Method to Drain Radiator Fluid On A 2014

[Newsa]

Good idea.

I don't think so.^^^^^^^^^:-laf


On another note..... had success with this.... This weekend. Just need to add more 50/50 coolant after it cools down.

 

[MJWenrich]

Newsa, did you only disconnect the original hose to replace or is there a drain?

 

[gsbrockman]

At my 150k and ~ 300k cooling system servicing, I removed the air box and wheel well liner for access to the lower radiator hose. In doing so, I changed 5 gallons of the 5.7 gallon capacity.

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[JR]

Sooo, does anyone have any ideas as to why the top wye fails but not the bottom wye?

 

[gsbrockman]

Sooo, does anyone have any ideas as to why the top wye fails but not the bottom wye?

My guess is higher pressures coupled with hotter coolant.

 

[Newsa]

Newsa, did you only disconnect the original hose to replace or is there a drain?

Yes!

I only disconnected the top hose. No radiator drainage necessary

First I disconnected the radiator side and drained coolant from that side because it is forward of the serp belt. I did this to minimize any coolant getting on the belt. Also disconnected the bracket that holds it up and away from the fan & belt. I bent that end (radiator side) down to drain as much out of the top hose as possible. Next, I disconnected the wye and drained there. Lastly, I took off the engine side and immediately wiped up some coolant off of the belt. Belt was not absorbent and easily wiped clean. No audible serp belt slippage resulted.

I did not reuse the coolant, I put in about a quart a half of fresh.

My guess is higher pressures coupled with hotter coolant.

Yes. The temp is hotter above. However, the pressure is virtually same through all hoses and the radiator. The cooling system is missing the nozzles/pressure gates and compressor/evaporator that the HVAC systems have to develop differenrial.pressures And larger temperature differences.

Plastic deteriorates with high temperature as well as always (repeatedly) being heated up and cooled down. Exposure to oxygen is also a factor.

The top has higher temps and thus higher temp differentials (between hot coolant and ambient) Both wyes experience the same levels of oxygen. Not sure if road treatments would also deteriorate the lower plastic wye? It doesn't seem to according to failure rates.

Since my truck is 4 1/2 years old, I wanted to replace the Plastic part that fails frequently. Even with only 40,670 miles, the old plastic was probably weakened with age and I suspect starting to become brittle.

I'll.probably wait a few more years to replace the bottom one.

 

[Newsa]

I considered changing the smaller hose that is right after the top wye going down to aux radiator. But it looked in good shape and still sealing well. The top hose was more distended on the engine side (only slightly distended from the excessive heat... almost imperceptible). And MUCH more difficult to remove on the engine side whereas it was easy to remove from the radiator side. I interpret this to mean that the top hose was in much better shape on the radiator side than the engine side. I feel much more at ease now that I replaced it.

 

[Bob4x4]

Hoses always come off cast iron harder than plastic

 

[JackFate]

So is there actually a functioning drain on the radiator that anyone used ? If so is there some trick to it?

 

[Cummins12V98]

Personally I am glad they delayed the release of the Factory Rear air Ride to 2015. I did think the Dual radiator was a good thing but I am guessing RAM decided it was not so much.

 

[Newsa]

Hoses always come off cast iron harder than plastic

I didn't look at it that closely, but I thought the radiator inlet would be metal like the radiator.

Is the plastic that the radiator inlet is made of stronger than the plastic that the wye is composed of? Is this another weak spot?

 

[JR]

The plastic is not the weak link in the wye, it is the crimped connection where hose and plastic meet.

 

[Bob4x4]

I didn't look at it that closely, but I thought the radiator inlet would be metal like the radiator.

Is the plastic that the radiator inlet is made of stronger than the plastic that the wye is composed of? Is this another weak spot?

I was talking about the t/stat side...

 

[Newsa]

The plastic is not the weak link in the wye, it is the crimped connection where hose and plastic meet.

Oh. I heard it was a high failure part. But Didn't know it was the joint between hose and plastic that fails. That makes sense.

I was talking about the t/stat side...

Yeah. That was the side that was hard to remove, so yeah that is cast iron.

My concern was the plastic you mentioned. I actually finished the job in the dark, so i didn't have a good view of really either side.