These 3800 Series II V6's have a 90 degree elbow made out of plastic that connects the lower intake manifold at the front of the engine (passenger side of car) to the alternator bracket. The alternator bracket has passageways that connect to two heater hoses that go to the firewall (heater core). I have seen more of these break than you would believe. If this is where you are losing coolant from (and it is the #1 place I have found on these cars/engines) you can choose to replace it with another plastic one, or with an aluminum one that won't break. The removal process is fairly straight forward.
Remove negative battery cable from under rear seat. Use a socket/ratchet to loosen belt tensioner and remove belt from alternator and P/S pulleys. Remove alternator support brackets and disconnect wires. Remove alternator. Unbolt P/S pump and set back near firewall. Unhook both heater hoses from alternator bracket. Remove alternator bracket and the broken elbow pieces. You will also need to replace the lower heater pipe seal/o-ring along with the upper elbow assembly.
Reassembly is the reverse of above instructions.
If it's a hose, best bet is to just replace it, and use new clamps.
If it's leaking where it's connected to the nipple, for a quick fix, you can remove the hose, cut the hose off past the leak, and reattach it.
This requires a little bit of slack in the hose, but if the leak is right at the connection, there should be enough slack in the hose to do this.
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yes, it could be a hose attacted to a pipe nipple
Are you sure this is a pipe -- or is it a hose attached to a pipe nipple?
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