Heater Core Hose Removal

[LNYTUNS]

This is thread related to a thread I posted the other day about a ground wire that I had just hanging unconnected. I found the stud to mount the wire on but it will not reach because the wire harness that it is in was installed by a blind man!! The wire is too short and will not reach the stud!!

The harness that runs to the starter is supposed to be routed along the bottom of the passenger side valve cover, which this ground wire is part of. The harness is not connected to any of its mounting points and is routed over the top of the right valve cover and then loops around the heater hoses and then bends very sharp into a metal bracket mounting the harness to the back of the block.

The problem I have is what do I have to do to remove these heater core hoses and reroute the wiring? Do I have to drain the entire cooling system or can I just clamp off the hoses, pull them off and then reattach after I move the harness to the correct location?

Being an electrical enigineer things like poor wire routing really burns me. :mad2:

[Zack]

Remove the cap from the reservoir, place a paper towel under the heater core hoses and simply remove them.
You need not clamp the because they are above the rest of the cooling system.
It would not hurt to clamp them off, though.
Good luck

[TooManyFords]

I don't understand why you don't take it in under warranty and let a dealer do it for free...


Am I missing something??

John

[MERCMAN]

I don't understand why you don't take it in under warranty and let a dealer do it for free...


Am I missing something??

John


:stupid:

me either,, Warranty,,, use it or lose it

[jgc61sr2002]

I agree let the dealer do under warranty.

[tta197]

I don't understand why you don't take it in under warranty and let a dealer do it for free...

My experience with Ford dealerships has been that I take my vehicle in with one problem and I end up with two different problems when I pick up the vehicle. So in the end, I just would rather skip the hassle and aggravation and fix it myself....Just my .02.

[SergntMac]

Let the man bond with his car...if he's up to the challenge, why not?

[TripleTransAm]

The harness that runs to the starter is supposed to be routed along the bottom of the passenger side valve cover, which this ground wire is part of. The harness is not connected to any of its mounting points and is routed over the top of the right valve cover and then loops around the heater hoses and then bends very sharp into a metal bracket mounting the harness to the back of the block.

Obviously no one at the St.Thomas plant has heard of ISO 9001 quality certification. One of their big points is repeatability. It would seem that harness routing is decided by the roll of dice in that plant.

(Don't get me wrong... ask me over a beer what I really think of ISO 9001 certification procedures... but the basic IDEA is sound and I support it's practice, whether or not a company goes through all the silly bureaucratic song and dance).

[mtnh]

I found that ground wire off on my brand new 1996 Grand Marquis, too, so I guess that repeatability IS in the vocabulary of the person on that line position, Steve. :stupid:

Mike

[Paul T. Casey]

ISO 9001, a.k.a let's do it like the Euros. It's a great certification pakage, if you happen to be the certifying agency.

[TripleTransAm]

I found that ground wire off on my brand new 1996 Grand Marquis, too, so I guess that repeatability IS in the vocabulary of the person on that line position, Steve. :stupid:

Mike

Mike, that's remarkable... considering the two cars use two different sized engines. I used to use the excuse (when defending the harness slicing incident that hobbled my own MM at the worst possible time last May) that this was the first application of the wide DOHC in the Panther frame... but looks like the electrical department couldn't even swing a proper installation on the SOHC application (which is like, 99.99999999995699543% of the total Panther production?).

:shake:

[TripleTransAm]

ISO 9001, a.k.a let's do it like the Euros. It's a great certification pakage, if you happen to be the certifying agency.

Paul nailed it on the metric head right there...

The idea is great... when I started here back in 1993, things were absolute ape*****. No processes, just cross yer fingers and hang on for the ride! Being the methodic lazy bastard that I am, I hate doing things twice, and I hate repeating mistakes even more. So I was big into making sure to develop good processes and quality controls as I did the job... as I moved up the ladder of technical responsibilities, I made sure whatever I left behind me was fully quality-controlled and documented, and repeatable by a moderately intelligent monkey (unfortunately, they seem to have hired mentally deficient monkeys instead).

Then, the ISO 9001 craze became the IN thing in the mid 90s... what a joke! I can't even begin to describe what a joke it all was.

[LNYTUNS]

I did just clamp the hose and pop it off, move the wires, and put it back together the right way.

Let me hop up on my soap box. Here is my theory on warranties with Ford: My previous Ford was a 99 Ranger that I traded on my MM. I visited the dealer about 40 times in 54 monthes with that POS. It was horrible and wasted much of my time. I spent multiple times screaming 4 letter words at the service manager at the dealer. Eventually I was given a free 5 yr/75k warranty to shut up about comsumer complaints about Fords warranty and service that I was going to file. I cannot stand walking into a dealer service center for every little thing anymore. Besides, they don't believe me anyway when I tell them there is a problem with the car. Every visit prompted another from a problem they either created or claimed to have fixed the last time. I am no longer going to waste my time taking in the car for anything that I can do myself in 1.5 hours, because that is how long it takes to make the appointment, bring the car in, and pick it up, all for a 15min. fix...........I'll just do it myself. If it is major they will see me in their office fuming as before.

Now on a better note.

I did visit a different L/M dealer yesterday to get all of the nuts, bolts, and clips that I found missing from my car. I went right into the service bays through a side door and grabbed a guy eating lunch, told him that I did not want to waste my time making an appointment for a 15 min. fix. He came out to my car, went back in and grabbed all of the parts I needed and put them on the car right there in the parking lot. That is personal service.

I am sure that some people are thinking that bypassing the system does not alert Ford to problems on their cars, trust me they really don't give a damn about me and my car and neither do the most of the dealers around here.

I could add a few more pages of thoughts on warranty issues but I thing I will stop here and continue to bond with my car.

[SergntMac]

I did just clamp the hose and pop it off, move the wires, and put it back together the right way. I am sure that some people are thinking that bypassing the system does not alert Ford to problems on their cars, trust me they really don't give a damn about me and my car and neither do the most of the dealers around here. I could add a few more pages of thoughts on warranty issues but I thing I will stop here and continue to bond with my car.
I'm glad you did it yourself. Now YOU know what's going on under your hood. As for the rant on dealers and warranty...It's your thread, bro...