What is the procedure to remove the coolant crossover tube on my V6, auto trans? I got a leak at the support bracket. Will radiator stop leak temporarily stop the leak for a week of driving? Thanks for helping out. I did a search here and didn't find a procedure.

Besides the hoses, the coolant crossover is mounted in two spots and is really simple to change. It has a tab neer the top which has a small sheet metal screw holding it and a bolt near the bottom. The top is pretty straight forward and the bottom is easiest if you crawl under the car and look up at the coolant tube. I would recommend replacing the hoses while you are at it if they are very old, your leak could be there and running down the pipe to the bracket.

Edit: There is a third tab which has a clip for the wiring harness. Just release the clip from the wire harness with a flat screw driver.

If your leek is a hose or a hole in the pipe then stop leak will do very little if anything to stop the leak.

Bob

[This message has been edited by gryphon025 (edited 08-03-2004).]

Thanks, it sounds easy. Is there anything else that needs to be removed to get the crossover pipe out of the engine compartment? It looks tight in there.

quote Originally posted by js: I was told it is difficult to remove without taking the engine out. It looks tight in there, what other things do I need to remove to get it out without removing the engine? Thanks for your help

From my experience doing this twice now, it was one of tthe most difficult things i ever did on my Fiero and I tore that and another Fiero completely down and back together. I am not positive but I might have had an auto tube for a manual car or a non AC one with an AC car, but it was not a good fit and I busted my a$$ to get it in. I imagine even if I had the correct tube it would have been a pain. So just in case, I would leave a few hours open in my day if I were you.

quote Originally posted by connecticutFIERO: From my experience doing this twice now, it was one of tthe most difficult things i ever did on my Fiero.

I'll second this. One of the most pain-in-the-arse jobs I've ever done.

If your car has A/C, you'll need to move the top A/C bracket out of the way. It looks like you don't have to. Don't be fooled.
It will also make it much easier if you can drop your exhaust system out of the way.

Hey, thanks for the advice. Did you move the engine or lower the cradle to do this? Thanks in advance.

yeah - it was a tough one for me too. I couldnt even do it. I ended up cutting the bad section out of the existing tube, and just replacing the back 1/2 of it, and using a peice of radiator hose & clamps to splice it together. so, its half old tube (the front half), and half new tube (the back half). I could not get the tube out from the front suspension. had it all loose & the hoses off, just couldnt get the damn thing out.

I lowered the front of the cradel (firewall side) to get more access, but it was still hard. I eventually just cut off about six inches of the pipe and used a water pump hose instead because it was longer. That created another problem though, because now the exhaust bracket is jutting into the rubber hose and started melting into it. I ended up putting 2 hose clamps in that spot so the heat isn't directly on the rubber hose. Its been working now for almost a whole year, eventually I will replace the hose with one that has heat shielding and grind down the exhaust clamp so it isn't sharply angled anymore.

GOOD LUCK!

Again, thanks for the advice, but I need to replace it. It is leaking at the support bracket (rusty area) on the driver's side of the tube. So, I dont want to cut it and splice on a rubber hose. It is my daily driver, so I need to fix it while on vacation from work next week. I suppose I can cut it to get it out, but I don't want to do that with the replacement to put it in.

I just went through this proceedure. Rodney sells stainless steel crossover pipes which will last forever. Make sure you check with Rodney about the brackets. If your car has had the recall you will need to bend the bracket on his new pipe to clear the heat shield. Here is the proceedure - Drain the cooling system. Remove the hoses from the top and bottom of the pipe. Remove the lower A/C bracket. Unbolt the upper A/C bracket (three bolts reached from the top). Remove the pipe. Install the new pipe but don't bolt it up tight. The difficult part is re-installing the upper A/C bracket bolts. It helps if you have some one help you. The compressor needs to be loose so that it can move on the bracket when you try to align the top three braket bolts. Use a alignment tool in one of the braket holes. It takes some wiggling of the compressor and the bracket to get all three bolt holes lined up. Once the compressor is bolted back in the process is easier. You should also remove the heat shields for more room and it is a good time to clean any oil or grease that has accumulated. This is one job I hope I never have to do again! Good Luck.

Thanks, Bob. Now I feel better about my job I'll do next week.

I have removed the entire a/c compressor about 3 years ago when I did the r-134a retro myself. It was tough finding the bolt holes, until I got the smarts and ground a point on the bolts on my bench grinder, sort of a pilot bolt approach, but it worked great. Did the same on either or both the alternator and water pump blind holes, when I replaced those.