Quick and easy heater core bypass?

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blah heater cores are the dread of are foxs =( takes quite awhile, and you have to crack your a/c line and loose your freon.. that sucks. too bad ford didnt think of a user friendly plan... dont remove your dash, just push it up =)
 
To ECU concerning the U shaped hose suggestion: the two metal heater pipes are of different diameters?! Where does one get a U shaped hose that would fit?

Indy Blk5.0: Yes, I've done one already and the job was a chore. This bypass is more for a test than anything else. My problems could be elsewhere.
 
ahhhhh losing coolant? did you do a compression test yet? milkshake in oil? blowing bubbles in radiator? radiator fins have excess scale on them? try changing your thermostat? water pump cool? any smoke out tail pipes? leak down test? just a few ideas...
 
not real sure...youd just have to ask someone at autozone for a piece of tubing that makes a 90 degree bend and cut it to the right length....id get a piece that is the size of the larger tube...or maybe a little smaller and just use a little elbow grease to get it on and than make sure the smaller tube is clamped down really well. theyre not too big of a difference in size
 
IndyBlk5.0 said:
ahhhhh losing coolant? did you do a compression test yet? milkshake in oil? blowing bubbles in radiator? radiator fins have excess scale on them? try changing your thermostat? water pump cool? any smoke out tail pipes? leak down test? just a few ideas...

I just finished porting the heads and reassembling. The car has been sitting for three months. During the test drive, all seemed normal until I revved it to about 5k, then I had steam coming from the cowl hood and from the passenger-side windshield vent. After opening the hood, I could see that the steam was emitting from the passanger-side firewall area. I saw that I had forgotten to tighten the clamps to the hoses that connect to the heater core. Hissing from slowly releasing air pressure continued for several minutes. I assumed the steam came from that hose and spewed into the firewall and out the cowl and also into the interior. I figured I had air in the cooling system. I had to add a gallon of water at that point. After I tightened the hoses and restarted the car, the larger of the two hoses immediately developed a leak leading me to think that maybe the heater core was plugged. I do seem to have smoke from both pipes (The February air is so cold it's hard to know) but no water in the oil or bubbles in the radiator. Your dire suggestion may be right, though.
 
When you guys are talking about the two diffrent sizes are you talking about the two metal tubes that come out of the firewall and connect to rubber hoses? My heater core is going bad or is totaly bad by now. If i disconect thoes two rubber hoses and just buy some new hose and make it bend with out stoping the water will this work?
 
Black '93, I just cut the bad hose in half and bent it enough to connect the two metal heater pipes, bypassing the core. I didn't buy anything. However, on the ensuing test drive I ended up with coolant all over my engine, this time from the front and spewing out over the top of the engine. I could not find the point of origin. Engine was hot, waterpump very hot, radiator less than warm. I guess I'll try the thermostat next.
 
i put caps on the ends of the heater lines, is that bad.....the bypass hose that was on there developed a nice leak...and i used a coolant system pressure tester on the rad cap and it maintained a steady 16psi with no air/liquid leaks....