Is this bad if it leaks? (heater hose?)
 

Trying to flush my coolant right now, first drain i'm guessing it did not empty the heater matrix, as when i filled with plain water, it started mixing green again.

Ran it hot with plan water and hopefully it was enough to hold the thermostat open while it drained and took the heater matrix with it?

Anyway, i saw some coolant on the bank under the heater hoses.

I would replace that.
Small leaks have a tendency to become big ones and can let go one day when you least expect it.

That "T" joint is probably plastic and the leak is more then likely coming from a crack that's only going to get worse.

Well, i guess now (whilst i'm trying to flush it) is the best time, right?

Any idea what part it is? (for reference at ford)


Please tell me you can get parts of KH180? That whole unit is over $100! :(

2000 FORD RANGER 3.0L V6 Heater Hose / Pipe | RockAuto

2000 FORD RANGER 3.0L V6 Heater Hose Connector | RockAuto

The "T" is available.
Probably if you carefully cut the old plastic Ford clamps off and simply put in the new "T" with standard hose clamps.

It's also possible that the plastic clamps are failing and the "T" is fine.

I'm thinking, and hoping that it's the clamps failing, some other pipes were lose on their connections and needed jubilee clips to tighten them down.

I'm guessing from the fact you mentioned plastic clamps, that i should be able to disconnect that T piece where it's leaking?

The smaller hoses go to the Throttle body pre-heater, this was added to the 3.0l engines for use in colder climates, same as heated PCV Valves were added.
Because of the velocity of air entering the intake and moisture content freezing could occur causing rough running.

If you do not live in an area that has prolonged below zero temps then pre-heating is not needed.
So you can remove the "T" hoses and replace with off the shelf heater hoses with no "T"s

The factory "T" hoses are one piece, but you can make your own using "by the foot" heater hoses and metal or brass "T"s and regular hose clamps.

The factory made "T"s are known to leak over time, so whether you delete the pre-heater or not, I wouldn't replace with factory made hoses.

Also be aware that the hose connections on the throttle pre-heater are a known leak point, they crack were they are attached to the throttle body

This is not part of the cooling system, warm coolant just runs out of one "T", thru throttle body and back to the other "T", deleting the "T"s doesn't effect heating or cooling of the engine.

That's some really useful info, thank you - i did notice the PCV heater run coming off those hoses earlier in the night, seeing them and thinking, they're kinda high in the system.

I can get a better look tonight and pull it apart, i think your idea of replacing with straight connectors is best, i'm in Oregon, i do not need heated TB's or PCV's.

PS - is the engine fan supposed to run all the time? i thought it was clutched based on engine/coolant temp?

I know some of the 4cyl Rangers came with stock electric radiator fans, but V6s all had mechanical fans I thought, so yes fan clutch

E-fans would run after engine/key was shut off on some models of vehicles

Yeah, it's running all the time.....

It will turn all the time, but the fan clutch allows it to slip significantly until there's enough heat to engage the clutch. Very limited drag unless it's locked in, and that should only happen as needed to cool the radiator.

Can i relatively easily check that without losing a hand, or a fan blade?

With the engine off you should be able to turn it relatively easily. Not sure about testing the engagement. Probably an easy way to heat it and see if it locks in, but I've never looked it up.

If it was locked up, you would know it.
It would sound like a jet taking off going down the highway.

Didn't think to check when cold and off, i'll check tonight.

Not sure about the taking off part, i say this as i had it warmed up for the flush last night and the fan didn't seem to change any. It's possible it hadn't gotten warm enough though.

Mechanical fan clutch is warmed up by Radiator heat not engine heat.

On the front of it is a bi-metal spring that expands as it is heated by air passing thru the radiator, this starts to engage the clutch fluid to spin fan closer to engine RPMs.

A cold fan clutch, after sitting over night, will be engaged, fluid inside is cold and thick.
So BEFORE starting the engine fan should be harder to spin
Leave hood open and start the engine
You should hear fan grabbing lots of air, jeffs "jet engine noise"
After 10 seconds or so fluid gets warm and clutch is released so fan noise drops off

Shut off engine
Spin fan again, should be easy to spin.

Drive normally where ever you need to go, over 15 min trip
Stop engine pop hood and try to spin fan, should be harder to spin, the higher the radiator temp the harder the fan will be to spin, it never "locks" just gets tighter


Common sign of failing fan clutch is climbing temp gauge when stopped and idling
Temp gauge normally should be just below 1/2 after full warm up
When stopped if gauge starts to climb to 1/2 and then drop back down when you are driving again fan clutch would be first thing to check
Fan is really only used when stopped or driving below 25MPH, the rest of the time the speed of the vehicle keeps air flow thru rad high enough to cool the rad/engine

Ah, now i've heard that part with it starting louder, then quietening down after 10-20 seconds, so it's probably ok, but this gives me the info i need to check, thank you.


Lastly, for emptying the heater core when draining the radiator, it does seem not to want to drain, is the best method in order to get a complete empty, to pull a heater pipe and drain from there too?

Alright, this needs to be my priority now, i think i found the PS fluid leak, but want to confirm it, can't run engine without coolant ;)

Can anyone confirm the size of this pipe? or is it just a case of measuring and getting the straight adaptor?

The leaking pipe/loop in question is for the PCV valve, pretty certain i can do without that? So a straight pipe replacement it is, unless they have a convenient T piece.

Just pull off one heater core hose and point it down into a bucket and then put garden hose on the other heater hose.
That will flush it out and siphon should pull most of the remaining water out
Then blow into the hose and the rest will come out

You can start an engine without coolant, just don't run it longer than 2 minutes at a time between cool downs

PCV heater hose usually is a "clip on" just wraps around the PCV Valve, hoses can be removed, and next oil change replace PCV Valve with non heated model

Pull them free at the firewall? or the T pieces?

I'm guessing it is prob best at the T pieces as i'll be replacing them anyway.

Pull them off at the block so you have something to connect the garden hose too.
If you pull them off at the "T", then you'll get water all over the engine bay.
Pulling them off at the "T" makes the hoses too short to direct the water on the ground.
The idea is to flush the matrix and drain as much water out as possible, you can eliminate the "T" later.
Just did mine to get the rusty water out of the heater matrix.

I just used some black electrical tape to tape the garden hose to the heater hose (took a bit, but made it easier to direct the water away from the engine bay with the other heater hose)

I then switched things around to back flush the matrix.

I blew out most of the remaining water, just like Ron said.
That got rid of most of it.

Hint:
It's much easier to get at the heater hose clamps on the block if you remove the air intake tube leading to the throttle body, alternator and alternator bracket bolted to the head (only 3 bolts).
Once that's all out of the way the procedure is quite easy to do.
It's not that much bother to remove those few things.

JUST MAKE SURE AND DISCONNECT the NEGATIVE WIRE TO THE BATTERY BBEFORE DICONNECTING THE ALTERNATOR.
You can leave the positive one in place, it doesn't matter.

Mine was full of rusty water from the last owner leaving it sit for 8 years with coolant in it.

Hmm ok, i'll see what i can rig up tomorrow when it's light - i just finished now as i had to break both T pieces and pull out the bits.
A combination of miniature long nose pliers and a vacuum helped keep the shattered plastic from falling down the pipes.

I will say that as the first T broke with barely any effort (i wasn't quite trying to remove it) i'm surprised this didn't blow up on it's own during driving. The pipes were empty, so it seems the matrix had emptied last night before the thermostat closed.

Honestly, i'm very surprised at how petrified the plastic was, it reminded me of bakelite or old PCB that had been soaked in water. It crumbled, yet was still fibrous.

Anyway, all cleared out, the smaller PCV heater pipe was the biggest problem, i think it's clear, but daylight and a compressor will help me confirm.

NAPA only had one T piece in stock, so gotta wait until tomorrow lunch before i finish the cooling.
I'll do the PS filter and system 'flush' in the morning, which will stop that leak, and maybe quieten down the pump, it's bloody noisy.

Pictured is the new T piece next to an old T piece. The old one is oriented the same way, but all of it's ends are snapped/torn off inside the pipes.

Also pictured is the pipes, still including the snapped of T piece parts and the rest of the lay out with some of the factory T pieces and clamps before i broke them off (tried best i could on second one to get it intact)

What part of Oregon are you from, Southern part ?
I wouldn't eliminate the manifold heater hoses.

I live on the Southern tip of Vancouver Island, it can be very mild in the winter and then some winters can get to -10 or colder _ very unpredictable.

I would suspect that the same unpredictable weather can happen in Oregon, even the Southern part of it.



It's pretty bad that the old plastic looks like an old stale crumbling cookie.
Too many years of heating and cooling I guess.

It's surprising how any plastic parts are on these trucks, or any vehicle for that matter _ anything to save weight and cost.

I was replacing my accelerator pedal cable and the actual pedal and arm is made of plastic _ I can see that breaking one day.

Seems Ford lovvvvvved plastic in the early 2000's, tanks, hot and cold, pipes, connectors, all sorts.... yeah......

I'm in the Metro area, but as it happens, i can only see the PCV loop coming off these hoses, though i haven't inspected it enough to find the TB heater run.

Having said that, we still don't need that function here;
It's a safety/anti litigation device (TB heaters) if you start it up when it's extremely cold, and drive immediately, the rush of air can insta freeze the throttle plate in place, ie. stuck throttle. But none of us do that, once it's idling and warming up, it only take a minute or so before it's making it's own heat and won't freeze.

Anyway, i have to check the throttle cable play and make sure i don't need the zip tie mod, so i'll need to check the opening of the butterfly plate in the TB, i'll look for the heater then.

PS. already disconnected it on our other cars, never an issue.

My cable was actually frayed, so I thought I better do something about it sooner then later.
The least expensive for a whole unit was 98 bucks from the Mazda dealer; Ford wanted even more.

Found the correct size cable at Crappy Tire, of all places, and made my own brass ends and soldered them in place.

Oh, your throttle cable?

Yeah, i think mine is ok, there is play in the pedal, but i'm not making the edit without checking it's not getting WOT.