After seeing the good close-up pictures of how it's done, why spend $25 + shipping, when you can do it yourself? A lot of cars have this same shutoff valve already. I did it in my ol' '78 Ford and it worked great. The cold a/c doesn't have to fight the hot collant before it gets to ya'!

 

So nobody gets confused, the diesel and the gas engine heater hose arrangements are different. The pictures a few posts above are for the diesel I believe.

 

No, that's Abendx's V-10.

 

I saw a few people that had 03's said that their trucks already came from the factory with them installed.

I have an 03 250 with the 5.4.... does anyone know off hand if it has this mod preinstalled?

 

I have an '03 V-10 that has one. It is in the same place that the aftermarket one is installed above.

 

Is is from my experience that this valve is usually in the off position as it has a spring holding the valve closed. A vacuum pulls it open (when you select heat on the dash). So how much more does the motor heat up with this in place? The heater acts like a small radiator so cutting it off would take some cooling action off the system. It will still get pretty warm, but not as hot when it's circulating. I'm still going to put one in myself anyway, as my truck will not get cold no matter how cool the outside air is. If the valve was some type of bypass valve then a secondary line would have to be run back to the motor or radiator.
Any thoughts, gents? I have found a wealth of info on this site and am loving every bit of it, you can't just get it anywhere.

 

I have a 2003 PSD crew cab manufactured 8/02 and it has a heater hose cut off on it from the factory. Put the ac on max and the valve goes closed, i'll have to see what happens when I dont put it on Max a/c but I live in Houston,Tx. and even in December you have to use the ac on max

 

There is enough heat dissipation in the radiator that suspending flow to the heater coil will not increase engine temperature to any large degree.

However, I have been advised of a good point: if you opt for the manual value setup, don't turn it off 100%. Leave it open a crack to let the water circulate a bit-- not for added heat dissipation, but to maintain consistancy in the fluid and the plumbing.

 

This mod has been around long enough that there should be someone who can answer this...

Has there been any problem with corrosion or other damage to the heater core with no coolant flowing through it?

I plan to go ahead with this mod, but I would hate to turn on the heat next winter and have wet carpet.

Scott

 

Ok, all these posts are jumbled up in my head, let me see if I've got things straight.

There's another kit with a simple on & off valve with no re-routing coolant back to engine, but the AutoZone valve does re-route. Does the coolant really need to be re-routed to the engine??

Tapping into the red vac. line cuts off heat on Max A/C, A/C, and Vent positions. The white vac. line cuts off heat only on Mac A/C. With both vac. lines, heat is still on in all other positions. If I did the red line...will the A/C be freezing cold all the time regardless if I raise the temp ****?

Does the kit come with the T-fitting,vac. line, and hose clamps? What are those extra fittings on the bottom? I took a look at the vac. lines behind the dash and tried to remove one of the vac. lines from the 'cluster'. Mine looks a little different than Abendx's, it has clear plastic encasing the lines to the cluster, the same plastic thats on the blue and yellow lines in Abendx's pic (Abendx's Vac Lines). I pulled like heck on the red line and it didn't want to come loose...is cutting the vac. lines to install the tee an option?

I really want to do this mod, living in Texas heat is bad...but I've got wetland humidity ontop of Texas heat!!

On another note...does anyone remember the fix for the A/C compressor cycling on and off every 15 seconds?? I seem to remember Monsta having a fix, but I can't find it anywhere.

 

PeteC,

Could you post a few pictures showing exactly where you mounted the valve?

Regards,

Power

 

Powerstroke_wannabe

Sorry I missed this post. I took some pictures today but am not sure how to post them. Please let me know how to get pictures posted on this site.

 

Hey guys,
I have posted a few pics in my gallery of the shut off valve.
It's under the Heater Core Shut off valve heading.

 

PeteC,

Sorry. I haven't posted pictures before so I'm no help on that subject. I'm sure someone will chime in to help. Thanks for the effort.

Mark,

Nice pics & nice truck.

 

I finally got my pictures uploaded to my gallery. I don't recall anyone else showing pictures of the 4- port heater valve installed on a V10.

I will update these pictures when I install the electrically actuated on-off vacuum valve to control the heater valve.