Any knowledge with coolant hoses?

[cRaZySHO.]

I found my coolant leak! Well sort of... I now know it is on the driver side of the motor. I found a small puddle on the driveway this morning. Right next the inside of the tire. I noticed there are three hoses coming from the TB-one goes to the front of the motor, one to the rear, and one to the IAB. The one that goes to the front, has another U shaped hose right next to it. The others I couldn't tell where they went. Are there any other hoses on that side I should look for? Also, none of them looked wet around the edges. Are any of them notorius leakers? I was just going to replace all of them, just to be safe. And I never did like the looks of those pinch type clamps. I prefer the all stainless AWAB clamps. Thanx in advance.

 

[Wigglespank]

DOnt know if this helps or not but I have had a problem with my (what i believe is ) heater hose leaking. It is a rubber hose/slash steal water line that has a temp sensor conected to it. The hose had rotted at the engine block side. I removed the line and cut the steal line off at either side of the fitting for the sensor and then ran heater hose to the core, then to sensor and then to engine block. I know its not a factor repair but at the time it was my best option and I havent had any more problems with it 40,000 miles later. I dont know what Ford would of wanted for that line but if its like all there other parts for the SHO it isnt cheap. Anyway, thats just been my experience. Hope it helps....

94 ATX

 

[Mr Anonymous]

If there are no obvious signs of leakage near the TB, I'd suspect the drain petcock on the drivers side rear bottom of the radiator. If that was leaking it would cause a puddle just inside and in front of the LF tire.

 

[rangerj]

CRAZYSHO88,

You SHO is now 8 years old. Hoses are not affected by milage, but rather the ravages of time. The anti-freeze can develope a measurable electric charge, which deteriorates the hoses from the inside.

All of the TB hoses are "pre-formed", and are available from SHO NUT, fordpartsonline.com, and fordpartsnetwork.com However, if you do not mind haveing a few hoses that are not "OEM", you can replace some of the hoses with straight hose. The one "S" shaped hose at the TB should be replaced with an OEM hose.

The heater hoses are connected to metal tubes. The tubes have short hoses that are attached with "crimpted" on clamps. These clamps can be carefully cut off so that the hose can be replaced, and a "normal" clamp used to seal the connection (stainless preferred).

I did this on a 90 SHO about a month ago. I cleaned all of the rust off of the tubes with blasting material, then primed and painted the metal with engine paint.

Mixing your anti-freeze with deionized, and ph neutral, water helps to minimize the electric charge, and acid problems. Changing the coolant every other year, at a minimum, also helps. The deionized water helps to minimize the mineral build up in the radiator, and the rest of the system as well.

As for your leak, check for the signs of anti-freeze under the hose at each connection, and at the pet-****. You should also check along the seal of the radiator tank on the drivers side. A small mirror and a light helps.

Do this every 10 to 15 minutes after you shut the car down. As anti-freeze does not evaporate quickly, a careful inspection should reveal a trace of fluid near the source of the leak. Hope this helps, rangerj

 

[SHOZ123]

I replaced all my hoses with bulk hose except for the one 180 degree hose at the oil cooler. As far as the TB and IAC hoses are concerened just bypass the whole works.

 

[cRaZySHO.]

rangerj, thanks for the help. I will look tomorrow at work when I get a chance. I think I might just buy the whole set of hoses from SHO NUT. I need to put in another order to them anyway.

One check I did was put a paper towel under the upper set of hoses by the TB and thermo housing. I let the car run for about 30 minutes, then I shut it off and let it sit for about another 30. And the towel wasn't wet at all.