Taking the heater off a Duratec

[boss351]

Posting on all the forums to see where can point me to using the right parts and doing the right thing.

I want to pull the heater/hoses off of my Duratec powered Roadsport, looks simple enough on what has to go/get capped off etc but best to check on here and the other boards as to my assumptions and also to see what to use.

The front/intake side of the motor has one hose coming off a T (see pic) that I believe a 90 deg elbow is all that would be needed to switch it out. Question is where to get the elbow to ensure using the right material etc:



And then at the back of the engine there is a manifold that one side runs to the radiator and the other has a hose back to the heater. How to plug this one?:



Thanks in advance. If anyone has a similar duratec setup, please respond with pics!

Adam

[Elv15]

I would not switch the "T" for an elbow. I would either simply run a hose from the "T" to the other location, or I would use a cap:

http://www.hybrid-racing.com/store/swap-parts/heater-hose-delete-cap.html

Tom

[Doug Liedblad]

I've had the caps fail on two occassions in a very short time period. They just fell apart.

After that I used a small length of heater hose with an aluminum plug. Worked for years. Otherwise I'd vote for the hose beween the two connectors as Tom suggests.

[boss351]

I've had the caps fail on two occassions in a very short time period. They just fell apart.

After that I used a small length of heater hose with an aluminum plug. Worked for years. Otherwise I'd vote for the hose beween the two connectors as Tom suggests.

That's disheartening about the caps, they sounded like a good idea. Were they the same ones from the link above? I am going to see an R300 this evening that didn't have the heater to see how it comes from the factory and follow that lead.

[Doug Liedblad]

I don't know if they were the same as in the link. I bought them at a NAPA store.

It was poor quality material, more like natural rubber instead of a high quality EPDM.

I don't have a heater either and have since gone to the Raceline water rail that doesn't need either option. (Zetec)

[JohnCh]

Although I haven't had a cap fail, prior to leaving for Monterey I noticed that the one I was running on the water pump was severely cracked and on its way out. Replaced it with a spare I had on hand, but I'm going to change over to a setup more like Doug's during upgrade season.

-John

[boss351]

Over on Pistonheads I have a reply that if I cap the rear hose, I will loose the only circulation path for the fluid that is there till the thermostat opens, I think they may be right, and that I should basically join the T'd hose from the front that goes to the heater to this one at the back that also goes to the heater so that there is coolant flow in the block up to the point that the thermostat opens and the flow also includes the radiator. Makes sense I think?

[Doug Liedblad]

I was advised to drill a small bypass hole in the thermostat for the Raceline water rail to provide some bypass during warm up.

I think I saw this on Blatchat.

A quick look at Blatchat says it's more for bleeding air out and it doesn't need to be large, 1/16" or so.

[slomove]

I believe it is indeed for minimal circulation. Before I drilled the hole (I have 2 1/8" holes) the temperature was fluctuating wildly, probably because the engine just heated up until the steam burst out and finally opened the thermostat. Just to repeat after the engine cooled down enough to close the thermostat.

No problems whatsoever after drilling the holes. After all, how should the thermostat know how hot the coolant in the engine is if it never gets to the thermostat?

[boss351]

Well, seeing the R300 without the heater didn't help massively. Where I have a hose going to the heater, the R300 has a hose going to the water-cooled oil-cooler (mine is air-cooled). For now I will loop back the hoses by joining them together and see how that goes, though I am tempted to cap them and drill a couple of holes in the thermostat..

[Doug Liedblad]

Gert's reason is what I understood to be the need for the holes, just found the bit about bleeding the air out today.

Don't drill them too big if it gets cold where you are.