Lower Heater Hose Leak

[Rowdy Dalton]

I have issues, every time the weather gets cold. Its the small 2.5-3 inch red hose, that is on the passenger side, connecting to the heater. I believe they call it a lower heater hose. For the life of me, I cannot get to it, and don't see how to replace it, without taking a lot of things apart. i believe this might be the part I need.
https://www.genosgarage.com/product...abin-heater-hose-05086822/coolant-heater-hose
It is for a 2006. I had a dealership replace it, about 12 years ago.

.

 

[Yo Hoot]

I believe you can cut it off. Putting the new piece on is tricky but doable. One end in on an angle and push it on farther than it's supposed to go to get the other end on. Than slide into position. Don't forget the clamps.

Here's a video replacing the whole tube

 

[Rowdy Dalton]

I believe you can cut it off. Putting the new piece on is tricky but doable. One end in on an angle and push it on farther than it's supposed to go to get the other end on. Than slide into position. Don't forget the clamps.

Here's a video replacing the whole tube

It definitely looks like a knuckle busting job.
The posted video is for a 2003. They switched things and parts for the 2006 models.
Either Dorman part numbers for the tubes are:
626-574
626-660

 

[Darkbloodmon]

It's defiantly cold weather contraction season.

I removed my lower heater hose return hardline when I pieced together my custom coolant filter setup. Ran some heater hose back into the water pump inlet return for the heater core side. Pics of my routing in the write up.

Getting to the clamps and hoses on that hardline are a bit of a pain with the manifold right on top of it. My 03 is a manual so there are some differences, correct me if I'm wrong but there is a cross over pipe/hose for the trans heat exchanger right?

 

[airbus320]

I just got finished replacing these 2 hoses. Geno's garage has the hoses, and constant tension clamps. I removed the air box, oil filter and alternator to access the hoses. The hose that is near the turbocharger had worm clamps, and had worn through the hose. The whole job took about 2 1/2 hours to accomplish. I'm very glad that i replaced these. hoses in the garage and not on the side of the road.
A year ago I replaced the 2 90 degree hoses on the transmission heat exchanger, that job was no fun, a full day of labor. I had to remove the left wheel well liner to access the area.

 

[CharlesinGA]

I think the hoses you are referring to are short segments that are basically a silicone hose that Chrysler used anywhere access was difficult. I had similar hose on a '99 Breeze that had a hose that was almost impossible to get to.

I think the key to access of these hoses is to jack the front end, pull the RH front wheel and take out the eight screws that hold the wheel well shroud in. I did that recently when I installed the exhaust brake and everything that looks impossible from above is wide open when you get to it thru the wheel well area.

Charles

 

[seafish]

I am bringing this thread back up because--


These same two short hoses on my 2005 truck are leaking again DESPITE my using the upgraded silicone hoses and constant pressure worm drive hose clamps when I replaced them about 6 years ago.

I have just removed the wheel well liner and tightened up the clamps as much as possible, but they are still dripping ... No Bueno !!!

SOOOOO... I am looking at McMaster Carr and they sell a 5/8" ID silicone "coolant rated" hose that uses a knit steel ply instead of the standard knit fiber ply. They ALSO have "vibration resistant, high torque" worm hose clamp that can tighten to 80 in lbs instead if the regular 40. That said, these clamps do NOT have a tail liner and also are NOT constant tension ... so I think that the gear slots will likely cut into the hose when firmly tightened. That said, I'll bet that the knit steel will keep them from biting TOO deeply and damaging the hose.

I am ALSO thinking of using a light coating of RTV on the pipe ends after cleaning them and before I wrestle the hoses into place just in case there is pitting or corrosion on the iron pipe that might be causing the leak.

In short, I am wondering what you guys think of my idea using the knit steel hose and high torque clamps versus the knit fiber hose and another set of constant tension clamps or any other combination of parts that you think might help.

I am open to hearing ALL opinions and suggestions on techniques that will further the goal of stopping the drip from these

 

[Ozymandias]

Please no RTV, that is a guarantee for a leak in this position.

And use the constant tension spring hose clamps.
I had nothing but trouble with the worm drive clamps until I went back to the spring ones.
Only thing that you really need to look for is that you get the right diameter, they come more or less in 1mm increments, there are decent ones on Amazon that I got for mine and a lot of cheap stuff that looses tension after a short time.

I think I used this ones > 10 Constant Tension Band Hose Clamps 7/8" - 1" NO Amazon Affliate Links Allowed.d/h27O3hE

Or this ones depending on your hose, > uxcell Steel Band Clamp 20mm Inner Dia Fit 21-22.5mm OD Hose Spring Band Type Action Fuel Line Silicone Tube Clip Clamp Black 10Pcs NO Amazon Affliate Links Allowed.d/2nJ8CRg

I'd order both and use the ones that fits best, send the others back.

 

[seafish]

Oh no...I have been using this kind, which is what Bob's Silicone sent to me with the hoses that I bought from him.

 

[petersonj]

Oh no...I have been using this kind, which is what Bob's Silicone sent to me with the hoses that I bought from him.

View attachment 137103

Actually, that clamp is okay. It has spring tension for constant torque and the worm drive slots are designed to not cut into the hose. It is also for a specific size - not a one-size-fits-a-large-range clamp.

- John

 

[Topzide]

What about putting in a NPT - JIC fitting than a line with ends to match? Could even be a solid line with swivel ends. Don't have a horse in this race but was trying to think of another option that may work since this hose sounds like a royal pain! Hope the suggestion sparks gets the gears turning!

 

[CVR222NV]

Having been down this road and dealing with multiple leaks I opted to ditch the entire system and replaced it with this:

https://fullsenddiesel.com/products...kit-black-braided?_pos=2&_sid=9c8b534fb&_ss=r

Mine is for a manual transmission set up. I believe they have one for the automatics as well. No more leaks!

 

[seafish]

^^^

Dam that's gorgeous and ;looks like it readily solves the problem!!!

Couple of questions for ya--

Was it hard to install without removing the exhaust manifold ??

How long have you had it on the truck?

 

[Ozymandias]

There must be an underlying problem with yours as rhere are thousand trucks out there, including mine, that run the stock factory setup - at 250k.
Not everything factory is a bad design just because it failed once.

 

[seafish]

There must be an underlying problem with yours as rhere are thousand trucks out there, including mine, that run the stock factory setup - at 250k.
Not everything factory is a bad design just because it failed once.

You may well be correct in the first part of your statement about an underlying problem with that coolant line.

That said, IMO, placing 2 short hoses in nearly inaccessible places IS at least some sort of inferior design...at least so much so that that I believe Cummins changed it to at least only one hose in 2006. Doesn't mean that the design doesnt work in the majority of cases, but it is in fact failure point that is difficult to repair in at least some trucks.

I DO like the idea of replacing the hard coolant line and soft hoses with the Full Send braided JIC/swivel fittings kit, though that IS a hefty price.

I would love to get more info on the install of that kit and am somewhat reluctant to commit since Full Send Diesel contacts customers ONKY through text or email, and to me that is a small red flag, though maybe this is more an admission of my age in these days of the interwebz.

 

[Ozymandias]

Cummins must have had an idea why they put that hose there, maybe vibration related or heat expansion, who knows. But it is anyway more xpensive to build it that way then just a straight metal tube that could have been used also.

The Full Send Kit* you can put together for less then half the price on Amazon by just ordering the AN- parts separately which I did many times in the past.
AN- is a great way to build fluid lines, I used it for the coolant filter, for the PS filter setup, for the additional Transfilter setup and for the ESPAR heater plumbing.


*I stopped reading right there where they start talking about bypassing the transmission cooler because it is known to fail a lot - which is just plain wrong.

 

[CVR222NV]

^^^

Dam that's gorgeous and ;looks like it readily solves the problem!!!

Couple of questions for ya--

Was it hard to install without removing the exhaust manifold ??

How long have you had it on the truck?

Unfortunately we installed it when we had the turbo off before I lost the motor and the second time installed it was when the motor was out of the truck. Below are some photos that may help you decide. I believe I first installed it in 2019 and have had no issues since.

 

[CVR222NV]

There must be an underlying problem with yours as rhere are thousand trucks out there, including mine, that run the stock factory setup - at 250k.
Not everything factory is a bad design just because it failed once.

Ozy I generally agree with you but in my case I had multiple leak events and repairs and eventually decided to just replace it with the Full Send kit for piece of mind. I do a lot of off roading in remote country and did not want to have to attempt a repair in the field. As to why is was leaking I don't know but figured given its proximity to the exhaust manifold it was under going constant heat and cooling cycles that degraded the short rubber hose.