Robert Mc
Member
2018 RAM 2500 w/Cummins diesel. I have 183K miles on the clock. And of course with RAM’s super accurate hours meter that equates to 185 driving hours and 539 idle hours.
I was picking up a client's car and loading it into my car hauler when I noticed a significant amount of fluid under the right side of the engine. It seemed to be way too much for A/C condensation so I had a look. Turns out it was coolant but when I checked under the hood I didn't see any obvious places from where it was leaking. I topped off the reservoir and headed home since it was only a few miles. When I got home I gave it a closer inspection and saw that the heater core inlet hose was split open by about an inch and coolant was running out. I had to deliver the client's car to Monterey, CA the next day so I went and picked up molded heater hoses from AutoZone using my other car. I had some dinner to give the truck time to cool off so it wouldn't be excruciatingly painful to work on it. After three painfully frustrating hours I was no closer to getting the ruptured hose off. Working from the top side of the engine gave me very little room to work, even with the PCV filter removed to give additional access.
It finally dawned on me to just temporarily bypass the heater core altogether. I searched through my spare parts box and found some heater hose that I had used when I flushed the heater core six months ago. I cut off about a twelve inch section and removed the two heater core hoses from the engine side. I connected the inlet to the outlet and made sure everything was secure with spring clamps. I ended up driving that way for more than a week because I had six trips to make to Monterey to move cars and no time to work on the truck. In the meantime I ordered a set of ratcheting spring clip pliers, some blue Continental brand silicone heater hose (higher temperature rating and higher PSI rating), and some worm drive type hose clamps. The tools and parts arrived before my day off came which I was glad for. The day came and I went about working on the truck.
Let me tell you, there is zero room to get those spring clamps off at the firewall, even with the correct pliers. I ended up taking out the turbo inlet pipe and air box, the battery, the bolts on the top of the battery tray, the right front wheel, the wheel liner, the remains bolts for the battery tray, and the coolant reservoir bottle. All of the same things you'd remove to put in a new coolant bottle which I did a few months ago. Even with all that removed it was a miserable time getting the spring clamps off. I ended up cutting the split hose off right at the nipple and I did the same thing to the remaining good hose. I wasn't going to replace just one, I was replacing them both. It took substantial effort to get the clamps off. I decided to flush the heater core again to make sure it was clean. (I had been having some erratic temperature readings lately which caused me to replace the thermostat and the temperature sensor) When I first ran the water through the heater core there was a very light flow of water on the exit which made me realize my fluctuating temperatures were due to a blockage in the heater core. I shut off the water and started it again a couple times to force water through faster and whatever was in there flushed out because the flow of water increased substantially. I flushed it for thirty minutes alternating the water through the HC in both directions. Convinced the core was properly flushed I purged the water out of the core and went about making new heater hoses. The Continental hose was very pliable so I cut the proper lengths and heat wrapped both for a little extra protection. I secured the hoses on the firewall end of the HC nipples with the screw drive hose clamps and positioned them in a way that I will be able to reach them, if needed, by removing the wheel and the wheel liner only. I added a ninety degree elbow to the outlet nipple on the engine and joined the two hoses with a barbed aluminum fitting and spring clamps. I put it all back together and refilled the coolant. Then gave it a road test and everything was fine. No leaks, no runs, no drips, and also it appeared no errors. I delivered a car today and made a three hundred mile round trip and the temperature never exceeded 189*F and there were no temperature fluctuations. RAM engineers certainly could have designed that setup a little better. Moving the HC nipples slightly more to the passenger side and making them longer would have facilitated making this repair much easier.
So if you ever need to replace your HC hoses don't bother trying from the top. Just start removing the parts that I mentioned, in the order I mentioned, and the job will be easier.
I was picking up a client's car and loading it into my car hauler when I noticed a significant amount of fluid under the right side of the engine. It seemed to be way too much for A/C condensation so I had a look. Turns out it was coolant but when I checked under the hood I didn't see any obvious places from where it was leaking. I topped off the reservoir and headed home since it was only a few miles. When I got home I gave it a closer inspection and saw that the heater core inlet hose was split open by about an inch and coolant was running out. I had to deliver the client's car to Monterey, CA the next day so I went and picked up molded heater hoses from AutoZone using my other car. I had some dinner to give the truck time to cool off so it wouldn't be excruciatingly painful to work on it. After three painfully frustrating hours I was no closer to getting the ruptured hose off. Working from the top side of the engine gave me very little room to work, even with the PCV filter removed to give additional access.
It finally dawned on me to just temporarily bypass the heater core altogether. I searched through my spare parts box and found some heater hose that I had used when I flushed the heater core six months ago. I cut off about a twelve inch section and removed the two heater core hoses from the engine side. I connected the inlet to the outlet and made sure everything was secure with spring clamps. I ended up driving that way for more than a week because I had six trips to make to Monterey to move cars and no time to work on the truck. In the meantime I ordered a set of ratcheting spring clip pliers, some blue Continental brand silicone heater hose (higher temperature rating and higher PSI rating), and some worm drive type hose clamps. The tools and parts arrived before my day off came which I was glad for. The day came and I went about working on the truck.
Let me tell you, there is zero room to get those spring clamps off at the firewall, even with the correct pliers. I ended up taking out the turbo inlet pipe and air box, the battery, the bolts on the top of the battery tray, the right front wheel, the wheel liner, the remains bolts for the battery tray, and the coolant reservoir bottle. All of the same things you'd remove to put in a new coolant bottle which I did a few months ago. Even with all that removed it was a miserable time getting the spring clamps off. I ended up cutting the split hose off right at the nipple and I did the same thing to the remaining good hose. I wasn't going to replace just one, I was replacing them both. It took substantial effort to get the clamps off. I decided to flush the heater core again to make sure it was clean. (I had been having some erratic temperature readings lately which caused me to replace the thermostat and the temperature sensor) When I first ran the water through the heater core there was a very light flow of water on the exit which made me realize my fluctuating temperatures were due to a blockage in the heater core. I shut off the water and started it again a couple times to force water through faster and whatever was in there flushed out because the flow of water increased substantially. I flushed it for thirty minutes alternating the water through the HC in both directions. Convinced the core was properly flushed I purged the water out of the core and went about making new heater hoses. The Continental hose was very pliable so I cut the proper lengths and heat wrapped both for a little extra protection. I secured the hoses on the firewall end of the HC nipples with the screw drive hose clamps and positioned them in a way that I will be able to reach them, if needed, by removing the wheel and the wheel liner only. I added a ninety degree elbow to the outlet nipple on the engine and joined the two hoses with a barbed aluminum fitting and spring clamps. I put it all back together and refilled the coolant. Then gave it a road test and everything was fine. No leaks, no runs, no drips, and also it appeared no errors. I delivered a car today and made a three hundred mile round trip and the temperature never exceeded 189*F and there were no temperature fluctuations. RAM engineers certainly could have designed that setup a little better. Moving the HC nipples slightly more to the passenger side and making them longer would have facilitated making this repair much easier.
So if you ever need to replace your HC hoses don't bother trying from the top. Just start removing the parts that I mentioned, in the order I mentioned, and the job will be easier.
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