Heater hose leaks

[merc81]

While I was putting a rebuilt tranny in my van, I took photos of the mess of heater hoses
GM installed in the van and my take on how they should be done:



The copper T was my fix last spring when I couldn't find a replacement T anywhere. Other than that this is factory. Every one of those hoses leaked somewhat at 180k miles.



Here I've replaced everything but not with the stuff GM had used. The U shape hoses are the same one that is used on the waterpump by-pass pipe from the manifold:

I used that easy to locate hose and connected it to the rear heater pipes, then to the pipe tees. The lower connection from the front heater is 3/4" while the upper connection is 5/8" as are all the other pipes so an adapter pipe is needed. Napa and most stores carry this adapter hose and I cut it in 1/2 so I could insert the T.

The end result was a dual heater connection that used easy to purchase hoses and took less space behind the engine.
Pay no attention to that over-taped up boot in the background; that's what happens when you have to cut the boot that protects the steering shaft--a requirement to removing the engine frame.

[DOUGLASNC]

Nice photo's! That may explain where my coolant leak is comming from! Can't see those hoses from under hood, and noticed coolant dribbling on back side of engine while checking mounts. Pump wasn't leaking and leak seemed to drip from passanger side about where you'r hoses are.No water in oil, so it's not the intake gasket.Bet I those hoses are my problem too.Must figure out how to get to them without pulling engine...lol Thanks alot for you'r post!

[merc81]

It can be a real pain to get at those hoses when the engine is installed. Best to roll the engine as far forward as you can (see other posts for how to do that) and then maybe still need to remove the egr valve and intake hoses.

[LMP]

THis is a case of "..while I'm there.....".....
I'm copying the pictures just in case you decide to move them out of the link.....
BTW, what year model is that? obviously a '97 and up...

[merc81]

Its absolutely the 'while I'm in there' thinking going on. I tried to fix that mess while the engine was in place and just couldn't figure out what to do. Now that I've put the pretty pictures online, it should be possible to do the same thing to your van with the engine still installed (well that was the hope anyway). The photos are from a 99 Olds, but everything stays pretty much the same up to '05.

I was pleased I was able to locate and use hoses that are stocked by most parts houses for this van, but not use the same setup as the factory. Getting those U shaped hoses on the firewall pipes was thing that made it possible.

[Milo2001]

Great pics. In your first picture, you should circle and label the A/C drain. With the ground hog saying spring is coming sooner than later, all the wet passenger carpets questions should be appearing in posts at anytime.

[merc81]

Originally Posted by Milo2001

Great pics. In your first picture, you should circle and label the A/C drain. With the ground hog saying spring is coming sooner than later, all the wet passenger carpets questions should be appearing in posts at anytime.

Good point. Consider it done.