brvanwi

iTrader: (1)

heater hose broke at base of the restrictor valve. first thought was to cut the thing out and use a hose splice kit. decided to do research first and apparently the purpose is to lower pressure to the heater core so it does'nt blow a hole or leak. searches i have done have been vague and i can't find just a valve. hoping to find someone with experience with this issue. is it just a way for gm to sell a set of hoses for $150+ or is it even needed. praying for several replys of "replaced with straight hoses and have not had problems for years". if the majority says ya use the restrictor then so be it, 160ish is still cheaper than a heater core.
any and all advice welcome, thanks.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

I need to replace my 13 1/2 year old original hoses too...........I just put a bypass hose (Dayco 87629) on mine yesterday because the heater hoses are bulging and they're all soggy.

I was going to also just run two straight heater hoses....one 5/8" and one 3/4", heat wrap them real good and mount them to the body like the factory ones are. Should be a very easy job.

So...where is this restrictor valve............do all year 98-02 f-bodys have it?
Maybe it can be cut out of the factory heater hose set and put into straight hoses....??????????

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brvanwi

iTrader: (1)

located in 1 of the 2 lines between the metal lines mounted to the fender area and the engine. it is a black plastic cylinder molded into the spongy rubber line and has a direction arrow on it. my problem is on a 95 lt1 t/a but both my 98 v6 and 02 v6 firebirds have this also. pretty sure my 94 has it also, i have a 97 t/a coming next week so will have to see on that one. i do not own a 98-02 v8 (yet) so i'm not sure if this is on that setup. i assumed it was as the v6 98-02 fbody had it and the prior v8's had it.
stick with your bypass if you are in s. florida, doubt you'll need heat. i did see a metal bendable coil on ebay that would make forming a straight hose possible.

please everyone, i do realize the name of this forum is LS1tech. but all 4th gen fbodys can benifit from the wealth of knowlage of this forum regardless of the engine they have.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

This forum and its members definitely help out V6 F-Bodys just the same as LS1...............

Do you know if the valve can be removed and somehow put in-line with just straight pieces of heater hose?

I guess I'll remove my factory hoses and try cutting it up to investigate.....

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LS6427

iTrader: (2)

You know.....those factory metal lines can be reused and fitted with new rubber heater hose. You just have to dremel those crimper pieces off, slide the new rubber hoses on and clamp them on. Works great. I actually did it with a high-pressure A/C line and its been holding for almost 2 years now. Pics below. If it can hold hundreds of PSI, it can easily work for coolant system pressures of ~18 psi.

I just cut lengthwise lines in the crimped piece with the dremel, then peeled the pieces back like a banana, pulled the old rubber off, and then I had the inner pipe piece totally exposed. Slid the hose on and clamped it....done.
That hose I slid on is the piece of hose going to the bottom of the A/C condensor.

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brvanwi

iTrader: (1)

good info on removing the crimped metal. the flow valve is metal crimped on both sides. valve was plastic and the stem that the rubber hose goes on broke so the valve is no longer usable. ended up getting a flushing tee and cutting the rubber hose on both sides of the valve. installed the tee with clamps then dropped a stainless bolt into the tee to create a restriction. chose the bolt with the tee in hand so i could look through the passage and "eyeball" the restriction the bolt made in comparison with the origanal valve. also had to make sure the length of the bolt was long enough so it would not turn and flow out of the tee. original valve is nothing more than a plastic cylinder with roughly a 1/4 in hole on the inside, cutting flow from about 3/4 to 1/4. everthing seems to be working fine, hopefully the stainless bolt won't have a chemical reaction with the antifreeze.

didn't mean to appear to be on the defense but i've seen several threads where v6 guys get bashed pretty hard and told to go to v6 forums which is a shame because the knowlage base here is phenominal. personally i have not met or talked to anyone on here that hasn't been very helpful and respectful. i've seen complete strangers on here go above and beyond to help the other. damned shame the whole world could'nt be like that.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Hmm..do you where the restrictor valve is in the V8 hoses? Maybe they're the same hoses as the V6.

Here's the factory hoses I have.....I'd like to cut it out and reuse it if possible.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/98-02...#ht_1872wt_808

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brvanwi

iTrader: (1)

the 95 and v6's are right by the water pump. pic on ebay did'nt show ends real clear. you may not have it. it's about 4" long and a little bit bigger than the rubber hose. if you have it you will know it. you'll see it and think wtf is that.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Ok....cool. We don;t have the restrictor than.

I'm gonna take my old hoses out and go at the crimps with my dremel......then clamp new hoses onto the factory metal lines and reinstall it all. Looks like it might be a bitch to snake the assembly out of the car and get it back in. If its a bitch I'm just gonna toss the metal lines and use new rubber hoses, then heat wrap and clamp them to the body.
I assume they made the lines metal in that area just because of the radiant heat from the exhaust manifolds. I could also use bendable metal conduit to wrap the rubber hoses in that area, then heat wrap it to reflect the heat.

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brvanwi

iTrader: (1)

the lt1's look like the best way to remove the entire line assembly would be to loosen the cradle and lift the body up off the engine.

djfury05

iTrader: (30)

I was wanting to replace my heater hose lines too. I don't like how some portions are metal and some are rubber. I will be removing the HVAC box too so it will look a lot cleaner. Maybe I'll track down some high pressure high heat lines or something.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Just regular heater hose from the auto parts store is all you need. It can handle 18psi forever.

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elks42

Autozone calls it the heater control valve, the part numbers at autozone are 5960 and the alternate is 74796, just in case anyone else ever has to replace theirs and has trouble finding the part. It costs 11 bucks.

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

Only V6's have the restrictor valve....right....?

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