Dorman - Help Heater Hose Fittings with O-Rings - Aluminum (OE Fix)

The OEM are plastic and turn brittle/break. Replacing them with the same plastic ones you could damage them easily on the install or break them. These aluminum ones are made tough and you can twist them a little without worry of breaking them or possibility of damage to the pipe, scratches to the seal area. On a 3800 Chevy just pull the coolant bottle and the accessory belt off and you are right there. The system is usually empty because they are most likely busted in half so no drainage is necessary. Then simply unbolt the altenator (Disconect The BATTERY FIRST) and put it aside. Then its three bolts and off it comes but be careful to fish out the broken pieces in the manifold and clean with emery cloth all four surfaces. Then I put silicone lube on the "O" rings for easy positioning and installation. Next just reverse the process and fill and check for leaks. Not a bad job with the right parts. Be careful because they go in a certain way so pay attention. Have fun its not that bad at all.

i chose these because they seemed like a better design than the original plastic design. my old plastic ones were cracked and leaking so aluminum should help prevent that from happening again. i did read a lot of reviews that said that the dorman o-rings that come with the elbows were not very good so i was going to get the GM factory replacement o-rings and use those instead of the ones that come in the package but i forgot to pick them up so i just used the dorman o-rings. it has been a few weeks now and no leaks, so time will tell.

I purchased plastic elbows a couple years ago from dorman. The elbows were good but the O-rings do not retain their shape, and leak. I talked to several other people who had the same problem. If you pull out an elbow that is leaking, you will see that the O-rings are flat. A good O-ring will retain its original shape. Buy the aluminum elbow and put the factory O-rings back in. Or buy an OEM plastic elbow and use those O-rings. I wrote to Dorman about this problem, but I see by the reviews that they have done nothing about it. How hard can it be to buy a good O-ring????

Just installed these on my Buick Regal. Takes about 60 minutes start to finish if you watch a you tube video and have the right steps in your head before starting. All series II 3800 engines are the same. I read a couple of reviews that mentioned "flat o rings". Someone must have listened because the ones I got have regular round o rings. Another tip I can pass on from working on kitchen and bathroom faucets that also use o rings. Put some plumbers grease on the o rings and the ends of the elbows before trying to slip them into the inlet/outlet holes. They;ll sip right in and seat in the right places. You can get a tube of plumbers grease at any hardware store for about $2. If you need to replace these elbows on your buggy don't waste your time or money on the plastic replacement ones. Spend the few extra bucks and do the job one time and it's done.

Very easy to install. These tubes are better than the original plastic parts.