Quick Disconnect Removal Poll

[Matt Bachand]

Share your experiences to help others make decisions on how they want to plan about tackling this preventive maintenace task.

Removing that pesky quick disconnect fitting that welds itself together on the thermostat housing.

 

[iamdave0887]

I didn't remove it, so i didn't vote, but a friend of mine was able to remove his on his 97 K3500 with nothing more than a wrench. His truck only has ~88K miles on it however, but the quick disconnect was leaking.

 

[jamierayo]

Mine leaks just a tiny bit -not enough to ever see any liquid.
I'm afraid to touch it, so if it doesn't get worse, I'm leaving it alone.

 

[DieselCash]

I have not had the chance to mess with this yet! ):h

 

[Matt Bachand]

Mine leaks just a tiny bit -not enough to ever see any liquid.
I'm afraid to touch it, so if it doesn't get worse, I'm leaving it alone.

Thats how i feel. Whats odd is when I unbolt it from the intake, it leaks. This is without it being pressurized. The slight angle of re-attachment to the intake seals it up. Mine doesn't leak, but I'm afraid it will fail mid storm in the winter when I'm plowing...

I havn't made up my mind yet on to touch it or not either... Thus the poll.

 

[Edzzed]

Gm did the work replacing it and told me it may or may not come off smoothly. I had the truck in there for a warranty issue with the front hub so didn't cost me and they said it came off easy. Ed

 

[vail426]

I installed a new one after I had to carve the broken pieces of the old one out of the coolant crossover. It was becoming leaky and the aluminum fitting had cauliflower growing on it. It was not a hard job - just slightly time consuming, as I removed the crossover for the carving operation. The new fitting is steel not aluminum.

 

[HighSierra86]

It seems to me that these things go bad so often, it is rare to find an origonal one still on a truck. Every one that i've done has come off easily.

 

[chris4521]

Thats how i feel. Whats odd is when I unbolt it from the intake, it leaks. This is without it being pressurized. The slight angle of re-attachment to the intake seals it up. Mine doesn't leak, but I'm afraid it will fail mid storm in the winter when I'm plowing...

I havn't made up my mind yet on to touch it or not either... Thus the poll.

im in the same boat here matt. its leaking a tiny bit - more like sweating and im petrified to touch it and have it snap off inside the housing. ive started coating it in pb blaster, giving it a week then im gonna try it.

 

[Dieseldad97]

Mine is still original...and it looks like it. Shit growing all around it, but not leaking. I'm leaving it till it's -40 outside.

 

[Matt Bachand]

Mine is still original...and it looks like it. Shit growing all around it, but not leaking. I'm leaving it till it's -40 outside.

Youre theory here is the cold will help it not break?

Mine appears to have some silicone sealant on the threads. Nothing growing out of it. I started PB Blastering it today. I wonder if its been changed already.

 

[NVW]

Mine was just weeping, put a wrench on it with hardly any torque and it split. Ran a chaser and put a new fitting on.

I believe Gerald was being sarcastic ):h

Leo

 

[Dieseldad97]

Yep, Leo your right on the money. I'll add to this thread in the middle of January LOL.

 

[Matt Bachand]

I was reading to far into it there...

 

[Pillow]

POS part. mine broke with a wrench. More like fell apart in my hand. Brittle is barely the right word for that thing.

I then put in a NAPA replacement made of steel!

 

[docdray]

Mine is still original...and it looks like it. Shit growing all around it, but not leaking. I'm leaving it till it's -40 outside.

Did mine in 102, I save the starter for freezing weather. fitting fell apart trying to push plastic tabs in. no saving the crossover. lucky I was doing the upgrade-was trying to salvage all the old parts though :frown5:

 

[bk95td]

I have 50-50 rtesults. Broke one with socket. Turned one out with socket. I prefer to replace with restricted factory style hose nipple. Replaced one with napa quick connect ,only to have it leak worse than before.

 

[Missy Good Wench]

These little "POT METAL" fittings are a real POS

The easy way to get one out is to remove the crossover from the engine.
If the fitting is not already broken off, saw the thing off close to the crossover with a hack saw.

Now with a small die grinder (do more or hobby grinder) with a 1/8th --3/16 ball bur grind through the inside of the quick connect fitting until you just see the beginnings of the threads starting to show. ( BE careful and dont go too deep)

once you get one side done, flip the thing over and do the same on the opposite side.

Now with the Xover held secure, use a hammer and a small sharp capping chisel and place the sharp point at the junction of the fitting and the edge of the xover.

Tap with the hammer and drive the piece inward to free it from the threads. This will take just a few taps and then remove the other half the same way.

Now run a pipe tap through the threads to clean out the crap and your good to go.

Forget easy outs, the sealer used on these fittings effectively bonds the little critters into the hole and the easy out will not usually remove them.

The easy outs tend to expand the fitting and help to bind them harder.

Just cut them out and you can be back up and running in short order.

Use a NAPA steel replacement fitting with a little silicone sealer on the threads and your good to go.

The aluminum lines can and do corrode where they enter the old fitting. Many times a little sanding of the seal surface with some 400 abrasive paper will save the line.

If the seal area is badly corroded, a new line will be needed.

This job is not all that bad. I have salvaged several water crossovers in the past few years.

Recently fixed one for a friends truck (dual stat unit ) $$$$$$$ to buy a new one

This is the only method that I have found that works 100% of the time.

I dont even try to remove the fitting with a wrench if they have a lot of miles, just cut them out.


Missy

 

[jmiller]

Replaced mine with the steel quick connect from napa.

It doesn't hurt to hit the cross over with a little heat to loosen the sealant some.

 

[JMJNet]

There is a thread at the other forum by TurboTahoe (IIRC).

Make sure you take of the hose/tube part and use a socket.
Move it gently, some PB Blaster will help not to break it.
I was using PB, CRC, etc. just to make sure.

I replaced it with the NAPA steel one as mentioned by Missy.