ultraviolet sensitive dye to the coolant and hang a blacklight under the hood and follow the leak back to the source. Hope this helps....

 

Thanks. The problem is kind of funny. I had the car for a few days and it ran great. Then after I was driving it for awhile one day, it made the squealing noise. So I looked under the hood and it looked like it was coming from the lower radiator hose because that hose was all wet. The belts made it spray all over the place. So I figured there was a hole in the lower radiator hose that was dripping on the belt causing it to squeal. So I replaced that. I drove it on the highway for 20 minutes and drove it around town and everything was good. Well I stopped for a minute at a place and let it run. I came back out and took off. I got going and it started again. Before I bought it, they put a new intake manifold gasket in. I don't know if that may have caused this problem or not. Today I am going to take it to a family member who is a mechanic to see what he says. Thanks again for all your help.

 

I had a difficult time finding the problem as well, I found that I had to get the RPM's well above idle to clearly identify the elbow as the culprit without a pressurization tool. Check out the picture that I attached in my first response, this was the elbow that failed on mine and looking at the two once off the car this one is the weak link of the two.

 

This is what has just failed for me today ( stupid elbow spraying everywhere)... What a happy thanksgiving.. *sigh* how much of a pain in the butt are they to change and can you get them from any old part store or are they a dealer only part? A walkthrough would be beautiful so I can have info beforehand.. do I need to purchase any gaskets or anything?
I can't see where I would, but I only have the one car atm so I can't afford to tear into it uninformed..

 

He has an LS, which is a 3.4. They do not have coolant elbow, but are quite prone to water pump failure.


Is there a wet streak on the bottom om the hood from the pulley slinging it?

 

This was an old post Aussiek2000... I was just hoping to get info as I can't seem to locate much on this as far as a parts list, etc..

 

You have to remove the alternator and mounting bracket. Takes about an hour if you take your time. I would use dealer parts and not aftermarket. I had to redo about 12 cars that had the elbows warp and start leaking using dorman parts.