Wow, really? With all the clamp ears being turned down from the factory, I couldn't even get at them with regular pliers.....
DIY: Replacing heater hose pipe T's *important*
- Thread starter paflytyer
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Bear Lake Cruiser
SILVER Star
Just replaced mine 1998 162k miles. Perfect condition on the old ones
Just ordered a pair. Mine look good, but I don't know if the p/o changed them and my '99 LX just turned 106k.
This weekend, I replaced the heater hose tees for the second time. I had replaced the OEM ones with 175k on them about 9 months ago (1 crumbled when taking out) with the Amazon brass ones. I had reused the original hose clamps and hoses and was seeing evidence of dripping fluid since then. It has been bugging me ever since so I opted to go in and now replace with all new OEM hoses and tees from Dan. I suppose I could have used the screw-type clamps and see if that stopped the leak but I figured now is a good time to replace hoses with 185k miles on them with all new. I'll keep the brass ones and clamps in the truck for spares now.
Maybe it was the fact that it was the second time around and I felt more confident in what I was doing or maybe it was that I just cut out the old hoses entirely... but this time went a lot smoother and quicker. This is definitely something that anybody with enough patience can complete in their garage. Having had worked on it twice now, I can say that the keys to success are (1) - climb on top of the engine block entirely, don't try to reach everything from the side of the bay and (2) - vice grips and long channel grips will suffice to get at the clamps.
Maybe it was the fact that it was the second time around and I felt more confident in what I was doing or maybe it was that I just cut out the old hoses entirely... but this time went a lot smoother and quicker. This is definitely something that anybody with enough patience can complete in their garage. Having had worked on it twice now, I can say that the keys to success are (1) - climb on top of the engine block entirely, don't try to reach everything from the side of the bay and (2) - vice grips and long channel grips will suffice to get at the clamps.
hifu
Ran So Far to Find a Clear Spot......capt B
Replaced mine at 186k, waited a bit to ong as one was chipped out in the past but had no issues.
Just did mine. After some major yoga moves and busted knuckles, I was able to get it done. At 150k, both T's disentegrated upon removal- hot side was really bad so I feel like I am very lucky to have caught this. I actually lost some of the rotten material from the original T down the tube into the engine on the hot side. Should I be very worried about this?
I ordered OEM coolant and plan on flushing once in hand.
I ordered OEM coolant and plan on flushing once in hand.
I think the census is it shouldn't hurt anything, happens pretty often and nobody has reported issues afterwards. I changed mine last weekend and also lost pieces but I believe I was able to suck them out with my shop vac, you may try that if you have one. Just make sure you have coolant on hand because you'll remove quite a bit.
For those about to do the replacement job, in my opinion, the better part of wisdom is to also replace the six heater hoses. Not only do you have to believe the old hoses are worn to some degree, you also avoid losing any debris into the cooling system if you take the other ends of the hoses off, rather than taking them off at the Ts. Also, if you slit/peel the hoses off of the heater core, you're less likely to cause a leak in the core due to tugging on the hoses.
Just my opinion.....
Just my opinion.....
After just completing this job and only replacing T's, I 100% agree and would do it this way if I had to do it over again. I just started my LC a few minutes ago and had a small leak from one of the hoses entering the firewall, from as dnp said, tugging on it. I was able to push the hose further in than before(guessing because it was still hot and expanded) and stop the leak I believe
Buy new T's and hoses, prebuild them, slip the old off and install the new in 1 piece. Save yourself a ton of time and headache.
Depending on how big a chunk of the old tee broke off and ended up in the cooling system... Debris of the correct shape and size can end up jamming the thermostat open. Not to say that that will happen, but crap circulating around in the cooling system can do that. It happened to my engine (not a 100 series)
Another vote for new hoses. The clamps are much easier to get to after cutting the old hoses out of the way. Took me just over an hour start to finish, including draining the radiator. Thanks to all the previous posters for part numbers, instructions and feedback.
Replaced tees and hoses yesterday. '05 LC, 101K miles. One of the tees was starting to come apart. @dnp gave good advise above. Remove the whole hose/tee assembly and put the new ones together on a bench. Hose clamp plier really helped. I bought 18mm-54mm size. One size smaller would work better. Also used the smallest pair of vise grips I had. Don't forget to turn the clamps where they are easier to access next time.
Old tees. Keeping the good one for a spare.
Thanks to @beno for the parts and the sweet Land Cruiser sticker.
Old tees. Keeping the good one for a spare.
Thanks to @beno for the parts and the sweet Land Cruiser sticker.
Yep, Beno's the MAN!Replaced tees and hoses yesterday. '05 LC, 101K miles. One of the tees was starting to come apart. @dnp gave good advise above. Remove the whole hose/tee assembly and put the new ones together on a bench. Hose clamp plier really helped. I bought 18mm-54mm size. One size smaller would work better. Also used the smallest pair of vise grips I had. Don't forget to turn the clamps where they are easier to access next time.
Old tees. Keeping the good one for a spare.
Thanks to @beno for the parts and the sweet Land Cruiser sticker.
Not only was I worried about the hoses possibly being old/worn enough to eventually blow out, I was concerned mainly about the heater core to which they're attached! I don't know if/how the water pipes running from the heater core are anchored to the firewall, but if any of you have owned American cars (older ones, at least), you'll remember that, when you'd go to change heater hoses on them, if you tugged on them enough, you were more often than not going to cause a leak in the core due to the pipe being unsecured to anything but the core. Now, I've never been behind the dash of a 100, but it looks like it'd be a BEAR to change a heater core.....and that was reason enough for me to slice / peel my old heater hoses off of the heater core, rather than pulling them off.
Ultimately, that may be over-thinking things, but it was worth the peace of mind to me........
This is the hot side T with 150k Florida miles.
DO IT NOW.
I'm dropping the LC in the shop tomorrow for the T-belt so decided to finally swap the Ts today with new ones that have been sitting in the spare box for 7 months!
06 LC with 149kmiles
Both sides came out crumbling, did not replace the hoses since they look/feel fine. Will do it again at 200K and replace it all.
06 LC with 149kmiles
Both sides came out crumbling, did not replace the hoses since they look/feel fine. Will do it again at 200K and replace it all.
I'll post this again....
Take the hoses and Ts out as an assembly, together, then, once out of the truck, remove the hoses from the Ts to inspect. Then, you have very limited risk of the broken plastic falling down onto places you don't want it.
I always use new hoses. After the ten years or so , no reason to continue using them.
Take the hoses and Ts out as an assembly, together, then, once out of the truck, remove the hoses from the Ts to inspect. Then, you have very limited risk of the broken plastic falling down onto places you don't want it.
I always use new hoses. After the ten years or so , no reason to continue using them.
guardcompany
Shea
Just started this project today, it sucks. My old hoses where caked on and even cutting them off was a challenge and I stupidly didn't use the soap and water trick. Did one tee, tomorrow I will do the other (with soap and water). I will note I lost more than a cup of coolant as mentioned in this thread. It lost maybe 2 cups? Enough to where I just removed my plastic "skid" plate to clean it all up. My coolant level wasn't too high to start with either.
One question... When tugging on the hose I moved this bracket for the two lines. Can someone look at theirs and tell me if it goes in front of or behind that rubber grommet? I'm assuming behind. Thanks!
One question... When tugging on the hose I moved this bracket for the two lines. Can someone look at theirs and tell me if it goes in front of or behind that rubber grommet? I'm assuming behind. Thanks!
