Popped the hood, looked around, and noticed I had some blue stuff in the center connector between the heater hoses. Yep, looks like the hot-in hose was leaking. Leaking slow enough to lose pressure and cook the glycol dry as it pushed out. Similar to the heater core o-rings.
So first thing’s first.
The fittings are 3/4″ OD fittings where the hose is clamped down on them. So if you were to remove them, you would need 3/4″ OD something to replace it. However, if you find you will need to cut up further in the hose, the hose shrinks to 1/2 or (probably) 5/8″ ID, so you would need something with an OD of 5/8″ to seal them up . So be aware depending on the condition of your hose, which size fitting or pipe you will need. Hose clamps I used are 0.75-1.25″ hose clamps.
In my case, I bought some 1/2″ ID 3/4″ OD 6064 Aluminum tubing. It is a 1/8″ thick aluminum tube from SpeedyMetals.com and cost $4.88. I also bought some .065″ thick Aluminum tube from them too, cost was like $5 or so. Shipping of course was like $15. What you see in the above photo is a 4″ long section, cleaned, deburred, and fitting with a 3/4″ ID heater hose section 1″ long. Be sure to smooth, debur, and clean it before installing, or you’ll get a bunch of crap in your cooling system.
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From there, you start by pinching off the lines if you can – I used some needle nose vice grips wrapped in tape. One on each side of the fitting.
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I chose to crush the metal clamps over the plastic ends of the fittings. It didn’t take much at all to hear the cruch start. I didn’t go 100% flat, maybe 50%, enough to deform the metal band. Then you turn it and deform it the other way. In my case, the plastic fittings fell off before a third rotation. I then removed the metal band
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From there you reach in and clean everything out with a finger. Realistically, you can feel 99% of the crunchy plastic bits. Easiest way was to put the end of the hose downward into a small cup and knock it on the side of the cup, 99% of the stuff comes out, then do a finger sweep and wipe until all the bits come out.
DO NOT POINT THE HOSE UPWARD – THE CRUNCHY STUFF WILL FALL IN. Between straight out to the side and straight down is the best.
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As soon as you’re sure about the cleanliness of the hose, then stick in half of the pipe into the hose and tighten down with hose clamps.
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Same thing with the other side and then you are good to go.
Alternatively – one could cut the hoses further back and remove the fittings. Then get two 5/8″ OD barbed hose couplers and put a short piece of 5/8″ ID heater hose to connect them. In a pinch this is the way to do it as many others have noted.