Coolant Hose Question/Leak

[Chris611]

I am seeing some drips comming from the hose connector for the hose that goes from the top of the thremostat housing to the heater core. Its the one that starts out aluminum and then turns into a green rubber hose and runs along the pass side valve cover. I moved it some this weekend when I changed injectors and now I notice some drips. I'm not familiar with that connector. Are there seals in there that I could have damaged? How can I change them.

Thanks
Chris

[Dvldog 8793]

Howdy
Dealer has a rebuild kit for the connector. I'm not sure if anyone else makes one.
L8r
Conley Janssen

[Marty Lau]

do your self a favor and get rid of that POS! Those quick conects corode and break. I couldn't get mine out of the old single stat housing with pentrating oil and a couple of big eazyouts and heat ended up melting the thing before it let loose. I put a brass hose barb in from a home improvement store was like $2 and a hose clamp.

[tanker]

Replace that leaky connector with a brass heater hose barb, available at a good parts house, or truck parts supplier. That way it will never leak again.
That connector was made for fast assembly line hookup, but most have failed. I went through two before I switched on my 6.5 suburban.
Replace that metal tube as well, just use hose. I replaced with silicone heater hoses, they are lifetime. ;)

[Chris611]

Thanks guys, I tried to remove the hex shaped threaded adapter and it broke off. Sound like similar to 16GA SXS.

16GA S x S (or anyone else who's had that happen) any advice on how to remove other than whats listed: heat & EZ outs? Did you have to remove the thermostat housing to use heat?

What is the material?

Thanks
Chris

[BobND]

Use a small sawblade held in a Vise-Grip, or even a electric saber saw to notch the remains of the broken fitting from the center hole, outwards toward the threads. Be carefull not to cut all the way out to the threads. Make a couple of kerfs, and then use a hammer and a small punch to tap the pieces inward, freeing them from the the threads in the crossover, and remove the pieces with a needle-nose pliers.

[damork]

Before GM used that, they used a simple barb with an orifice in it to control flow through the heater core. Just ask for the pipe nipple used on a 6.2 diesel made in the 82-87 timeframe, it was under $5 when I bought one.

[Chris611]

Well, no luck with the housing still in the truck. I tried a #6 extractor and it locked in good, but I couldn't get the part to budge. I now have the thermostat housing off the truck. What suggestion do you guys have now that its off the truck?

Thanks
Chris

[patrick m.]

you're going to have to do like Bodnd said, cut a slot in the broken material and "peel" it off of the threads.

Then get a 1/2inch NPT tap and clean up the threads.

If you decide to re-use the quick connect, get the steel one, not the pot metal/aluminum crap on we all had at one time ;)

[CareyWeber]

Originally posted by Chris611:
Well, no luck with the housing still in the truck. I tried a #6 extractor and it locked in good, but I couldn't get the part to budge. I now have the thermostat housing off the truck. What suggestion do you guys have now that its off the truck?

Thanks
Chris Heat it and then holdf a candle against it the heat will melt the wax and draw it in between the threads and when it's cool it will come out with a extractor.

The cutting will work too.

Repeat If you want to keep it get a steel one.

Carey

[CareyWeber]

Originally posted by tanker:
Replace that leaky connector with a brass heater hose barb, available at a good parts house, or truck parts supplier. That way it will never leak again.
That connector was made for fast assembly line hookup, but most have failed. I went through two before I switched on my 6.5 suburban.
Replace that metal tube as well, just use hose. I replaced with silicone heater hoses, they are lifetime. ;) Tanker,

Where did you get your silicone hoses?

Did you have to use special clamps with the silicone hose?

Carey

[Chris611]

Thanks guys for all the advice. I finally got the neck of the adapter out. Did some grinding with a die grinder to remove as much material as possible without hitting the threads. Thne used a brazing torch to help the "material" out. It just sort of melted out. I then ran a 3/8" NPT tap through. The threads didn't look great, but also didn't look too bad. However when I put the new fitting in (3/8" NPT to 1/2" barb) and used teflon tape...its leaks :mad: I tried it a couple times and no luck. Didn't even have to start the vehicle to find the leak. I tried putting Blue RTV on the threads and screwed it in. I am waiting for it to dry over night. I am now wondering if that is going to work? What do you guys think? What else should I try or do?

Chris

Side note: I got a rechargable MagLite flashlight for XMas from my brother-in-law. I had it in the engine compartment and set it face down on the pass side battery. I didn't realize that it was still on when I put it down. It burned a hole through the top of the battery. The cost just keep addin' up....

[damork]

It sounds like some kind of high strength sealer is going to be needed to stop your leak. I don't believe silicone will work, but the Loctite product line may have something that could seal it. I've used the #1 or #2 Permatex as well, and I'm sure there are others.