I have a coolant leak. On the firewall there are two short tubes in which one of them is leaking coolant. This makes me think this is the heater core. At this point I can't afford to have it repaired (kids' tuition is due). Is it possible to bypass the heater as a temporary fix? Or how much would it cost to repair the core? Any suggestions until I can afford the repair will be appreciated.

 

yes you can bypass the heater core, get a splice of tubing and connect the two hoses or buy three foot of hose and connect to the hose point on engine. To replace the core the entire dash must be remove, major pain in the butt.

 

He's right. A major PITA to replace. $900 when I had it done on my old '97. And the dealer told me none of his techs. were volunteering for it..... it's that nasty.

 

All of the above information is correct! Bypass it!

 

Thanks for the responses. I will do this today. I have the '97, 4x4, 4.6L V-8. I see four hoses running into the firewall on the passenger side. Two obviously are AC hoses. The other two, which are up high on the fire wall, on the passenger side, but closer to the center, are these the heater hoses?

There doesn't seem to be any other hoses going into the cab. I didn't crawl under though. I was only under there to see where the leak was.

 

are they hot? about 5/8 inside diameter? if they go to the engine thats them.
A pressure tester would be handy now.

 

That's it. I will get a small tube and place it between the two. The leak must be minor, the hose is holding pressure. The cab smells bad though. I didn't pay attention to the smell right at the beginning, until one day I had to run the heater then it really started smelling and the leak started.

Thanks for all the help. I know what to do now.

 

These are the heater core hoses - carefull on the inlet hose , you have a brass reducer un there - don't lose it (it keeps pressure off the core ,will do phisical damage too without). I don't understand why you don't replace the hoses. Carquest stocks the right ones and are only $13.

 

That's funny - Yea, the new guy usually gets stuck with that changout ...

Glad I haven't had to do mine yet...

 

I got it done. The pictures were helpful. 5/8" tubing, 2 - clamps, antifreeze, $24. Priceless. The hoses were fine, it is the core that has a leak. That would have cost $900 since it requires removal of the dash.

Now, I have to figure out what to do when winter hits. I figure I need to replace the lamps in the odometer area, I might as well get that done when I have enough saved for the core replacement. Dang kids and their tuition!

 

Arizona - it woun't hurt that bad...

 

I have a 99 F250 LD, 5.4L. Can someone tell me which of the two heater hoses coming from the firewall is the heater inlet hose? I'm wanting to install the Prestone backflush kit to flush my coolant but don't know which is the inlet hose.

 

The one closer to the battery.

 

There was recently a threat about odemeter lights . you might want to look it up , it might include your truck.
it was a bad solder joint in the multifuntion switch

 

I did my heater core about 3 years ago. Going into it I heard it cose about $1K so thought I'd save money, take a day off work and fix it, can't be that bad cause I have a Haynes manual. Couldn't have been more wrong. Ended up taking all tof the first day getting it out. There was no one good clear instructtion on removing the dash, that is the part thats a major PITA. Needless to say I ended up calling off work an additional day and worked until after dark to complete it. Had the usual assortment of leftover bolts, still have a slight rattle somewhere in the dash and my gear selector overlay is slightly crooked.

But the heater works great!!!