I want to flush my coolant system and need to make sure I cut into the right hose. Which one is the inlet that runs to the water pump? I see one that goes into the back of the manifold and another disappears.

 

I recently changed out the hoses and coolant after flushing. The only hoses I changed out were the upper (intake manifold to radiator) and lower (bottom of block to radiator with a T to the coolant/overflow tank). The hoses were about $50.00 at O'Reillys.

Mine is a '99 4.6L. There are 2 hoses that go to the heater core and you can trace them from the firewall on the passenger side. I'm not aware of any other hoses, though, that go to the back of the engine or water pump.

Good luck.

 

The one that comes off of the manifold is the feeder line to the heater core. The one that goes behind the manifold and disappears is the one leading to the water pump. It actually connects to a metal pipe that is routed under the intake manifold to the back of the water pump housing.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

wait? coolant circulates to the water pump from the bottom radiator hose, and the return side is thru the thermostat, thru the top rad hose into the top of the radiator right? So the heater hose he wants to slice into is the one that leads to the water pump, and the other hose connection is somewhere on the top of the engine, like the intake manifold, right? Did you guys tell him the best anti freeze he could use it the pre-mix type made for Cummings Diesel engines? I mean it has the specs on the back of the jug its approved to use in Cummings Diesels. Thats the best without the crushed glass mixed in that eats out gaskets and seals, right? No No not Dexcool thats for Chevys, that stuff is bad, it cloggs up the rad cores. What? the yellow stuff Ford uses? whats so great about that? Ford is the only one that sells it and its like $20 a gallon.

 

I didn't think to tell him about coolant for Cummins diesels and I'm sure your brand is a good one; his profile indicates he has an F150.

But if he had asked for recommendations for the brand name, I would have referred him to the owners manual to ensure he used coolants that complied with Ford specs.