Dorman Aluminum Coolant Elbows Anygood ?
- Thread starter Merkava_4
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Yes. Have put them on 4 GM vehicles with Upper Intake issues. I used a "C" shaped pick to remove the broken pieces of the plastic OEM garbage. Pulled the O rings off and lubed them well with Sil Glyde. Cleaned up the interior surfaces mating surfaces and they slid right in. I sleep better at night.
Elbows are fine, but the o-rings are typical cheap, worthless Dorman Chinese trash. Every single Dorman cooling system o-ring I have used has failed or been on it's way to failure within 2 years. They rot, or crack, loose their compliance and flatten out... and leak.
The GM elbows might fail eventually, but they far outlast the Dorman feces o-rings.
The GM elbows might fail eventually, but they far outlast the Dorman feces o-rings.
yes they are the best ones. fyi you can find them in the junkyard now days if you really wanted to be cheap.
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Elbows are fine, but the o-rings are typical cheap, worthless Dorman Chinese trash. Every single Dorman cooling system o-ring I have used has failed or been on it's way to failure within 2 years. They rot, or crack, loose their compliance and flatten out... and leak.
The GM elbows might fail eventually, but they far outlast the Dorman feces o-rings.
I removed the Dorman o rings and put the GM o rings on the Dorman metal elbow. Lubed the o rings with silicon grease and pushed the elbow in place.
Elbows are fine, but the o-rings are typical cheap, worthless Dorman Chinese trash. Every single Dorman cooling system o-ring I have used has failed or been on it's way to failure within 2 years. They rot, or crack, loose their compliance and flatten out... and leak.
The GM elbows might fail eventually, but they far outlast the Dorman feces o-rings.
I removed the Dorman o rings and put the GM o rings on the Dorman metal elbow. Lubed the o rings with silicon grease and pushed the elbow in place.
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Lubener
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Elbows are fine, but the o-rings are typical cheap, worthless Dorman Chinese trash. Every single Dorman cooling system o-ring I have used has failed or been on it's way to failure within 2 years. They rot, or crack, loose their compliance and flatten out... and leak.
The GM elbows might fail eventually, but they far outlast the Dorman feces o-rings.
I removed the Dorman o rings and put the GM o rings on the Dorman metal elbow. Lubed the o rings with silicon grease and pushed the elbow in place.
Yeah that'd be the way to do it... that or size and source you own o-rings of known quality.
On a side note- hopefully Dorman will improve the quality of their o-rings? Several months ago one of the salesmen that calls on the shop brought a rep from Dorman by. He asked me if I used any Dorman products and what I thought of them. Told him what I thought of their o-rings in the cooling system products. He took a few notes down, so hopefully he passed them on to the mothership.
Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Elbows are fine, but the o-rings are typical cheap, worthless Dorman Chinese trash. Every single Dorman cooling system o-ring I have used has failed or been on it's way to failure within 2 years. They rot, or crack, loose their compliance and flatten out... and leak.
The GM elbows might fail eventually, but they far outlast the Dorman feces o-rings.
I removed the Dorman o rings and put the GM o rings on the Dorman metal elbow. Lubed the o rings with silicon grease and pushed the elbow in place.
Yeah that'd be the way to do it... that or size and source you own o-rings of known quality.
On a side note- hopefully Dorman will improve the quality of their o-rings? Several months ago one of the salesmen that calls on the shop brought a rep from Dorman by. He asked me if I used any Dorman products and what I thought of them. Told him what I thought of their o-rings in the cooling system products. He took a few notes down, so hopefully he passed them on to the mothership.
I smear a little Hylomar M on the O rings when installing them in the cooling system, they never leak and because it never hard cures removal is easy. It also works great on hard to seal plastic thermostat and radiator hose connections without bonding the hose to the nipple.
Originally Posted By: Lubener
I removed the Dorman o rings and put the GM o rings on the Dorman metal elbow. Lubed the o rings with silicon grease and pushed the elbow in place.
Lubner, are they one size o-ring or two different sizes ?
I think one of the elbows is a larger diameter than the other; isn't it ?
I removed the Dorman o rings and put the GM o rings on the Dorman metal elbow. Lubed the o rings with silicon grease and pushed the elbow in place.
Lubner, are they one size o-ring or two different sizes ?
I think one of the elbows is a larger diameter than the other; isn't it ?
Originally Posted By: mk378
You need three small o-rings and one large one. One end of the elbow that fits into the water pump is larger.
Thank you sir!
Originally Posted By: Lubener
You got it.3 small and 1 large. I still shake my head seeing one end of an elbow going into a tensioner???????
They needed to route coolant to the water pump and lower intake manifold. Rather than route hoses around the belt tensioner, they decided to route the coolant THROUGH the belt tensioner. Saves space.
You need three small o-rings and one large one. One end of the elbow that fits into the water pump is larger.
Thank you sir!
Originally Posted By: Lubener
You got it.3 small and 1 large. I still shake my head seeing one end of an elbow going into a tensioner???????
They needed to route coolant to the water pump and lower intake manifold. Rather than route hoses around the belt tensioner, they decided to route the coolant THROUGH the belt tensioner. Saves space.
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