Coolant Elbows

[97seagain]

What do you guys use to seal your coolant elbows?

I've went through two sets already, and have tried numerous times to get them to seal. They always drip overnight with the engine is cold.

I've tried permatex, dielectric, and a combination of the two.

[yonkerse]

I have recently ran into this issue as well. I first did my LIM gasket replacement around 91K miles...when placing the coolant elbows in, I simply just oiled the o-rings and inserted them....surely about 2000 miles later, they leaked.

Took them out again, observed them and everything looked fine. This time I put a bead of silicone around the o-rings..and this lasted longer, but I have noticed they are now leaking overnight, similar to yours..

Interested in seeing others responses to this...

[Ken_W]

Harofreak wrote in another thread on this topic that he uses RTV.

Ken_W

[redbaron05]

The fix is to stay away from elbows made in CHINA...in this case...it's best to use genuine GM parts......with some RTV sealant, not too much, but just enough to wet the O-ring......

[Mark Fahey]

After putting up with the leak for a number of months, I used GM parts and Permatex red and absolutely no leaks so far.