Are heater T’s still an issue with 200’s?

[LC CT]

I’m Familiar with disintegrated heater Tee’s with the hundreds, had 2 that were in terrible shape: is this still an issue with the 200? Have a 2013, 64k, tees appear to be in good shape and original, but I know they can look way different inside. Is this still an issue, at 10 years old are these things on their way out? Appreciate the info.

Thanks

 

[TimCFJ40]

Yes. I replaced mine on my 2008 at ~205k miles and one of them was a little brittle. I have seen a few posts mentioning busted coolant fittings. Perhaps not as bad as the 100 series, but still a good idea to keep up on replacing them.

 

[Docwyte]

I wouldn't say they're a problem if they lasted 200k+ miles for you....

 

[LC CT]

Gotcha. Probably a 100k maintenance item then. Thanks

 

[TimCFJ40]

I wouldn't say they're a problem if they lasted 200k+ miles for you....

My point is that they are an item that you should replace and pay attention to. Not to be ignored.

 

[OregonLC]

Like the 'For want of a Nail' idiom, small things can cascade. I always lean toward the 'what can I do better' side of the spectrum, not 'what's the least I can get away with'. Thing is, you'll never hear posts of the failures that preventative maintenance avoided so it's hard to quantify the benefit. My goal is the maximum amount of dispatch reliability so in my economy replacing those tees are easy justification. I appreciate the post as it wasn't on my radar for the 200, even though I've replaced them several times on the 100.

 

[bloc]

The correct answer is: sometimes.

A few have failed dramatically, others like my 2013 are still factory-perfect at 180K miles.

Details:

A tale of two heater T's

I got my truck with 105k on it, and dropped/filled the coolant at 120k. At the time I took a look at the heater T's and they were perfect. Between this and not hearing much about T failures I assumed toyota fixed the problem from the 100-series. Then I see a few posts about people having them...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[stonepa]

I think a lot of it comes down to regular coolant replacement as well. That seems to have prevented the issue on my 100 even after 440k miles. I check all the plastic and rubber bits annually and have replaced the T in my 100 exactly once over all those miles, mostly out of fear of being stranded up some questionable trail down south of the border.

 

[bloc]

I think a lot of it comes down to regular coolant replacement as well. That seems to have prevented the issue on my 100 even after 440k miles. I check all the plastic and rubber bits annually and have replaced the T in my 100 exactly once over all those miles, mostly out of fear of being stranded up some questionable trail down south of the border.

I like that theory. For more data, I dumped/filled coolant at 110k. This reminds me to do it again before 200.

 

[BVE]

Bought my 200 with 120k on the clock and changed them first thing coming from the 100 series. They looked brand new. Definitely seems to depend on the truck but doesn’t hurt to change them out. The catch with the 200 is the T’s are sold with the hoses as a kit for like 50 bucks instead of individually for cheap.

 

[bloc]

Bought my 200 with 120k on the clock and changed them first thing coming from the 100 series. They looked brand new. Definitely seems to depend on the truck but doesn’t hurt to change them out. The catch with the 200 is the T’s are sold with the hoses as a kit for like 50 bucks instead of individually for cheap.

87248-08030 will fit in place of the T's and save money compared to buying the whole assembly.

 

[OregonLC]

Are 87209-60C01 and -60C12 the correct supply/return part numbers? I ask because I don't see a system diagram when looking up the part. The below is an image from e-Bay, and while it looks correct I try not to rely on e-Bay imagery as my prime reference.

Seems like replacing the hoses as part of the assembly is a deal. At 155k and approaching 10 years the rubber doesn't owe me much. Plus it comes with OE clamps on the tee.

If anyone has done the full assembly, how difficult are the clamps on the other end of the hoses? On the 100 I have to lay across the top of the intake and invent new words to get those clamps to release.

 

[stonepa]

If the plastic T is bad the hoses most likely are bad also. Id replace it all at once.

 

[bloc]

Are 87209-60C01 and -60C12 the correct supply/return part numbers? I ask because I don't see a system diagram when looking up the part. The below is an image from e-Bay, and while it looks correct I try not to rely on e-Bay imagery as my prime reference.

Seems like replacing the hoses as part of the assembly is a deal. At 155k and approaching 10 years the rubber doesn't owe me much. Plus it comes with OE clamps on the tee.

If anyone has done the full assembly, how difficult are the clamps on the other end of the hoses? On the 100 I have to lay across the top of the intake and invent new words to get those clamps to release.

View attachment 3102080

It could be because I disturbed them at 110k but the ends of the hoses at the plastic T’s came loose easily. The other end is to aluminum though, so the different chemical environment could lead to more bonding.

As for physical access, I didn’t have a lot of trouble but I’m not short. Plus I do generally stand on a 2’ stool when doing work on the sides of the engine bay. I just don’t remember thinking I’d need to dust off my creative writing abilities.

 

[MTKID]

mine failed at 205k +

Can't say why, I purchased at 175K, but I personally replaced with another factory hose kit...

I was on a tricky part of a trail to have this happen, but I McGyver’d a solution to get me off the trail.

My long term plan is to eliminate the rear heater/ac.

 

[OregonLC]

Thanks for the pic. I was too lazy to walk outside and open the hood. .

Those are much more accessible than the 100, which are at the back-center of the engine and up close to the firewall. The heat soak from that location (on the 100) may explain the higher deterioration rate on the 100 tees.

As we see more long-mile 200s in the used market, it makes it that much more valuable to purchase from a known user. Something like the above could have easily resulted in a temperature excursion, the effects of which may not present themselves for thousands of miles. And then later owners post up scratching their heads as to why their 3UR has head gasket problems (or whatever).

Edit: Just read this thread. I'm assuming the HHT is the 'some plastic fitting' that is referenced, though the author wasn't explicit. If so, this is the exact scenario: temp excursion followed by some later failure mode.

 

[MTKID]

Thanks for the pic. I was too lazy to walk outside and open the hood. .

Those are much more accessible than the 100, which are at the back-center of the engine and up close to the firewall. The heat soak from that location (on the 100) may explain the higher deterioration rate on the 100 tees.

As we see more long-mile 200s in the used market, it makes it that much more valuable to purchase from a known user. Something like the above could have easily resulted in a temperature excursion, the effects of which may not present themselves for thousands of miles. And then later owners post up scratching their heads as to why their 3UR has head gasket problems (or whatever).

Edit: Just read this thread. I'm assuming the HHT is the 'some plastic fitting' that is referenced, though the author wasn't explicit. If so, this is the exact scenario: temp excursion followed by some later failure mode.

That was my photo from last year when mine failed. You can kind of see the middle line of the T is broken off. I had to dig it out of the other hose.

 

[TexAZ]

I swapped in a barbed brass T from Home depot to get home when the first T started leaking on the way home from work. it is working great. since the first one failed, i replaced the 2nd with a dorman T. honestly i feel better about the barbed fitting than the dorman. but i just got back from 500 mile trip towing a boat across Arizona. both Ts held up fine. T's failed just over 250K miles.

 

[OregonLC]

That was my photo from last year when mine failed. You can kind of see the middle line of the T is broken off. I had to dig it out of the other hose.

I was referring to this other thread where @lcgeek had a blown head gasket weeks after a broken 'plastic fitting'.

 

[crussell3234]

What is the size of the replacement T?