Ok, I blew out the metal part of my heater hose last night, and she's sitting at work until I can get it changed. Can anyone point me to where the other end of the heater hoses are so I can take the bad ones off? I can see where they go into the heater core, but then they disappear behind the engine, and I am having minimal luck locating where they stop. Any advice?

 

You can find the other end at the fire wall. You have to lean way over the engine to get to them. They have quick-disconnect fittings on the ends. You have to squeeze the plastic tabs very hard to disengage the locking tabs. The tabs are located 180 degrees apart on the fittings. As you squeeze the tabs, push the hose towards the fire wall.
Not a fun task.

 

Ok. Where's the other end? After it turns into the metal line, where does that go?

 

The heater core return line starts at the rear of the intake manifold and goes under the manifold to the back side of the water pump.

The other goes to a water passage in the intake manifold. It is the heater core inlet hose. Its metal line is located near the schrader valve on the fuel rail.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

So this is going to be a really big job to change the heater hoses, it's not something I can do in the parking lot here at work?

 

The coolant will run out of the heater core/engine till it gets low enough to not run. That will leave a little puddle of coolant on the ground. You need to squeeze the fitting so it will release the hose attached to the core inlet and outlet.
While this may seem simple it can be a pita to do right unless you have the "special" tool. There are 2 rubber O rings and a plastic/nylon spacer on each of the core hoses. Do not loose them or the connection will leak.

JMC

 

I just discovered a leak at the base of the vertical metal tube at the rear of the passenger side. Vehicle is a '99 Expedition/4.6. Is this tube metal and one-piece all the way from the water pump? Presumably, the manifold has to come off to replace this. Any pointers before I tackle this project this weekend? Looks like a real fun chore to access the rear bolts.


thanks,
dewey

 

EDIT: spelling

It should be one piece. Unfortunately there is no way to install it without removing the intake manifold. There are two ways to deal with the fuel rail. buy the tool to disconnect the fuel lines and leave it on the intake or remove it from the top of the injectors and move it out of the way. If you move it, it involves unscrewing it from the intake and lifting it off the injectors. When you replace it make sure you lube the injector O rings so they slip on with out tearing. The PS resevoir bracket has to be moved out of the way and also the EGR tube. The DPFE sensor has to be disconnected. Take note that the rubber tubes are of a different diameter so they don't get mis matched. Just to be sure pull one off the Sensor and the other one off the EGR tube. You then can't go wrong when you reconnect. Drain the coolant and then remove the Tstat housing and also the Tstat so you can look into the hole and see when the coolant level is low enough so it doesn’t flow into the cylinders when you remove the intake. I fopunf it easier to remove all the vacuum lines from the actuators, i.e. the EGR valve, and set them aside. By leaving all the tubes together it is much easier to see where they connect when reassembling. Have new gaskets ready just in case the old ones are not reusable. Mine should have been but I was glad I had new ones in a kit to replace a torn rubber seal on the driver side intake. I ported and gasket matched my Intake and Cylinder Heads two weeks ago. I was bored.
If I can think of anything else I will let you know. You do have a service manual, right?

JMC

 

thanks. no service manual, just an old haynes manual that has a fair description of the procedure. just wondering, does that really need to be routed under the manifold, or could I not route some heater hose around and behind to the point that the tube meets up with the hose as a quick fix? in other words, bypass the metal tube altogether?



dewey

 

Youy can not go around the one that go to the back of the water pump but depending on where the other one goes i don't see why not. The 00's have the inlet cvoming off the front of the intake manifold with a hose running the lenght of the engine to the heater core.

JMC

 

it looks like mine heads directly back . so i guess it's gotta come off. maybe it's time for a new sled, although I hate to roll onto the lot leaving a trail of coolant behind me. this doesn't look like fun.

 

Yeah, I think that my truck is going to have an appointment with Ford on payday to have this done.

 

This is one of the worse designs I have ever seen. My heater hose (the metal part going into the intake) was leaking at the base of it. I went to the local ford dealership and ordered a new one for $21.--. Well after undoing the wire harness at the firewall to get a better grip on things, I tried to dent the tube with a screwdriver to pull it out. Bad idea, I ended up shearing it flush with the intake. Now theres no way to get it out from there. It took all afternoon to remove the intake and only broke the plastic tube comming out of the back of the system. Things are great now I got my intake off, real easy to get at the broken tube. Finally get the broken part out after 5 min. of chipping away at it with a hammer and screwdriver. I put the new tube in and to my surprise it leaks, of course. I go to take the new tube back out with a screwdriver and it pokes a hole in it. So I ask my friend if he can tap the hole and I put 3/8 inch water pipe in it. Hopefully this won't leak or rust out to soon, but I plan on replacing the other tube(under the intake) before reassembling the mess.