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I have a 93 Pontiac Bonneville that has a a pretty big leak from the cooling lines. I plan on replacing it but have not been able to find a lot of information about how to do it. I know it’s the bottom line. Is it just straight forward? Do I just take the line off then put the new one on? Any info would be greatly appreciated!
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Well that sounds like a great Idea! I am probably going to do that! Is there anything I should know about doing this?
Also is there a good place to find out how much tranny fluid my car takes?Uh, not much to tell. Tubing cutters and hose clamps are pretty self-explanatory, but if you don’t know what I mean by a tubing cutter, I can explain it. Your owners manual should have the info about fluid specifications and quantities.
That’s pretty much how it’s done. You just pull the old line off and replace it with the new one. Without having the car in front of me I can’t tell you exactly how to swap the lines, but if it’s like most GMs, the cooler line is held inside the transmission with a little metal clip. You’ll need a pick to remove the clip from the radiator at one end and the transmission at the other so you can get the line out of the radiator/transmission. There’s a special tool designed specifically for it but I don’t know the proper name of the tool. I’ve always called them bitch clips, because they’re a royal bitch to remove.
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch& … 10l2.2l4l0 is a link to a picture of the tool. It essentially wraps around the cooler line and then the bitch clip teeth slide into the hollow parts of the tool. Give the tool about 1/8th of a turn or so and then pull the line and the tool out of the radiator/transmission. To reinstall the lines, just push the end into it’s respective port. The clip will expand around the end of the line and then clip into place so that you can’t pull the line back out.
Just throwing this out there. I was delivering pizzas in a 95 Ford Taurus I used to own. Backing out of someone’s driveway, the curb caught the bottom of the rad support, and apparently one of the cooler lines had come unclipped prior to this, because it got smashed when I bumped the curb. I go almost a block before smoke started pouring out and I noticed a huge trail of transmission fluid following my car. I parked it on the street, got a ride home, got my tubing cutter and a piece of rubber line with two hose clamps (the screw type), and cut out and replaced the damaged section. These aren’t brake lines, and aren’t under huge amounts of pressure. Never leaked again. This was on standard steel lines, I’m not sure what your ’93 Pontiac would have, but I would imagine they are the same. I’m trying to follow 3Sheets’ link, but it won’t load for me for some reason.
Quoted From Beefy:
Just throwing this out there. I was delivering pizzas in a 95 Ford Taurus I used to own. Backing out of someone’s driveway, the curb caught the bottom of the rad support, and apparently one of the cooler lines had come unclipped prior to this, because it got smashed when I bumped the curb. I go almost a block before smoke started pouring out and I noticed a huge trail of transmission fluid following my car. I parked it on the street, got a ride home, got my tubing cutter and a piece of rubber line with two hose clamps (the screw type), and cut out and replaced the damaged section. These aren’t brake lines, and aren’t under huge amounts of pressure. Never leaked again. This was on standard steel lines, I’m not sure what your ’93 Pontiac would have, but I would imagine they are the same. I’m trying to follow 3Sheets’ link, but it won’t load for me for some reason.
How much of a fix is this? Should I just buy the new line or should I just do this? This sounds pretty simple and easy to do and less pricey.
I drove the car for a couple more years before I sold it. Never had a problem with it. Cost about $2 plus a couple quarts of tranny fluid.
The only question I have is how to cut out the bad part of the line? I get the part about using the line and the clamps . The lines on the car are some sort of metal (probably steal) Is there a specific tool I should use? Sorry this will be the first time I have ever just not replaced a part.
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-8-eighth … 92878.html
A buddy of mine ended up having one! But what a great idea! It worked so well and was crazy cheap! Drove it for about a half an hour and not a drop! I would always suggest this instead of replacing the line! It only took me about twenty minutes to do the whole thing! Thanks so much!
No problem bud. I’m glad it worked out for you. Well done.
By the way, I shouldn’t need to state this, but it isn’t even a quick fix option on brake lines, as that is a safety item, and the pressures on brake lines is extreme compared to trans cooler lines.
Quoted From dreamer2355:
Thanks for posting the fix and great job Beefy!
Thanks dreamy! I mean dreamer… It’s the accent… 🙂
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