Disconnecting a heater inside a bus?

Hello,

I recently acquired an old 1985 Chevy G30 mini/short bus, it was previously used as a school bus. It's a 5.7L V8 with a 350 small block.

My problem is this:
There's a heater in the very back of the bus that is mounted underneath the seat. I want to remove the seat (and heater of course) so I have a little more room back there. There are two hoses that run from the engine underneath the cab and body, and then come up through the floor by the wheel well and go to the heater.

Now in order to remove the seat/heater, I need to disconnect the hoses (this is where I'm having problems.) I was told there should be a shutoff valve, but I was not able to find one. I've never done anything like this before and I'm not sure how to do it. To the best of my understanding, I just have to cut each one of the hoses and then connect the two of them together to form one hose? Unfortunately (I know it sounds dumb) I'm really sure how to go about doing this...

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The hoses circulate hot engine coolant from the engine to a heat exchanger, called a "heater core" (it's like a small radiator) in the heater box itself.

If you park the bus facing downhill, then you should have minimal spillage of coolant. Otherwise, it is best to drain the radiator to avoid coolant loss.

The best way is to follow the coolant lines to the engine, drain the coolant from the engine and cap the lines or remove and bypass the T-fittings where the lines splice off those that go to the dashboard heater core. Then refill the cooling system.

The quick way is to loosen the hose clamps where the hoses attach to the heater core and pull the hoses off. Its okay to cut the hose if its really stuck

Slip the hoses over a short metal connector and fasten down with hose clamps.

Note: A piece of 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch copper pipe about 4 inches long will work okay, depending on the heater hose diameter. It's better to use a barbed hose connector from a plumbing store, though.

Then refill or top up the cooling system as required.

Oh, yes finally, send the entire rear heater box to me so I can install it in my van. It's cold up here!!

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what i'do

Welcome to AF!

What you do is to please start a new thread on this subject. You will receive a better response than just tacking it on to an unrelated thread.

MagicRat, I really appreciate your help but I must say I'm still a little bit lost. I'm thinking about cutting the hoses where they come from under the bus and go through the floor and inside the bus, this is right around the rear left wheel well.

This is a picture of where they come up through the floor:
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/4295/heater1ye0.gif

And here is where they come up from underneath the bus to the inside:
http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/2436/heaterthinggy4.gif

So if I'm understanding things right, is this how it would work?
1. Park the front of the bus facing downhill.
2. Cut both of the hoses where they come up from underneath the bus.
3. Get a small copper hose connector, insert between both hoses, and then clamp both ends so it's tight.
4. Voila, done?

Please tell me if I am missing anything...

Also, what would I use to cut the hoses?
And how do I find the diameter of the hose connector I'll need? Do I measue the whole hose, or just the inside (as pictured below)?
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/1883/hosediameteryw4.gif

I prefer a guillotine style hose cutter. It slips over the hose, you squeeze the handle and a razor sharp blade slides out and makes a perfectly clean 90 degree cut. You could also use a knife.

For heater hose, the inside diameter is used.

What I would do if you cut them where they are...
Measure the I.D. of the hose (probably 3/4")
Go to a hardware store and get that size 90 degree barbed fittings and just enough hose to go between the two fittings. That will be a lot better than a big loop of hose that can get snagged on something.

I personally would disconnect the heater hoses completely, but the choice is yours. There is a "T" in the supply hose, and a seperate line that goes back into the water pump. All you'd need to do that is a straight hose connector (and possibly a short section of hose) and a 1/2" plug for the water pump.

Thank you J-Ri, I really appreciate your post as well.

One last question, do I need to bleed out the hoses after looping them together? Someone told me I would have to let the engine run with the radiator cap off until coolant starts coming out, then tighten the cap and add some coolant to the reserve/overflow tank.

Is this accurate, what do you guys advise?

That works, but I always use a spill-free funnel. It has an adapter that fits on in place of the radiator cap with a funnel that fits tightly inside. It's much easier to fill with one, and they're cheap mine was around $12 and it came with 3 adapters for different radiator cap styles. Then, you just let the engine run until the thermostat opens and you stop getting air bubles coming up in the funnel.

I couldn't face the bus downhill, I tried using some sturdy cedar boards as ramps to back the rear tires up on, but I guess the weight of an empty small bus is too much for them.

Anyway, I ended up cutting the hoses and placing a 1" ribbed plastic 90' elbow in between them and clamping the ends down good. Then I filled the radiator up and started the bus without the cap on, some air bubbles came up and finally they stopped and the coolant started rising. I put the cap back on, took the bus for a quick drive, and when I came back I shut it off and added coolant to the overflow tank.

I guess the only thing I still find odd, is that I'll add coolant to the overflow tank (to cold line), come back like an hour later and the overflow tank is almost empty. Then I'll add some more to the overflow tank, come back some time later, and it's down again. Why is this? I can't seem to find any leaks, and I'm pretty sure the radiator is full to one inch from the top.

Likely you have air pockets elsewhere in the system, in various high spots, not just at the top of the radiator.

The cooling system sucks up coolant from the tank (to purge the air pockets) only when it cools down. Any other time, there is no sucking.
It can take several warm up and cool down cycles for the system to suck up and replace all the coolant that was lost when you removed the hoses.
Continue to add coolant until the level no longer goes down.

Of course, if the losses simply become ridiculous, then you have a problem.

Thank you for the advice, I filled up both the radiator and overflow this morning. I will continue to do so until it stays in the overflow tank.

One more question about my heater. There are, I believe, two electrical wires running from the wiring harness or wherever to the heater. They are enclosed in a fabric protector, seen here:
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/4295/heater1ye0.gif

How do I properly clip the wires without getting shocked or ruining anything?

See if there is an auxillary blower fuse or if the front and rear share the same fuse. If the rear has it's own fuse (it probably does), just remove it and cut the wires as far forward as you can. No need to tape them because they'll be dead. If they share a fuse, or you can't tell, cut one wire at a time and tape it up with electrical tape. For the first bit of tape, cut 2" off the roll and tape it on the wire 1" before the end (parallel to the wire) so that it extends 1" past the wire. Wrap it over the wire and stick it to itself, now tape around the wire.

the 12v in a vehicle isn't enough to shock you, so no worries there. The worst thing that could happen is you blow a fuse.

There's one fuse spot where it says 'AUX HTR A/C', but it does not have a fuse in it. And the only other heater-related one I could find said 'HTR A/C' on it, which did have a fuse in it. There was nothing labeled 'REAR HTR' or anything like that. Oddly enough the bus doesn't even have air conditioning, not to my knowledge at least. The dashboard controls are very basic, you can either have the fan, heater, or defrost on.

So does this mean that the normal heater and the auxillary heater in the back share the same fuse or something?

There is a control board by the driver's seat which has controls for things like flasher lights, stop arm, and other typical school bus accessories. One of the controls is for the rear heater. If I duct-tape the switch so that the rear heater cannot be turned on, am I safe to cut the wires without having to worry about blowing a fuse?

(Thank you to both of you again, I really do appreciate the help!)

Well I got everything out okay, this whole thing was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it. :)

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/5098/img1304la3.th.jpg

(http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/5098/img1304la3.jpg)I have it listed for $45 on Craigslist, I truthfully don't know what used ones typically go for, but I'd like to be able to put the proceeds towards supplies/tools for the interior of my bus.

I performed a similar procedure on a 1994 bluebird tc1000- I thought it had gone smoothly until I attempted to restart the engine. The emergency exit alarm buzzer sounds, and the the starter does not engage. All other accessories function normally, and there is an click behind the switch panel as I turn the ignition to start.

I did lose a fair amount of coolant in the process of disconnecting the hoses- up to a gallon an a half. When I remove the radiator cap, coolant flows freely from it, perhaps because I am parked slightly downhill.

It is a frustrating mystery- any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I stumbled across this site, and found your response to this thread. If you haven't already found your answer, try starting a new thread/question. This thread is so old, the original posters may know of your question.
I could only make guesses, and those would be useless - compared to the advice that others here can offer.
I posted this to be sure that you got at least one response.

Hey Eric i have the same problem as you did you find a solution?