Hi,

Sorry to bother with such a simple question. I've got a 2000 F150 5.4, looks like I've got a heater hose leak. The other day when I parked I smellled coolant. Reservoir was low, and when I crawled underneath I saw it dripping right over the starter. Saw where the two heater hoses go through firewall, no leaks there. No sign of leakage inside cab, either.

One hose runs from front of intake, I'm guessing the other hose connects to the back of the head?

My question is, how hard is it to get to? I don't mind wrenching, done a lot of it in my day, just wondered what I'm up for here.

Thanks!
Fletch

 

That's a good question , wish I would have asked before doing mine

Yea , one connects behind the passenger side head (That's the supply). It fastens to the tube that connects to the Water pump stem.

Other to the Intake Manifold (Return).

Replace w/Ford replacements hoses only. Actually those hoses you have on there now will outlast the vehicle, all Ford heater hoses will. The problem is in the connection. The bottom connection on the water pump Tube and Manifold. Replace w/OEM's at the dealership or you won't get quality hoses. You get replacement hoses that Clamp on top instead of Fords OEM connector. Trust me , that will blow off in time and you don't want that mess. So go to Ford for the hoses.

Plus your return hose has a brass insert in the return line. It a reducer that prevents pressure bursts. I disrupts enough flow behind it , to keep the heater core from being exposed to air pockets an susceptible to bursts in pressure.

Also you could be fooled into any of those two lines leaking. It could very well be the Water pump tube O-Rings. A bad design that doesn't last. If you look in section one in the Haynes and Chilton's manuals , they both show a repaired/updated tube -water pump stem assembly, updated by Ford Motor, but only on there Reman blocks.

Take a Flash lite, look down behind the Alternator on top of the block behind the water pump, you may see water trapped in the V. - A substantial amount if the O-rings are indeed leaking.

If so, that water leaches out behind the passenger side head above the starter. Yea , same spot as a leaky hose will.

I have pictures of all that, let me know if want them and I'll post.

 

I have had to replace 8 heater cores. I purchased a good quality hose and threw out the Ford connectors. You need to be very careful if you decide to go that route. If you don't jimmy the hose on carefully you risk breaking the brazing at the joint where the pipe connects to the heater core. There is a special tool that you can use to release the connectors and I highly recommend that you go that route. A pair of needle nose vice grips will hold the OEM clamp open on the end of the hose that attaches to the Cylinder head and the water pump. Makes removal very easy. Use them to reinstall the clamp.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

Please post them up, I would like to see them.

 

Alright , heres some -

The O-Rings that go bad . Heres a pic of the recess in the water pump stem the O-rings ride in. Mine were so bad , they were just about disintegrated and aren't pictured. This pic was taken after the stem was cleaned up.


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Water pump mod w/heater hose . If you do this mod , make sure you tighten the clamp on an angle so the clamp bolts aren't higher than the rubber fitting. If you don't the bolts hit the lower intake upon install.

Also if the heads pitted around the water jacket/jackets. Use some aluminum filler/sand smooth before re-installing the manifold.




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Heater core hoses - These are the wrong kind I used at first. They fit good, but you have to band clamp the firewall inlet and outlet @ the heater core. This is insufficient and will loosen in time and blow off . You need the Ford replacement lines @ the dealership. Also that smaller hose plugs into the supply tube. that can leak in the same are above the starter.


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Well there's a few pics for yuh. More in my gallery - Gallery #2 @ the bottom. Click the little camera/top right corner to view. All pics and illustrations in those gallery's are there for anyone to use.

 

Thanks, everybody! Made the mistake of changing my email on this board right after posting my query, and that had me locked out for a while (plus I had to deal with some work work), and couldn't reply earlier.

Jbrew, Thanks for posting the pics. I saw a small amount of coolant under alternator, but definitely not enough laying in the valley to be overflowing down the back side. It seemed to be a slow drip at the return hose connection. I actually saw it drip as the engine warmed up, maybe once every 10 seconds. At the same time, it was a steady drip underneath, runninging off the starter.

Guess I should try to get a look with a mirror at the connection on the end of the head. I'd like to eminate that possibility before yankning the manifold, et al, to get to that stem on the back of the pump.

 

Jbrew, what IS that smaller hose? I didn't know about it, was only tracing the heater hoses.

 

I'm thinking you don't have the smaller hose. I believe the set up was changed in 99. I think you have a plastic manifold were mine is aluminum.

Anyway , that hose connects to the tree on the Throttle body elbow (Plenum) you can barley see where it's connected on the very left in this pic, below the Plenum bolt w/little clamp on it -




Yea , here's a 2000 throttle body and Plenum - No tree , doesn't have that small hose -



Yea, here's a pick of my old one , you can see the tree in this pic, on the left side of the plenum (elbow) -

 

So the supply hose is connected to the "pipe" which in turn connects to the back of the water pump? I can't find my CD shop manual!

 

Yes and that's a little tricky to get to, but it can be done without removing hardly anything. Nothing major anyway. It's not that bad. Get that tool to remove the old lines tho. That took me the longest time - I won't attempt that again without the proper disconnect tool.

 

Thanks, Jbrew, that's what I needed to know!

BTW, do you brew?

 

Nah, I just drink the stuff

 

This is where I saw a slow drip a few days ago, when the engine was stone cold. Right under where the return heater hose connects.



I know the engine's dirty, it's the clean spot down there that's worrying me. Wadda ya think?

 

Yea , I already went over that one and even showed a pic of what happens to the Aluminum ones - Plastic manifolds just break at that spot and are a PITA to fix.. Aluminum ones / as described above . I posted the fix for that as well.

 

I searched the forum for over an hour, didn't find the post about this fix. To clarify, I DO have the plastic intake, and the leak appears to be where the aluminum crossover mates up to the plastic manifold. I stopped at Auto Zone and ordered an intake gasket set, will be in this afternoon. Got a couple cans of Gunk and cleaned up the whole top and front of the engine. Hell, I didn't even KNOW I had the plastic intake! Is it repairable, or do I need to get a new one? I know it MIGHT, or MIGHT NOT, but if it's DEFINITELY NOT, then I need to get the manifold first.