Heater pipe delete - water pump bypass?

[Darkwriter77]

Okay, so maybe the rubber plug wasn't such a hot idea, after all. Had to delete my rusted, leaky heater pipe awhile back, so I plugged the main intake manifold port with the coolant temp sensor and a brass bushing, and then capped the extra water pump fitting and the small intake nipple with rubber caps and hose clamps. Last night, halfway through a little brisk jog towards the 5k RPM mark, I managed to hose the rear passenger side of my engine bay with green blood when the little bypass line nipple that I'd capped decided to split. Got it home that whole 2 mile drive without letting the temp rise even the slightest bit, capped it off properly this time with a brass plug, and all's well for the moment.

The water pump cap is holding up fine, but I'm sure it's a matter of time before it suffers a catastrophic failure and dumps all of my coolant everywhere in a matter of seconds. I hate placing my faith in rubber or plastic thingies.

Does anyone have a magickal solution for dealing with that extra water pump nipple? A loop of hose would be ideal, but I don't have anywhere to loop the other end of that hose into. Another idea I had was if I could somehow get a T-fitting between the coolant temp sensor and the intake, so the coolant could still flow to its original home, but my searches throughout the hardware and auto parts store world have been fruitless for such a sized device. Am I going to have to resort to hunting for a whole water pump that not only has just one bypass fitting (instead of the usual two on the left) AND the reverse rotational vanes for a serpentine setup? Or will I just have to break down and buy a new heater pipe, even though I have no heater to hook it up to?

 

[Darkwriter77]

What, nobody else has deleted their heater pipe before...?

 

[Darkwriter77]

ttt ... again. Surely, someone out there besides me has deleted their heater pipe and come up with a super-duper solution to the extra hose nipple problem...?

 

[TheBocSez]

I have done it, but using the exact same method as you. Plug the rear intake opening and a rubber cap and hose clamp on the water pump.

 

[jwcma]

I'm in the same boat. I bought a pack of two rubber bypass caps from the Help section at the parts store. I've never sprung a leak, but the first cap looked like it was hurting with small cracks all over the outside. The cracks never reached the inside. I replaced it with the second cap but also shoved a rubber plug into the pipe before I put the cap on. Unfortunately, that cap is also showing some cracks.

Anyone know if that tube coming off the wp is threaded or pressed in? If it's threaded, I'd like to replace it with a metal plug. That would put an end to my worries.

 

[monte87]

It is pressed in.
i can tell you this for sure- edelbrock's come with pipe thread fittings and weiand comes with pipe slip in fittings that require loctite 609. So im guessing-they are fitted in with some type sealant.
Ant

 

[2000xp8]

Sounds like it would be safer and more reliable just to fix the heater pipe.

 

[jwcma]

I for one am not going back. I will see if the hardware store has a metal plug that will allow me to seal the pipe using some jb weld.

edit: if my factory water pump ever dies, I will be looking into the Edelbrock replacement.

 

[monte87]

I for one am not going back. I will see if the hardware store has a metal plug that will allow me to seal the pipe using some jb weld.

edit: if my factory water pump ever dies, I will be looking into the Edelbrock replacement.

my man from experince, stay far away from eddy pumps, im having a nightmare with mine and its not even a year yet. dude-i just bought myself a Weiand pump that im planning on putting on next saturday and sneding the eddy back to summit for a refund of $147.00 fior that picee of ****!

Just my opinion.....
Ant

p.S. look up my past threads about noises and **** or cooling system guru's... you'll see for yourself.

 

[Darkwriter77]

I'm getting the same cracks on the end of my rubber plug, too, and it's only been in there a couple of months. I've got three spares in the glove box, just in case, and changing it's just a matter of cooling down for awhile and going at it with a flat-head screwdriver ... but if it ever popped off completely, I imagine it could probably pump out a huge amount of coolant before I pull over and/or shut the thing off. Guess I should keep a bottle or two of A/F in the trunk at all times...

EDIT: Someone at work today suggested cutting off a piece of heater hose, poking a fat bolt into the end of it with some RTV silicone slathered on there, and then secure it with a few hose clamps. Sounds a tad bit more sturdy, materials-wise, but I can still picture that bolt popping loose like a cork during a high-RPM run...

 

[jwcma]

Not a bad idea. I did exactly that on my h-pipe to block off the fitting going to the air tube.

 

[Raginstang]

why don't you just crimp the tube from the water pump closed and then have someone weld the end closed for sure. seems like that would work just fine. personally I would just hit up the junkyard and throw the heater pipe back on it and stop thinking about it. just my 2 cents though

 

[Darkwriter77]

Well, ideally, if I were going to go through the trouble of re-installing the heater pipe, I'd also install a new heater core, and that's just not something worth doing where I live ... being that I'd only need it, what, one month out of the year, and I can score an electric heater from JC Whitney to cover that issue. Plus, it's one less thing to have to manuever around when servicing injectors and such, and looks a lot cleaner. Hard to justify spending $75 on a new one from 50resto.com, plus another $10 for a formed 180* bend hose to loop it back into itself - maybe cheaper just to periodically change the caps out, I guess.

Then again, it may be worth it in the long run just to go with the old loopty-loop deal and put a big U-turn on the end of the heater pipe. It would certainly beat being stuck on the side of the road as a result of a stupid $0.50 rubber cap popping off and dumping all my coolant. The whole engine bay still reeks of spilled coolant that's burning off from that stupid little vacuum cap I'd been using on the back of the intake...