Trying to figure out the cooling system on my 1995 7.3 F350 and it's not making any sense to me. So I started out with a 1995 F350 7.3 that had the IDI cooling system. Well I replaced the radiator support with a 97' F350 Powerstroke radiator support and replaced the IDI radiator, with a Mishimoto 7.3 Powerstroke Radiator. I got all the major hoses sorted out there's just one heater hose that's confusing me. It's the return Heater hose. I'm not necessarily confused on where it goes but what kind of fitting to use for it. The fitting off my IDI radiator for the return heater hose which plumbs back in at the bottom of the radiator is much larger than the bung in the Mishimoto radiator. It's not just a regular barb fitting it's a restricted flow type of fitting (SEE 1st PICTURE). Does anyone know where I can get the right fitting for the heater hose return to the radiator? I made a diagram of the cooling system, the fitting I'm referring to is circled in red. (SEE PICTURES 2-5).


Also on another note I'd like to discuss I discovered on the IDI cooling system the fill/pressure cap is on the radiator itself where as on the Powerstroke cooling system it is located on the coolant reservoir tank. That being said I can't use my old IDI coolant tank for the system I now have on the truck so I was looking at Aluminum reservoirs which are cheaper/the same price as the ugly plastic factory tanks. I don't have a lot of knowledge about cooling systems and the science behind them but I was looking at the reservoir like in the cooling diagram in picture #2....only thing is I don't think that is a pressure style cap. Will that reservoir work even though the cap isn't a pressure one or do I need to find a coolant tank with a pressure cap rated at 16psi for the system to work properly? Thanks in advance!

 

If you're using a powerstroke style cap-less radiator, you need to use an expansion tank with a pressure cap.

 

Gotcha, i kinda figured I would have to use a tank with a pressure cap but just wanted to double check. Not a lot of selection for how big the filler hose is coming up to the reservoir from the lower radiator hose and then the space available alone is small as well. Really not looking forward to spending a $100+ on a piece of plastic....

 

Junk yard , craigs list, eBay all have those tanks for MUCH less than $100

 

if your 95 had an idi and idi cooling system in it, it was a frankentruck.
95 came with powerstroke only, no idi.
and the heater hoses for the idi were hot out of the thermostat or waterpump area into core, and output of the core back into the top of the block

heater hoses of the idi engine did not go to the radiator.

 

He meant IDI Radiator. The Powerstrokes used the same radiator as the IDI till mid 95

 

Yup exactly like Diesel_Brad said. Do you think I can just delete the T and not run the hose going to the bottom of the radiator? I was told this set up is only found on the automatics to help the transmission warm up faster as it's right next to the transmission cooler built into the bottom of the radiator. It makes sense logically to me that I can delete it no problem if that was the theory in the design behind it. Let me know if you guys think it will be ok deleting the T and just running a single hose out the block to the heater core and leaving the plug in the radiator where this fitting is supposed to go plugged up.

 

I suppose that seems reasonable enough, but I feel like Ford must have done that for a reason. Was the IDI style radiator set up the same way?

 

i would just delete it.
so the trans does not heat up as fast. the world will not end because of that.
there are millions of vehicles out there without the heater core line going into the radiator.

 

Yup IDI system was the same setup. Just going to delete it. I found a nice aluminum overflow container with a 16 psi cap with the proper amount of fitting locations but doesn't have a glass to check fluid color which I'm hesitant on as I want to be able to check the fluid for contamination easily visually without having to pop the cap off and look in with a flash light..... Does anyone know if they sell a clear heater hose/coolant hose or maybe a barber glass/plastic thing I can put inline with a hose to monitor coolant color? I was thinking about maybe replacing the return heater hose with a clear hose to be able to quickly monitor coolant color for oil contamination. Any thoughts or knowledge on that?

 

I left the T out of mine when swapping from the IDI setup to a Mishimoto 95.5+ radiator, you'll be fine without it. Hopefully you have better luck than I did, the radiator started leaking about 2 years after installing it.