[desertboy]

I haven't had a chance to fix my Heater core O-Ring leak and decided to bypass it till after Christmas. I used two copper 3/4" 90degree Elbows with a 1" X 3/4" Copper pipe soldered in the middle to form a U. Once made, this swill be a good item to carry in your tool bag for those rainy RR days.

Got the Copper Elbow from:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=p ... lpage=none

 

[pdxRR]

Thanks, i need to do just that to diagnose my cooling problem. Did you need any special fitting connections to attach to the copper pipe?

 

[desertboy]

Use the 3/4" copper pipe cut to a 1" length to connect the two elbows together leaving a gap of about 1/4" between them and just wick the solder to make a good tight joint. Note: Due to the proximity of the two joints, they both have to be soldered at the same time.
Once cooled, test the joint out with a garden hose for leaks.
I used a pair of Mercedes hose clamps (unlike the ones you buy from the parts store, these are smooth on the inside) instead of the RR clamps.

 

[viperover]

the cooling system gets pretty hot, as for the solder type connections I'd throw a word of caution here...
there are different degrees of solder that melt a different temps....

 

[desertboy]

Good point.
The solder I used was US Plumbing industry standard with a melting point of 232-240 °C. The same stuff that is used for residential Hot water plumbing (Yes, the home hot water system shouldn't get anywhere near to coolant temps). This was left over stuff when I changed the hot water heater back in 2006.

Anyone who is not familiar with soldering copper pipes, here's a how to link:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4696608_solder- ... mbing.html

 

[jsp]

I just carry half a dozen hose clamps and a good 4 foot length of heater hose coiled up in the spare wheel as a just incase.

Had my heater matrix litterally explode twice, got burnt feet once

 

[desertboy]

Has anyone found a place to buy the heater hose by the length here in US? I looked locally in places like NAPPA and couldn't find the size. I was in UK couple of weeks ago and didn't see Halfords selling any.