Hey Guys:
Hope all is well? I have not been on here in a long time.
Well I still have the old 1989 aerostar xlt V6 !!!

I want to replace all the vacuum lines, Several of them are leaking real bad.
Looked all over the net for the sizes.

I would like to find out what size lines i need to buy and go buy them and get this job done without running back and forth from the auto store.

Anyone know what sizes on vacuum line i need to buy??

Thanks in advance.

 

The best thing to do is take the old lines to the parts house and they can match them up closely. I couldn't say what size you need for sure. Just take all the lines you plan on replacing to the store, they can match them, and you only need to make one trip.

 

I was just trying to make it easier on myself!!! lol!!

Just figured i could get what i needed, then just do it when I had the time.....

 

I don't have a van of your same year, in fact the vans made prior to 1990 have become rather rare. There is always a possibility that the size you need is not the size everyone else has. But, when you find which sizes you need, you could post it hear so that others looking for vacuum line sizes will know what is needed.

Good luck. I just took my brothers van, which will soon be my van, to have a lean code addressed. Turns out it is not a vacuum leak under the normal sense. Apparently when I replaced the intake gaskets, I used the Fel-Pro Permadry gaskets, and missed the memo that Ford issued a TSB on the Aerostars with the plastic intake manifold. Ford has new updated gaskets, and the Fel-Pros are based on the older design. They would have worked with the metal intake. So they are going to replace those gaskets with the new Ford ones.

 

I know that if you are doing all of the vacuum hoses, they aren't all 1 size...there are a few sizes in there.

I had this done to my van a year or so ago and it made a drastic difference to a lot of systems in my van. My mechanic luckily had all the sizes I needed on hand so basically I gave him about 3 hours shop labour cost ($90 per hour), and he just used the hoses he had on hand and didn't charge me for them.

I had a working-well-consistently cruise control, heater, idle, brakes, steering etc all because of the new hoses.

 

Yes.. that is why I want to do it..so she runs smooth.

 

check the big vac. hose going to the brake vac. booster. end on manifold spigot cracks and splits from heat/ozone, will leak, hard to see, looks good on outside.

several hoses on the fuel fumes evacuation system under the air box. one leads all the way to the throttle body.
gas fumes destroy these from the inside

 

Did you ever find this out? I have the same year Aero, and wanted to do as many if not all of them. I specifically wanted to at least start with the ones that go into the blower motor, as the red one is just crumpling. - also anyone know if I can use hose there, or do they have to be plastic tubing for some reason like Ford had from the factory? - Thanks

 

They use those "hard" plastic lines with really tiny inner diameter so they hold vacuum better than larger diameter rubber hoses. The ends are bigger so they fit more normally sized nipples. If you got skinny hoses like that, they will not fit over the nipples. If you got normally sized hoses that fit the nipples, their ID will be much bigger than stock, and they will be slow to respond to changes. That should not be a big problem.

 

So, if the plastic ones are 2mm ID, and the ends are 4mm ID - I can get 4mm ID rubber hoses and I'll be fine? I don't mind replacing them with the same stuff they used, since I got about 25 years out of them... but I just don't want to do all these, and then they wouldn't give me what I would expect.

Are these impossible to find now? - Thanks BTW - anyone know what I can use that for sure works there? these are the red and white plastic lines that are right there in front coming out of the Fan hosing.

 

Just go buy 5ft of all sizes. Done

 

I think the only place you can find those hard plastic hoses would be from the dealer, if they still carried them. Being harder than rubber, they're usually pre-shaped for the application.

You can try replacing a full segment of one of those hard lines with a rubber hose, nipple-to-nipple, and that should work. The problem comes when some of those hard lines break and you can't get to the ends where they plug onto their nipples. You can try shoving the plastic lines into the ends of larger rubber hoses.

 

if you go to a salvage yard, go to the Jaguar section and pull them from most any Jag, I am referring to the white, black, and red plastic vacuum tubing used for the heater and a/c. The difference is that in Jags you will find them behind the dash connecting vacuum actuators and vacuum solenoids, but not in the engine compartment as with Aerostars.