Reviving The Old Rear Heater Line Issue Again!

[Blanco]

So, like many of you other salt-belt Runners, my rear heater (coolant) lines are almost toast and there's about an 8" section just waiting to burst on me.

I'm planning to either remove the lines completely and replace the entire length with rubber coolant hose as I believe Nelsonmd did, or I'm going to go the easier route and cut out the corroded portion of the metal line and replace that with coolant hose similar to what Fightman did.

If you look at this link, JohnsD90 did a bypass as a temporary fix. I want to do this ASAP prior to getting underneath and doing the dirty work in a couple of weeks from now.

My question is (excuse the potential noobness of it), if my truck is cold and I yank off the coolant lines and reroute them at the firewall, how much coolant am I going to lose if any and what's the best (cleanest) way to remove these hoses without hosing myself down with coolant in the process? Is most of the coolant settled and a shop rag will do or am I going to need to rig up a container somehow? I should mention, I hate working on anything that has to do with the cooling system!

Thanks for your tips as always!

 

[PitbullRescuer]

I just did mine a few weeks ago. It took about a gallon of coolant but that also included what was lost from the leaking lines since I had last topped it off. Most came from yanking the lines at the rear heater. I used a small saw to cut them going up the fire wall and then just ran rubber lines from there back to the rear heater. Cheap. Easy. And will never rust again. The whole job can literally be done in 15 minutes.

 

[Blanco]

Yeah, it doesn't look too hard of a job. I'm assuming you don't need to drain the whole coolant to do this either.

One thing though, what size coolant line is the best fit to overlap existing metal line? 3/8"?

 

[2ndGenAnimal]

Hello everyone. I need to remove rear heater to install new carpet and those hoses underneath rear of heater are a sticking point. I don’t want to cut them or rip them but can’t figure out how to disconnect them to remove heater and it doesn’t seem like it will be easy to reconnect them when I’m done. There is barely any slack in the hoses when I lift up heater I can breast fit a finger under there. Would I fix it from underneath vehicle? Thanks In advance for the help.

 

[Drew76]

Hello everyone. I need to remove rear heater to install new carpet and those hoses underneath rear of heater are a sticking point. I don’t want to cut them or rip them but can’t figure out how to disconnect them to remove heater and it doesn’t seem like it will be easy to reconnect them when I’m done. There is barely any slack in the hoses when I lift up heater I can breast fit a finger under there. Would I fix it from underneath vehicle? Thanks In advance for the help.

Underneath truck remove the shield that protects the lines where they go up into floor, you will see each line has a short piece of rubber hose with clamps joining the line to the heater. Remove heater side clamps and hoses.

I've never removed the heater so can't help from that side but I just replaced those clamps underneath last week.

 

[brillo_76]

Just like Drew76 suggested. Right under the shield is the connection separation point.

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[2ndGenAnimal]

Underneath truck remove the shield that protects the lines where they go up into floor, you will see each line has a short piece of rubber hose with clamps joining the line to the heater. Remove heater side clamps and hoses.

I've never removed the heater so can't help from that side but I just replaced those clamps underneath last week.

Drew and Brillo thank you very much this is the info that i needed. Now check out why I need to replace carpet!!

 

[2ndGenAnimal]

I’m having trouble uploading photos although I am normally quite computer literate. Keeps saying that upload failed.

Anyway since I figured you guys may know, how do I remove the old torn shift boot? Can’t get it over the knobs and can’t seem to find a way that knobs come off of the bars. I figure I shouldn’t need to remove the bars at the base. Probably more simple than that?

 

[brillo_76]

I’m having trouble uploading photos although I am normally quite computer literate. Keeps saying that upload failed.



Anyway since I figured you guys may know, how do I remove the old torn shift boot? Can’t get it over the knobs and can’t seem to find a way that knobs come off of the bars. I figure I shouldn’t need to remove the bars at the base. Probably more simple than that?

Your pictures are to big most likely the cause of the failure to upload.


Which bars and knobs are your referring to?

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[2ndGenAnimal]

Ok thanks I’ll try to get pics smaller.

I’m referring to the shifter bar for a manual transmission and the 4wd shifter. If I could get the bulbs that you grab off then boot would slip off easy but otherwise leather won’t fit over handle bulbs.

 

[brillo_76]

Ok thanks I’ll try to get pics smaller.

I’m referring to the shifter bar for a manual transmission and the 4wd shifter. If I could get the bulbs that you grab off then boot would slip off easy but otherwise leather won’t fit over handle bulbs.

Those i believe twist off actually I am fairly certain they do. Maybe someone loctited them in the past.

Worst case. You can unbolt them off the transmission and put new seals in when you put them back together.

 

[phattyduck]

Ok thanks I’ll try to get pics smaller.

I’m referring to the shifter bar for a manual transmission and the 4wd shifter. If I could get the bulbs that you grab off then boot would slip off easy but otherwise leather won’t fit over handle bulbs.

The knobs just unscrew from the shift levers. Nothing special. They are plastic, so they will stay 'stiff' for a few turns before they loosen up - just keep going and they will come off.

-Charlie