5.0 Heater Hoses

[C420sailor]

Hey guys, quick question. Tracking down a coolant leak and just noticed that my rubber heater hoses disappear into the firewall on their way to the heater core. On my SOHC, they slip over nipples at the firewall and are clamped. (Yes…I used the words ‘nipples’ and ‘clamped’ in the same sentence.) Easy to replace. On my 5.0 rig, this is not the case. They appear to be impossible to replace without pulling the dash to get to the heater core, as the rubber hoses disappear into the holes…into the abyss…

I suspect this is the work of the PO, who f’d everything else on this truck up. It makes me worry about what I’m going to find inside the heater box in the cab…

 

[crunchie_frog]

my 5.0 all have nipples (99,00).

 

[C420sailor]

Great. I have a feeling this hackjob installed a heater core from another vehicle in this thing…

 

[Turdle]

Picture? Could the heater box plastic be hiding the clamps?

 

[410Fortune]

Hmmm somebody modded your heater core they should for sure stick out just like the v6 (same dash same hvac same heater core)

Pita gotta pull the dash to replace it
I can do the job in about 4 hours start to finish I’ve done a few. I charge $500 including a new aluminum core

 

[C420sailor]

This guy was a total hack. The “work” I’ve undone over the years…horrific. I continue to find hidden gems like this.

Gonna pull the dash and fix it right. Heater core and throw an evaporator at it. I also have a timing cover and timing set waiting for it, pass exhaust manifold, and a few other parts. My girls both need paint, but that’s gonna have to wait

 

[410Fortune]

The dash is not as hard as people make it out to be… once you do it a couple of times… well I now do heater cores or hvac box replacements in less then a day it only takes about 20 min to have the entire dash in my lap

Putting it back in by yourself is tricky, but I manage to do it all the time