Coolant Line by-pass

[mikekx100]

I have a '98 Ranger 3.0L with two coolant lines running to the intake manifold. Both the fittings they go into have corroded and broke. Can I just by-pass these and plug the lines into each other?

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

you sure can....and you'll likely gain a few horsepower in the process.

be forewarned that those lines are to prevent throttle body icing, so if that becomes a problem you'll probably want to properly repair those lines.

 

[fixizin]

Yeah, what's with those nipples... steel fittings going into an aluminum (magnesium?) manifold... at some point you may have to tap larger holes and thread some std. 3/8" heater hose ells with IPS threads in there... which probably means removing that upper portion to get the metal shavings out.

I might bypass mine this weekend, and check out the extra HP Mr. Sludge is always talkin' 'bout. ;')

 

[betomonroy]

I support fixizin 100%. But if You don't want to have the icing problem this coming winter... fix it. I sugest a new manifold for the inside may be corroded the same. But if the nipples belong to the throtle body, get another throtle body for it will start to fail as soon as it starts to leak air into the enginge due to internal corrosion.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

the throttle body itself isnt the problem, and replacing it will just be asking for the same failure down the road. i would go fixizins route and tap the holes up to a larger size, then use brass hose barbs.

but thats assuming icing even becomes a problem for him. i would certainly run it as long as possible first and if its not a problem, leave it!

 

[fixizin]

But Mr. Wicked (Wizard?), while even with the adiabatic temp drop due to the Venturi effect, I doubt icing will be a problem in S. Florida, doesn't the PCM "expect" the incoming air to be heated by so much above what the IAT sensor says??

PS: If you thread in new nipples, go with some which fit the popular 3/8" hose, instead of the current hard-to-find 1/4" hose; also easy to find 5/8" pass-thru-to-3/8" heater hose tees, IMPOSSIBLE to find 5/8-1/4 tees... you end up stretching the 1/4" hose onto the bigger tee.


PPS: What part are nipples actually in, formally speaking, i.e. throttle-body, manifold, etc.??

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

the O2 sensors will easily pick out the difference in the mixture from deleting the TB heat....this mod is well within the range of the PCM to compensate for.

the nipples are in the plenum if i remember correctly (its actually ben a while since ive payed any attention to a 3.0 with TB heat).

 

[fixizin]

I support fixizin 100%. But if You don't want to have the icing problem this coming winter... fix it. I sugest a new manifold for the inside may be corroded the same. But if the nipples belong to the throtle body, get another throtle body for it will start to fail as soon as it starts to leak air into the enginge due to internal corrosion.

beto, I don't think the (non-ferrous) manifold corrodes internally from coolant like the steel nipples do. I let my coolant go WAY too long, then decided to replace ALL my hoses before I put in new coolant... the various steel nipples (manifold, engine block) all showed corrosion, the aluminum nipples (heater core, etc.) were PRISTINE, virginal... this suggests it's the iron HEADS and BLOCK you have to worry about.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

i wouldnt worry about those either...theres so much metal there it would take decades to blow through.

neglecting your cooling system IS a problem, however. ford for some reason has a tendancy to ship all its 3.0's with the casting abrasives still laying in the blocks coolant passages. this means that 3.0's with original coolant will gum up and turn the coolant black sooner than normal. flush that crap out and afterwards, flush the coolant per normal (i like to run an acid through the system when i do so...just to be sure). my theory on why 3.0's tend to crack heads is due to severe cooling system neglect compounded by fords shitty block cleaning practices. i cant count the number of 3.0 taurus' and rangers we got in to the shop because the heater wasnt working due to the cooling system being black gel (moreso than any other engine i'd say).

 

[betomonroy]

Hey Wicked!!!
What kind of acid? Please elavorate. I just had a customer today with that black goo in the cooling system.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

the stuff i usually use is sold at napa and made by Macs. comes in a blue bottle....and its a powder, not a liquid.

because its an acid, it will react with antifreeze, so it requires that you drain the system, fill it with water, run it, drain it, then fill it with water again to assure all the antifreeze is gone before you add the acid. you then let the engine idle for 30 minutes or so to circulate the acid...then you need to do the flushing procedure all over again to assure you get all the acid out. it takes the better part of a day with all the flushing, draining, and filling you have to do. i usually take the t-stat out in order to speed the process up by not having to wait for the engine to burp...plus that way i know i get full flow of the acid while its doing its thing.

you need to make sure your hoses are all in good shape before you use this stuff or else you'll contaminate the system with chunks of desolving hose.

 

[jwp9844]

I've had mine disconnected for three years. In Michigan, in -10 weather,snowing Hard, foot of snow, never had any problem. Don't loop them, plug each end of both hoses. Vacuum cap the nip's on the T-Body( to keep "stuff" out ). There's a Thread on here that shows you how.

 

[fixizin]

HOLD ON THAR!!... If there was any real HP increase (supposedly due to increased air density), wouldn't it be there for the first few minutes after you started up cold, and then fade away as the engine warms up? I don't experience that, hence, I have to call partial BS. (OTOH, I'm going to continue to carry the 1/4" jumper ell, 5/8" coupler, super-duper tape, and other means of roadside coolant system repair.)


As for neglected coolant/systems, I let my factory fill go for 9 years (*blush*), but only 33K miles. (Didn't know about the factory grit--those FoMoCo bastiges, lol.) Coolant became black-ish, but not at all thick or syrupy... some of the black was visible particulates, which I assumed was decomposing hose rubber... yet old hoses (the MAIN BIG ones anyway) seem to have a nice smooth green staining from the anti-freeze... hmmm...

Anyway, did a couple tap (hard) water flushes--forward and reverse--in the driveway, until it ran/drained clear, then added Zerex Super Flush and topped off with tap water, with the OLD HOSES in place. I'm no chemist, but this Zerex brew must be milder than the stuff Wicked and other pros use, because you leave it in for 4-6 hours of RUN time, no limit on engine-off time.

Super Flush did the job (drove around for a week), "liberating" all sorts of additional "stuff" that dirtied the water (rust? hose rubber? scale?). Couple more fwd and rev flushes, ALL NEW HOSES, then fill with 50/50 DISTILLED H2O and plain old green PEAK. Burped by parking nose uphill, left corner slightly higher.

Will NEVER let it go more than 2-3 years again... promise!

Couple months later, still clean and green... fingers crossed.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

HOLD ON THAR!!... If there was any real HP increase (supposedly due to increased air density), wouldn't it be there for the first few minutes after you started up cold, and then fade away as the engine warms up? I don't experience that, hence, I have to call partial BS.

your cold engine is also running on reduced engine timing and a leaner a/f mixture to speed the engine up to operating temp...so TB heat or no, its making less power when cold. perhaps with the TB heat disabled you would notice a gradual rise in power as the engine warmed up and the PCM added timing and fuel

even so, im sure any HP gains from disabling the TB heat will be minimal.

 

[jwp9844]

If you spent money on a Cold Air Intake System, why would you continue to heat the T-Body? Seems like you would be defeating the purpose.