T Fitting on Heater Hose

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The first one I replaced was brittle and broke while the other seemed fine.
 
Guys, if you spray or rub a little oil or other lubricant on the fittings and hoses, you can then use your pliers to spin them around on the rubber hose. Once you spin them around, you can access the barbs and pinch them w/ the pliers. Once you do that, you slide them down and away from the fitting. Hopefully this will help to speed up the fitting change-out time.

Once you get the new fitting in, since it's NOT the same/OEM size, you will need to use gear clamps (like in the pics) to ensure a good seal. I would also suggest a test drive to get up to operating temps and re-check and re-tighten the clamps to make sure they're not leaking.
 
^ wish I would have thought about the lubricant. And good idea on re-checking the clamps. I did see a few drops of coolant the first two days but now I don't. However, I will re-check things as you suggest.
 
Pretty easy to change out, except that every spring clamp was facing in the exact opposite direction of where I needed to apply the pliers......

Would a pair of hose clamp pliers like these have made the job easier ?

Amazon.com: Astro Pneumatic 9409A Hose Clamp Pliers: Home Improvement

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^ probably would have. Although if the lube thing works, it would be cheaper and as easy.
 
Fuel Injector clamps might be better for this application. Use with some blue loctite.

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Mine failed a while back - same problem. The fittings had become extremely brittle and literally came apart while removing them. This was around 210K miles.
Replaced with brass and no further issues.

Its a good idea to have at least one of these tees on hand. You can fab a temp replacement using plumbing fittings, but unless you have a replacement on board you are going to be stuck.
 
Stuck? For emergency repair, anybody see a problem with just plugging the hoses with bolts and hose clamps to stop the coolant leak and fixing the T-fitting when it comes available? You'll have no heat but we have heated seats!
 
Sooo...

...I've read this thread, bookmarked it, and put it on my "to do" list. I've heeding the warning, but it was still lower on the priority list.

So today, totally randomly, I had a lucky experience...I blew the fitting.

I pulled into my driveway, looked up, and the engine was spewing steam. I was nervous to open the hood, as I just finished a ton of work. Sure enough, the culprit fitting in this thread was busted.

I walked the line of spilled fluid down the street 5 houses and it stopped. I'm running the Kokopelli with my local club in a few weeks. I am so freaking lucky.

Fitting gets fixed this weekend, if I can source the metal parts.

MORAL OF THE STORY:

I know you're out there...guys just like me...miles on your 100 and you've read this thread. Your planning "someday" to replace the fittings...yeah...you'll get to it. Yup. That was me. Do you feel as lucky I was today? No?

REPLACE THEM NOW.

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I did mine a few months ago, after reading this thread! Thanks to all who contributed and it's good to have a little more piece of mine about one less mechanical failure.
 
Yes, those plastic fittings are born to fail. I blew one a few miles from home, which was when I discovered that they were plastic [for a heater circuit, really?] and had become brittle with age.
I replaced with brass fittings, but probably would have used the OE parts if circumstances had been different. Mine failed around 200K miles.
 
I found this to be interesting.

The tee fitting shown above in my hands was totally disintegrated. When I replaced it, I went ahead and replaced the one next to it. That one was just fine. Strangely in much better shape. I'm keeping it for a spare.

Here's a picture of the three both old ones and one new one. You can't hardly tell between two of them.

radiatorfittings.jpg
 
Also, this should be in the FAQ. This is really good information that 100 owners should have quick access to.
 
Brass will cause galvanic corrosion to the aluminum parts in the cooling system. Brass and Aluminum together in the cooling system is generally avoided for that reason. That is likely the reason why Mr T used plastic T fittings.

I did check McMaster-Carr for Stainless but they don't list any stainless barbed tee's so it would be a threaded tee and 3 barbed fittings which gets bulky and expensive and has more potential leaks.

I'm willing to guess that in a well maintained system running fresh compatible coolant that brass is probably just a minor risk issue given the limited brass in contact with the coolant.

I think I'm going to replace plastic with plastic and hopefully end up with a decent spare or 2. I would rather avoid any internal corrosion where possible.

Any others thinking about the galvanic issue being a risk?
 
5Cruiser said:
I found this to be interesting.

The tee fitting shown above in my hands was totally disintegrated. When I replaced it, I went ahead and replaced the one next to it. That one was just fine. Strangely in much better shape.
If one is the input and the other the output to the heater core, that would explain the temperature difference.
 
AimCOtaco said:
Brass will cause galvanic corrosion to the aluminum parts in the cooling system. Brass and Aluminum together in the cooling system is generally avoided for that reason. That is likely the reason why Mr T used plastic T fittings.
....
Any others thinking about the galvanic issue being a risk?
IIRC, the 94-95 fzj80 had a brass radiator along with the 1FZE (aluminum head).
 
I think it becomes a larger issue with neglected maintenance and or coolant that lacks good galvanic protection. Grounding comes into play as well but the radiator and our tee's would both be ground isolated i think.

Don't the 80's get regular radiator replacements? Do they clog up with all the Aluminum Oxide coating their innards?
 
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FYI MMC still sells the SS tees. But they're not cheap.
 
FYI MMC still sells the SS tees. But they're not cheap.

Do you have a number? On their web as soon as I choose T as the shape for a hose barb all the material options vanish except for brass. Maybe they are a special order item.
 

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