What to do with the heater hose???

[SeanH]

Is it possible for me to just block off this hose some where? I'm not going to worry about having a heater at the moment.

Or would that be a no no? Do I need this coolant to circulate back through the system somehow?

Thanks!

Sean

[02for2]

It does not have to absolutely, positively, be looped (when your heater valve is closed, the coolant isn't circulating through it), but that's the best thing.

It will allow much better circulation and cooling while preventing the buildup of rust/sludge at the capping point(s).

Cheers!

[SeanH]

Good to know. So how to loop this thing?

Here's a pic by the way

[blue7500]

Get the coolant bypass pipe off an E21. There's even a boss on the 2002 block for it as I believe tiis and tis used the same or a similar one. You can just twist the heater outlet hose on to it and clamp it down with a hose clamp.

[02for2]

If it were me, I'd get a length of heater hose and clamp each end of it to the ends coming out of the block to form a loop. You can also find hose connectors at any auto parts store and place it between both hoses (assuming they will bend that way and have the right length.

Cheers!

[CutteRug]

I got a two-foot length of that flexible copper piping for water heaters.. I cut off the end, bent it into a U-shape, then put it up under the dash where I'd removed my heater box...

It worked great! It's just the right diameter to clamp into the heater hoses. Of course, this method only works if you're working with the heater OUT of the car.

Good luck.

[TobyB]

Here's the dealy-bob-

it's a radiator bypass. So if next summer you have a mild overheating

problem, you might wanna block it.

I connected mine with hose, but put a cap in the line and drilled a small

bleed hole in it. That way it still bleeds air off the back of the head,

lets some coolant circulate, but not so much as to really affect cooling.

fwiw.

t

[SeanH]

Thanks guys!