After all the posts on the bad heater t's had on my list of things to change soon. Had this on my mind while at the local Lowe's and thought to check if they had the appropriate size brass t's. These looked like the right size and thought for $3 or so each wouldn't be out much even I forgot to bring them back.
Tonight when I got home pulled the engine cover and saw this:
Not looking too good and evidence of a small leak. So I reached in to see how much play there was in there to get pliers on the clamps. Barely touch the tee and this is what I saw next:
Luckily the engine had cooled down enough I didn't get burned from the coolant gushing out. Time for repair - like others have said not really hard but pain in the a-- getting at all those clamps. Too make it a bit easier I just folded a camp blanket on top of the engine and just laid down on it.
Just for fun - here is what the old clamps looked like:
Used a shop vac to suck some coolant from the hose and make sure I had all the little pieces. Used the PEX connector along with regularly hose clamps. Fit was just about perfect - the hoses running down to the rear heater were a perfect fit. The upper hose were a little less snug but given the design on the brass I'm certain they will not leak.
Final look prior to taking the flush t back out. Was already planning on doing a complete flush when I did this so already had the flush kit.
Actual time to install the brass t's was maybe 60 minutes - 35 of that spent cleaning the broken pieces out of the lines. Next 4 hours spent flushing the motor and draining and refilling the system several times with distilled water to displace most of the tap water. One final drain of the radiator and oil cooler line then added 2 gallons Toyota red.
Anyway - A couple of the 3/4 PEX connectors from Lowe's and two 4 packs of clamps from Autozone and I'm back together. Total cost of hardware about $11.
Happy wheeling!
Tonight when I got home pulled the engine cover and saw this:
Not looking too good and evidence of a small leak. So I reached in to see how much play there was in there to get pliers on the clamps. Barely touch the tee and this is what I saw next:
Luckily the engine had cooled down enough I didn't get burned from the coolant gushing out. Time for repair - like others have said not really hard but pain in the a-- getting at all those clamps. Too make it a bit easier I just folded a camp blanket on top of the engine and just laid down on it.
Just for fun - here is what the old clamps looked like:
Used a shop vac to suck some coolant from the hose and make sure I had all the little pieces. Used the PEX connector along with regularly hose clamps. Fit was just about perfect - the hoses running down to the rear heater were a perfect fit. The upper hose were a little less snug but given the design on the brass I'm certain they will not leak.
Final look prior to taking the flush t back out. Was already planning on doing a complete flush when I did this so already had the flush kit.
Actual time to install the brass t's was maybe 60 minutes - 35 of that spent cleaning the broken pieces out of the lines. Next 4 hours spent flushing the motor and draining and refilling the system several times with distilled water to displace most of the tap water. One final drain of the radiator and oil cooler line then added 2 gallons Toyota red.
Anyway - A couple of the 3/4 PEX connectors from Lowe's and two 4 packs of clamps from Autozone and I'm back together. Total cost of hardware about $11.
Happy wheeling!
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