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I called Dorman on Monday morning, but I forgot to update this though. I ended up speaking with an engineer, and he said they have not recalled anything, but he has heard of widespread leaks among the "3800 sector" as he put it. He said there was a new design out, and that spot check inspections at stores is being done. He said no recall as of now, but he swore up and down multiple times that if I had a set that failed or knew of anyone who did that Dorman guarantees the retailer will replace with new set with a receipt because they now have a lifetime warranty.

Warranty page: http://www.dormanproducts.com/Pages/Hom ... ranty.aspx

Hm. Interesting. I got mine from Rock Auto and sealed them with RTV, so my fingers are crossed for no leaks.

Add another to the list with one leaking...less than 6 months after the upper and lower gaskets were done, AND I used RTV on them.

00Beast wrote:Hm. Interesting. I got mine from Rock Auto and sealed them with RTV, so my fingers are crossed for no leaks.

The first three sets (Dorman) on my car were sealed with RTV too. This set (GM) seems to be holding well, along with a new tensioner, that's not corroded.

I need to change a leaking coolant elbow on my car and want to make sure that I get the new Dorman product .

Does anyone know how to distinguish the new improved version vs the old version of Dorman coolant elbows (ie difference in packaging or part # etc).

Also - red RTV on LIM o-ring for "insurance" Y/N ?

-Thanks

"This might require a call to Dorman's corporate offices. My mechanic friend that informed me of this said that O'reilly's Auto Parts did not have any in stock the other day because Dormant pulled them all from the shelves due to a leaking issues. He said they do have a new updated version of the elbows. He said he has had three cars come back in the last three weeks due to leaking coolant elbows that he had just replaced."

Same problem here. I wonder if one can identify from the package (part#, color etc) as whether the stock at the auto parts store (usually O'Reilly for me) is the new design ?

vogie01 wrote:I called Dorman on Monday morning, but I forgot to update this though. I ended up speaking with an engineer, and he said they have not recalled anything, but he has heard of widespread leaks among the "3800 sector" as he put it. He said there was a new design out, and that spot check inspections at stores is being done. He said no recall as of now, but he swore up and down multiple times that if I had a set that failed or knew of anyone who did that Dorman guarantees the retailer will replace with new set with a receipt because they now have a lifetime warranty.

Warranty page: http://www.dormanproducts.com/Pages/Hom ... ranty.aspx

Just replaced a Dorman elbow that was only installed since thais past June (7 months old) I used Permatex 27B on that install and it still leaked. This time I permatexed the entire external "gap" around the tensioner side andgot a nice even ooze of a seal on the intake side. The leaking elbow I replaced was not warped in anyway but the O Rings looked flat and aged (prematurely worn after only 7 months- only a few thousand miles)

I contacted Dorman tech support about the bad coolant elbows. They told me that there was a problem but were not specific about it (didn't mention o-rings and I forgot to ask). They told me that the "improved" version has production code number of 11300 or higher stamped on the elbow. Who knows...

LOL... leaked on my 1999 eighty-eight. Oh well, car is gone now. Need to update my signature I guess.

Same problem here. I have taking them out and reinstalled them 3 times now and still are leaking. Think I'm just going to get a set of GM ones and hope for the best.

Same issue here. I have tried correcting the leak 3 times, each with Dorman elbows. Mine are currently still leaking slightly....only when the car sits for a long period of time. I'm anxious to try the new Dorman design once were able to locate them!

I just looked at a Dorman coolant elbows in a packed that a recently arrived at my neearby chain autoparts store. The elbow with the same diameter ends had 11300 stamped on it .

The elbow on my car (1998 Oldsmobile 3.8) is the elbow in the package that has 2 different diameter ends . The larger end of the Dorman elbow has a purple o-ring . This compared equally with the leaking elbow I removed . The o-ring is not as thick as the o-ring from the original GM elbow .

I am not convinced that there has been anything done (ie facilitating at tighter fit in the LIM bore ) for the elbow on my car . I am back to getting an elbow from GM or getting a thicker o-ring from NAPA (most are BunaN) which hopefully is heat and antifreeze resistant.

rkpatt wrote:I just looked at a Dorman coolant elbows in a packed that a recently arrived at my neearby chain autoparts store. The elbow with the same diameter ends had 11300 stamped on it .

The elbow on my car (1998 Oldsmobile 3.8) is the elbow in the package that has 2 different diameter ends . The larger end of the Dorman elbow has a purple o-ring . This compared equally with the leaking elbow I removed . The o-ring is not as thick as the o-ring from the original GM elbow .

I am not convinced that there has been anything done (ie facilitating at tighter fit in the LIM bore ) for the elbow on my car . I am back to getting an elbow from GM or getting a thicker o-ring from NAPA (most are BunaN) which hopefully is heat and antifreeze resistant.

Could you post up a picture of the new ones?? please..

Yes, a pic of the package and part number please. For future reference for the members here.

I'm not convinced that the source of the leak is the seals.
My elbows (I am now on set #4) are warping, losing the 90 degree bend and being pushed out by the pressure in the coolant system.
I have a Failsafe thermostat, and it reaches over 230 before opening (initally) then maintains about 200. So unless they switched plastics in the new elbows I don't think they have solved the issue. Note that I didn't have a problem when I still had the stuck-slightly-open original thermostat that took 15 minutes to get up to temp. Doorman is using an incorrect plastic for the application. I think you guys aren't getting as hot initially as I am, so the plastic is losing it's shape (and therefore it's ability to seal) on the ends where they interface with the manifold first (maybe the hottest point normally, whereas my coolant temp reaches 230 daily).
I think the OEM elbows are probably fine, I replaced them as P.M. when I did the rebuild, but they weren't leaking yet then. I wish I had taken the seals off the doorman and put them on the delco elbows now.

My Dormans, well, one set warped, one had bad o-rings, and third warped and my tensioner was corroded.

I had over 30 sets fail on me this past fall. I've got all the receipts but didn't think to save them when I bad elbows.
What I found was failing were the o-rings.
I would use Permatex ultra black rtv as lube and to aid in sealing, but in a matter of 2-3 weeks the o-rings would flatten out/shrink.
Since the GM elbows were ~$20/set I started buying the Dorman elbows, but I would buy GM o-rings and put them on the Dorman elbows.
Cost comes to ~$10/set vs $20 from the dealer.

olblueeyesbonne wrote:I had over 30 sets fail on me this past fall. I've got all the receipts but didn't think to save them when I bad elbows.
What I found was failing were the o-rings.
I would use Permatex ultra black rtv as lube and to aid in sealing, but in a matter of 2-3 weeks the o-rings would flatten out/shrink.
Since the GM elbows were ~$20/set I started buying the Dorman elbows, but I would buy GM o-rings and put them on the Dorman elbows.
Cost comes to ~$10/set vs $20 from the dealer.

Interesting idea. Do you recall the GM part number for the O-rings you used??

olblueeyesbonne wrote:I had over 30 sets fail on me this past fall. I've got all the receipts but didn't think to save them when I bad elbows.
What I found was failing were the o-rings.
I would use Permatex ultra black rtv as lube and to aid in sealing, but in a matter of 2-3 weeks the o-rings would flatten out/shrink.
Since the GM elbows were ~$20/set I started buying the Dorman elbows, but I would buy GM o-rings and put them on the Dorman elbows.
Cost comes to ~$10/set vs $20 from the dealer.

Hello Pontiac Bonneville Club'ers, I do not have a Bonne, but may some day, I do however have a 3800 II engine that has had the same coolant elbow problem, I replaced mine when I did a UIM/LIM job, and had them leak in under 100 miles.
I knew once I first seen the Dorman O Rings that they looked a tad smaller, so after I noticed my leak I took the Fel-Pro O Rings that came with my LIM Kit, put them on with no RTV and had no leaks so far, and it has been a few hundred miles.

I know some say they melt, I personally have not experienced this, my old elbow did fall apart at both ends once I removed it though, it had been on there 133k leak free from the day the car was made.

Olblueeyes is dead on the money in my opinion, the elbows are fine it is the o rings, I seen mine flatten out too much in under 200 miles, so imaging how may just keep driving, topping their cars off on occasion, and not knowing they have a little coolant leak...

Here is a pic of mine side by side, in the second pic I had them at an angle so the left one which is the Fel-PRO one looked smaller, when it is actually just a tad bigger..


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I will be changing the coolant elbows very soon and wondered if anyone has yet used the "improved" Dorman coolant elbows . Are they better than the old ones ?



BTE- I haven't been back to the parts store however I am pretty sure that the part # and packaging was the same. I asked the parts guy to open the package to let me examine the two elbow .

yonkerse wrote:

rkpatt wrote:I just looked at a Dorman coolant elbows in a packed that a recently arrived at my neearby chain autoparts store. The elbow with the same diameter ends had 11300 stamped on it .

The elbow on my car (1998 Oldsmobile 3.8) is the elbow in the package that has 2 different diameter ends . The larger end of the Dorman elbow that fits into the LIM has a purple o-ring . This compared equally with the leaking elbow I removed . The o-ring is not as thick as the o-ring from the original GM elbow .

I am not convinced that there has been anything done (ie facilitating at tighter fit in the LIM bore ) for the elbow on my car . I am back to getting an elbow from GM or getting a thicker o-ring from NAPA (most are BunaN) which hopefully is heat and antifreeze resistant.

Could you post up a picture of the new ones?? please..