bulletproofing the cooling system

[Crankey]

Few years back I found a Ford heater valve that when the heat was shut off the coolant was cut off from the core and routed back to the block.

At the time it seemed like a good idea because it stopped most of the coolant volume fluctuations from turning on or off the heat.
Seems to me that the heater circuit is also plumbed to involve the coolant bottle and was, for me causing the dash light to flash from coolant level in the bottle.
Flashing coolant light in a swapped van is a mandatory stop and look event.
Nothing bad ever happened to me but there's no way I could just keep driving.


I bought one but never had a chance to install it and around that time my project got parked into storage for reasons totally unrelated.

Anyone remember that or try it out ? The valve was vacuum or lever actuated. Would also require a little fab work to tie in to the control cable.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

according to Gates it's a very popular hose, doubt it will go anywhere. used on lots of classic stuff as well as RV's

Gates actually offers an amazing assortment of hoses if you can stomach searching for them.
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[jlrftype7]

[skills@eurocarsplus]

wanted to update this.

i wanted to replace my front heater core hoses. they are available but of questionable quality.

everything in my cooling system is new...down to a NOS vw/audi radiator, the only exception is the front heater core, as it seems to be just fine (here's to hoping)

anyway i got down to business trying to figure out the front heater hose situation. 37 year old coolant hoses are nothing i personally want to trust. and Taiwanese hoses i'd trust even less

so after hours of digging i came up with Gates 28472 hose

it's a 90º Molded Heater Hose that is 5/8" x 52" or a 4" leg and 48" length after the 90

it's claim to fame is being SUPER flexible, which it is.... it's not stiff ass hose like normal 5/8 heater hose. you can tell by it's weave....much like a chinese finger or fishnet stockings.

you can literally almost tie it in a knot without kinking

you can see it here on the top

now both

if you do the Ferd heater valve it's almost like it was meant to be. it will work with the sucky VW valve as well.

photo here makes it look like it's close to the fan, but it's about 3/4" away...plenty of room and i haven't zip tied anything off yet

basically i trimmed the leg down to the length of the OE hose and went to town. they do sell this hose a bit shorter....i forget the p/n but wanted as long as i could get for wiggle room and honestly, it wasn't much of a price swing.

so for 20 bux you can get your ancient hoses the fuck out of the cab and not blow 25 bux a piece for taiwan junk
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[4Gears4Tires]

Whoa whoa whoa.. Nine dollars and 25 cents?

Slow your roll big spender!
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'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition

[djkeev]

[16CVs]

Don’t forget that there are at least 2 plastic couplers in line if the heater hoses that join the long lengths to the molded hoses. Those always seem to be fairly heat cycled by the time you replace them. It’s a small part but you’re looking for reliability.
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1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[4Gears4Tires]

[djkeev]

[skills@eurocarsplus]

my hang up with the current self bleed deal is that clear tubing. pounding the internetz it doesn't have a very high temp rating or psi rating. most are good for 5psi @ 70*

granted, you can get plain old coolant hose in 1/4" but it's not clear.

i'm not bagging on the inventor, in fact i think it's a great idea. i'm just not a fan of adding a potential failure point with the clear tubing not rated at a minimum of 20psi @220*
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[valvecovergasket]

[djkeev]

[4Gears4Tires]

The heater core getting airblocked is not going to overheat my motor, unlike the radiator.

[bobbyblack]

I didn't install my fancy bleed and valve kit yet. In fact, I don't have much trouble bleeding. I have a nice area in my "driveway" siding that I back up on, and it puts the pressure tank at least 3 inches above the bleed on the radiator.

I see the advantage, of course, with it bleeding on the fly. I have been mulling it over for a while, but I see it more practical for transplants that are HARD to bleed. I offered to put in in my daughter's EJ22 powered '86, if she gets going on the final bits this Spring. I am looking forward to seeing how the EJ22 powers her tintop.

Having looked over the kit though, it seems like a no brainer. If I were in actual need of a new valve, I certainly would put it in. I have yet to check if the banjo will fit the replacement radiator I also have sitting on the shelf.

Oh the joys of the non-heated garage...
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'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch

[4Gears4Tires]

I disagree. If you get it bled and you run for years without touching it, I can see why you'd think it's a waste.

However, as someone who is constantly pulling things apart and subsequently constantly having to bleed the system, this thing is a blessing. I can't tell you how many times I have had to bleed air out of the top of the radiator. It might work well enough to not overheat and to run fine because the amount of coolant and the size of radiator is massive for this little engine, but it is not what I consider "self bleeding". Air gets trapped at the radiator.

The ability to confirm the fluid level at the front of the van where it actually matters? Icing on the cake.

I'm not saying don't home brew the set up with napa/mcmaster carr parts or what not. That's neither here nor there imo. I'm saying the set up is an improvement.
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'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition

[skills@eurocarsplus]

so, my trial hoses came in for the front heater core. seem very promising and made by Gates. advertised as kink resistant and just fooling with them seem like they will work just fine. i will post the # when i can confirm they will work.

feel much better about it and honestly feel better NOT to use the taiwan ones available

thinking the auto bleed valve i don't see why you couldn't use a stock valve (or a facsimile thereof) and just used this

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_6601595?cid=pai...D_BwE&

of course you'd need the banjo arrangement but those can be had cheap enough.

anyway, not liking my choices for radiators at the moment
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[skills@eurocarsplus]

good input, thanks

djkeev~ yea, the front heater core hoses that are available (after much digging) are made in Taiwan. no thank you...

i may have found a workaround for those hoses. i ordered a ton of different options from Gates. they have a whole bunch of molded 5/8 hoses so i am going to see what i come up with.

no need to post any p/n yet as i'm not sure what will work, but will keep this updated or post another thread.

i literally have totes upon totes of hoses from cars i parted out. call me a swamp yankee but saving that stuff is great for conversions/custom installs so you can cut up stuff and not feel bad, then match up a hose a your local FLAPS.

anyway...my concern for the front hoses is real....upon doing a 1.8T swap (thank God it was my personal car) i re-used a good looking hose from my bin-o-shit and after about 3k miles, it failed in an epic way on a hot summer day when i was grabbing 2nd gear at 5k and 22lbs of boost. the side of the hose ripped like a zipper was there.

that was a OE vw hose dated 10/88 and was pulled from a low mileage example. my concern for the radiator is it came in a plie of parts when i went shopping at a friends place. it's original and although it seems ok i'd rather not push my luck.

how is the ford valve? i'm not opposed to using it. in the mk1 rabbit world there is a porsche valve that is very similar to the one used on our vans that is still available from por$che so i will dig into that as well
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[dobryan]

[MarkWard]

My 82 diesel had the heater valve inside the cab. I guess it was too easy to access, so the engineers figured out the most difficult place to access the valve in later models.
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☮️

[bobbyblack]