Lower Radiator Hose

[HammerWerf]

Folks, I'm going to pull the radiator out to clean the fins in preparation for summer. Don't want to overheat going over the Grapevine. :D I went and bought new upper and lower hoses, since mine are the original ones. New DexCool going in. The new lower hose has a Tee fitting in it and a 3/4" hose attached to it. Open top. The brand of hose is GoodYear, and their book says the part fits back to the 1996 Model year. My radiator head tank is firmly bolted to the firewall. Any ideas what this hose is for, or Have I just not seen it under the hood. If it an add on, how do I seal the hose?

HammerWerf

[Barry Nave]

There you go. That hose goes to the coolent tank.

[FarmerDale]

Having just been in there to upgrade the water pump on my '95, I found a 3/4" hose attached to the lower hose @ the barb.

Dexcool is great, however I would caution that you fully flush the system to remove all traces of the green antifreeze. I heard/read somewhere that it is up to a 60 step process to do the flush properly. It isn't that the two products don't mix, because they are both ethlyene glycol. However, the antioxidants and lubricants are enough different that mixing the 2 products, even minute amounts, cancels out the properties of each. I would recommend doing a search in these pages on permanent antifreeze

[Beedee]

Just a little note about the antifreeze thing again. One day last year the boss thought that he would be a nice guy and top up the rad for one of the office girls. She had pink antifreeze, he poured in green, and they got this horrible colored snotty mess, kinda like half set jello.
Don't know why it happened, or what he did wrong, but she got a free rad flush compliments of the boss.
Guess he should have stayed behind the desk where he belongs, hasn't picked up a wrench for 30 years.... :rolleyes: But I digress.
The flushing story is here http://www.thedieselpage.com/members/features/dexcool.htm
but I think the 60 step was more for cleaning out the rust.
Good luck