PHH

[milehighroller]

I just got done replacing my PHH. After reading all of the threads, I was thinking that it might be a little easier than it was. I couldn't get the lower bolt loose which ended up not being a major problem.

I did use a heat gun to soften up the new hose a little. I am halfway through replacing all of the other coolant hoses. My fingers need a rest.

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

Samco Sport and the clamps they came with

The original came out easily and looked like it could go another 111,111 miles

 

[speedracer]

Just adding to the unfun in changing the PHH and a few more pictures.

PHH - Argghhhh

 

[mzbhavn]

What a pain in the ... I hope that it one of the few times I have to get to that. Just finished replacing the PHH with a Samco Sport hose. The clamp on the engine side I think should sit closer to the block but who cares its on and holds water.

 

[NaterGator]

I did the PHH today and honestly I don't get what all the fuss is about.

I loosened the trans dipstick and used a flathead to "unroll" the cotter pin clamp. Getting the clamps and old hose off took about 5 minutes and required nothing more than standard flathead screwdriver, a box cutter and a regular pair of pliers.

All this "dremel this and that" stuff seems way over the top. Get up/behind from under the cotter pin with a flathead, rotate it clockwise and the pin starts to "unroll". Keep going and the clamp just loosens naturally and can easily be pulled off without effort. Squeeze the other clamp to the max and pull it forward past the bulge and up the metal PHH line and away from the tube. Cut the old tube off, remove the old clamp, run the two new clamps up the line and tie them or wedge them from above. Lube the new silicone tube, install on the block side and then wedge it up and rotate the metal tube into the end (silicone tube may require gentle coaxing with a flat head to get into position) then smush together, bring the clamps down and tighten.

Rebolt the metal heater tube and trans dipstick and you're done. From start to finish this took me no more than 45 minutes and was certainly not one of the most dreaded things I've done w/ the cruiser.

 

['74 UA FJ]

Would it have been harder for someone with larger hands?

 

[NaterGator]

Maybe.. my hands are 7/75" from wrist to middle finger tip and 4.75" across so I don't consider them particularly small.


As I said in TUT I think being flexible helped, and I think having the tire out helped, but it wasn't as dramatically painful as reports I've heard. No doubt though, if you've got a willing helper with smaller hands than yourself you'd be well advised to ask for help.

 

[retrofive]

What took me the longest was that cotter pin clamp. Mine must have been fused or something over the years. I didnt use a dremel, just needle nose and flathead, still came off in 3 pieces. That was the hardest part, rest went smoother...... not hard.... pesky

 

[Diesel Wannabe]

My $.02 after PHH replacement + SST submission

First, I did go for the silicon hose with constant tension clamps - really nice and highly recommended!

I am NOT the ideal body size/type for the PHH job and had to do it alone due to a short window that I had to fix it. I am just under 6' and within single digits of 300lbs. I can bust XL gloves through the side seams by just squeezing an empty hand. Needless to say it was tight in there. Overall time for me was 3 1/2 - 4 hours with about 90 minutes of that wasted on the lower bolt.

I spent an extra 75-90 minutes trying to get to the lower bolt and finally gave up. I ended up just bending the tube away from the block nipple and had no trouble sliding the soaped up silicon tube onto the metal tube, but I did have trouble lining it back up. My solution was to create my own SST. I took an old broom handle and cut it off about 30" with a "V" or "U" shape at the end. I put the shaped end against the elbow of the metal tube and two quick hammer strikes lined it up perfectly. HTH

Also, I have a full set of the ratcheting wrenches and found that the 8mm one was perfect for tightening the constant tension clamps. Plenty of room for the short wrench, very easy.

I'm really glad this is done - in my case it has just started to leak, but hadn't completely failed so I had no choice, but I also wasn't stranded. Very lucky.

Tim

 

[Twiggles]

Just got mine done last week... here are some current prices for parts at NAPA:

Silicone Heater Hose (really nice stuff): $11 for a foot
2 Constant Torque Clamps (Breeze brand, I believe its the smallest one they make): $5 each

A tip I would give is call a store and ask if they have this stuff in stock, and if they say no, have them search stores in your area. My usual store didnt carry it, but one about 10 minutes from my work did. If you live in a smaller town with only one NAPA, you may have to shell out a few extra bucks for the kit available online...

So far I havent seen any cold leaks, so im optimistic this is a long term fix!

 

[ALCO]

I used the silicone NAPA hose and constant torque clamps too. It's been on a couple of months and a couple of road trips with no coolant loss.

 

[zcruiser]

Did mine yesterday, took about 3 hrs. A few notes:

1. I "rolled" the inner fender so there was not such a sharp edge on my forearm while working the PHH. Rolled it backward roughly along the straight red line. Careful as the brake lines are directly above!

2. I was able to easily take off the lower hardline bolt with a ratcheting box end 12mm wrench. It really wasn't hard at all. With the bottom bolt off, moving the hard line away from the block to put the new hose in was a piece of cake. Didn't put it back on, though.

3. It took me the longest time to take off the spring clamp near the block. I finally got a small pair of vice grips on it to keep it open as far as possible to work it over the bulge, but that part was the worst.

At 202K, my hose was not in bad shape at all (not like some of the bulging, leaking things I've seen posted here). Here's a look at the inside with it unrolled:

Final result, good to have it DONE:

 

[Sporin]

great pictures zcruiser, thank you!

 

[zcruiser]

Thanks! Rear heater bypass is next... My hard lines look like this:

 

[super90]

I loosened the trans dipstick and used a flathead to "unroll" the cotter pin clamp. Getting the clamps and old hose off took about 5 minutes and required nothing more than standard flathead screwdriver, a box cutter and a regular pair of pliers.

All this "dremel this and that" stuff seems way over the top.

Use that Dremel, some needlenose, and a box cutter and you can get it apart in one minute instead of five. Now you have four minutes left over for a pint, and you get to use your Dremel !!! Gotta use those tools for just what they were intended; to make life easy and save time !!!

 

[Mirage]

Hello all,

After reading the posts for over a year, I finally got around to doing my PHH.

It took me about 2 hours. 45 minutes taking tire off, jack stand placment and studying the set up. Another 15 minutes contimplating whether i should do it or not. I run a hotel and I am living in a suite, I am 9 hours away from my garage and have no friends in the area who can help as of yet . It was 110 degrees at 5pm when I started. I had to do it in the parking lot before all the guests checked in and was racing against sundown.

My car has been running 220 degrees lately and I am flushing the system tommorow..so I wanted to get this out of the way.

Once I started to poke and prod at the PHH, I wanted to chicken out and stop as my hose was in good condition, but something kept telling me to continue, maybe wife saying your going to ruin that car.

Tools I used:
Scan Guage II (optional)
12mm Gearwrench
8 mm Gearwrench
Regular expanding pliers
8" long needle nose
8" long 90 degree needle nose
3/8" ratchet
12mm socket
16" of 3/8" extension (10" and 6")
PVC pipe cutter for cutting my hose straight
A metric ruler (to measure 60mm pipe)
Electric impact wrench for the tire
Body panel puller for the skirts
50 ft of extension cord (for the impact wrench)

Parts
60mm of Green silicone from NAPA (it has a red lining inside)
2 Constant torque clams (13/16"- 1-1/16") NAPA part no BK 7051500 (check that the outer ring is round and not bent, like half of them in the box that the parts clerk presented to me to choose from)
1/2 gallon coolant
1/2 gallon distilled water

I was in a hurry so the car was at 190 degrees when I started. I forgot to drain, but the water was not too hot but hot enough.

Step 1: After placing three jack stand and stock bottle jack remove the tire and place it under the frame rail.

Step 2:Using the body panel puller, remove the middle and rear skirt.

Step 3: Remove the heater hose form the heater control valve. This is the side towards the driver side fender. Just remove the side conntected to the valve.

Step 4: Go to the PS fender and use your 16" of extensions and a 12mm short socket to remove the bolt holding the pipe. Place it behind the hood support towards the firewall and unscrew it. Then slightly bend the bracket to give you some play, dont worry it will bend back.

Step 5: Use about 8" of extension with your ratchet and 12mm socket and remove the reatining bolt for the tranny dip stick. It is located on the driver side of the engine block.

Step 6: Go under the car and find the other retaining bolt for the tranny dip stick. Just follow the tube coming up out of the tranny pan. Use a 12mm Gear wrench.

Step 7: Be careful not to put force on the tranny dipstick tube as to not dislodge it from the tranny pan, find the PHH and take your extension and place it on the cotter pin clamp. Bang it a couple times to loosen it. Then take your long straight needle nose and just twist up and down, it will come off with a little force.

Step 8: Use you 90 degree needle nose and grab the clamp toward the engine block, squeeeze together and turn it towards the front of the vehicle so you can grip it with the straight needle nose. Once you grip it, slide it up to the metal heat pipe for the time being.

Step 9:Slowly tug the heater pipe away, this should break the hose free, if not, twist it gently on both end to break the seal.

Step 10: Using the straigt needle nose or a vise grip, pull that PHH off forcefully from the engine block, by pinching it in the middle.

Step 11: take some coolant or spit and rub the inside of the 60mm silicon hose.

Step 12: Place the hose onto the engine nipple and push all the way in. Use your finger nail to feel between hose engine block to make sure it is pushed all the way back.

Step 13: Pay attention..this will make your life easier and cut time off your install. Tighten your clamps on an extra piece of of hose and tighten until the slide on with no play(this will help to keep them in place when you tighten them on the PHH, the silicon hose it soft so just tighten enough to reduce play) Take the pre tightened clamps off the extra pice of hose, set hose aside and transfer to PHH with the screw head facing toward the front of the car and hanging to the bottom of the hose and slide them both onto the metal heater pipe. Note, I postioned the heater pipe towards the front of the car in front of the engine block nipple.

Step 14: Using only your hand start bending the hose towards the heater pipe until it slips on, take your time..it will go on. Once it goes on, push the heater pipe with force to get it as far as possible into the hose. Use your hand, dont bang on it.

Step 15: Go topside and screw the heater pipe bracket back into the block using your extensions and 12mm socket. This will help realign it with the PHH.

Step 16: Go back under the wheel well and push the metal heater pipe once more. Tighten the clamp towards the engine block with your 8mm Gearwrench. Then tighten the other clamp with the 8mm Gearwrench.
Leave about 1/4" on each side of the silcion hose, make sure the the clamp on the engine side is not on but behind the flange part of the nipple.

Step 17: Screw your top and bottom tranny dip stick screw loosely and once both are in, tighten them in the same fashion you openeds them.

Step 18: Reconnect the heater hose topside to the heater control valve.

Step 19: Fill radiator with 50/50 water and coolant.

Step 20: Turn car on and wait for thermostat to open, I used the scan guage II for extra assurance of temp.

Step 21: Go under wheel well and look for leakage, carefully put your hand and feel for water, if all is ok, place skirts back on.

Step 22: Place the tire back on, I used my impact wrench.

Step 23: Check stopwatch and crack open a #6

Good Luck!!!

 

[Grench]

1/2 gallon coolant
1/2 gallon distilled water

Should that be 2 gallons coolant and 2 gallons distilled?

 

[Mirage]

Right but....

Should that be 2 gallons coolant and 2 gallons distilled?

I am doing the full flush today, So I did not drain the entire system when changing the hose due to time constraints. I needed enough to get me to the other side of the parking lot where I can flush...But yes you would do 2 and 2 for a full flush.

 

[Pin_Head]

The Green Stripe wouldn't be too bad if you use a novel approach that made the rounds a year ago. You only remove ONE bolt holding the tube to the block (upper?) lube the metal pipe and slide the new hose up it until you can fit the other end of the hose onto the block nipple. Then slide the hose onto the nipple, tighten the clamps, and you're done. You did slide the clamps onto the tube also didn't you?.....

This is what I did using green silicone hose and I felt a stiffer hose like the Green Stripe would also be compatible with the approach.



DougM

This works really well. I just did this in about 1 hour after spending more than an hour just gawking at it.

The key steps are:

Remove the wheel and lower the axle as far as possible so that the PHH is easy to reach.

Remove the upper tube bolt and bend back the mounting tab about 45 degrees. Don't worry, it bends back easily. Disconnect the upper hose from the valve. Don't fool with the lower bolt. You don't need to.

Remove the upper and lower transmission dip stick tube bolts and move the tube forward a few inches.

Remove the hose clamps and cut the hose off lenght wise with a utility knife. Remove the hose.

Rotate the tube about 45 degrees around its vertical axis counter clockwise to expose the nipple on the cylinder head and create room for the new hose. It rotates easily as the bracket on the lower bolt bends easily.

Cut 60 mm of hose and lube the inside with antifreeze. Install the hose on the cylinder head nipple and slide on the hose clamps. I used Gates green stripe. No problem.

From the top side, you can see the end of the hose under the manifold. While you are looking at the lower end of the tube and the end of the hose, rotate and tilt the tube from above so that the lower end of the tube goes into the open end of the hose.

From below, shove the tube all the way in to the hose. I used a piece of PVC pipe to push on the tube.

Tighten hose clamps.

Replace everything else.

Done.

It helps to be left handed. I am ambidextrous.


PS. After thinking about this for a while, I spent most of the time wiggling and fiddling with the tube to get it in to the hose end. Maybe it would be easier to just break off the lower mounting bracket by twisting and turning the tube back and forth to remove the tube. Then it would be a lot easier to get back on. Seems like one mounting tab at the top and the hose at the bottom would be enough to prevent the hose from flopping around and vibrating excessively. Has anybody tried this? I would be tempted to do this if I did it again.

 

[womacje]

Just completed the PHH tonight... one hour after you've done it once... NO Way In Hell!!!! So here's how I did it. I used a slightly hack method, but not the bypass hose. I already had 25 bucks worth of samco and constant tension clamps, so might as well use it, I'm broke, have the parts and the time!

1) Follow Landtank's instructions all the way till you get the top steel hose mount un-bolted. Now, using a 12mm flex head boxend ratcheting wrench, undo the second bolt. (This will now be a trail spare bolt... aka, you aren't putting it back in till you pull the motor)
1a)From the driver side, visually locate the lower tube bracket bolt head facing the firewall, slide your right hand into the gap that follows down the steel coolant tube until you feel the bolt head. (just to double check, you should have your top hose removed from the metal tube all together. that clamp cuts your hands, and there are already plenty of things to cut you up. Also, remove all bolts for dipsticks and whatever before you start, the time to put them back in will be way less than all the time it will take to slow you down until you give up and do it anyway)
1b) Now with your left, from the passenger side of the upper heater hose, right next to spark plug six, slide your box end ratcheting wrench down and fit it onto the bolt head.
1c) Pry the wrench with the left hand using a wide flat screwdriver, while holding the box end on the nut.
1d)This part takes forever, but its well worth it. Patience pays off here.

2) After clamps are removed from PHH, slide or cut the hose off. I used a great tool to get the pinch type clamp removed, I describe it below, no idea what it is really called, but I know you can get it from MAC or SnapOn.

3) Tube should be free to drop out the bottom.

4) Install the new hose of your choice half way onto the steel tube and slide the 2 constant tension clamps

5) This part can be helpful with a second set of hands above the motor, From the bottom, feed the tube up into its original position,

6) From below, spit all over the tube and hose then slide the hose over the block coolant tube. This should slide easily, since you can wriggle the tube and hose fairly freely.

7) Position the clamps and tighten, I let the clamps hang with the 8mm bolts facing towards the grill. I used a wobble extension on a 1/4" drive for one and an 8mm box end ratcheting wrench for the other.

8) Now reattach the hose at the top and reposition clamps

9) Reinstall top screw only, leaving the lower bracket to sit there lonely and to be fixed when the motor gets pulled, or never.

Tools that helped alot with this job:

a clamp compressor with a cable extenstion, to remove the pinch type clamp that could be facing, any direction, it has a lock that holds the clamp open while you work it out of the way. Great tool.

This maybe a repeat of someone else process, but I thought i'd post it up this way with some of these details. I tried it with the lower bolt still in, but my hose wasn't going to shove up the bend on the tube. I also left a bunch of crap bolted up in the way until I finally moved that stuff. All in all, it took me 2 evenings, including pissed off girlfriend damage control and 1 half saturday. As I mentioned, I did a lot of things to get to here. That time also includes replacing the starter contacts.

Hope this helps.