Hi,

I’ve had a persistent small coolant/antifreeze leak in my 93’ Aerostar Eddie Bauer edition v6. Recently replaced the radiator. In conjunction, found a portion of hose leading to the water pump with a small leak...it was near the end of the hose and I was able to cutoff the last inch or so with the leak and reconnect to fix that leak.

Now, after doing all that, have found another leak in the hose behind the alternator/tensioner. This hose is part of a larger, branching hose that appears to snake all around the engine (picture attached with red lines on hose with leak) so I’m looking at it as a probable pain the replace the entire thing. Anyone have experience patching something like this...maybe getting another section of hose and covering/sealing with hose clamps/tape? Anyone with experience think a patch like this will work (other suggestions welcome)? The leak is on the lower portion of this hose so I’m thinking I’ll need to pull the alternator to get to it...

OR, anyone with experience replacing the entire hosing system have an idea of how much of a pain this would be?

Thanks!

Yes it is a 4.0 engine.

I agree, patching is not optimal....but it’s also not a daily commuter so maybe it would hold up??

Anyone with experience know what the replacement job would entail? Seems there is potentially a lot of nooks and crannies that the hose snakes around that might require a lot of removing of parts to get to....but maybe not. That also wouldn’t be the end of the world but I’d like to know what I’m in for before I start the job.

If someone who’s done this before has an idea of the time and effort it might take I’d be very thankful!

On further inspection, this wouldn’t be a bad job if I could find the part (part has 3D17A printed on it). Goes from metal radiator hose and splits (one side to the portion of hose with the pinhole as indicated in the pic, other side to firewall on passenger side of engine compartment). This is the same problem identified in this previous post (https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...formation.html).

Wouldn’t be a bad job to replace the whole thing if I could find the part, but I only see it one place for $65, which seems excessive (https://www.google.com/shopping/product/1?q=ford+aerostar+coolant+hose+3d17A&client=safari &sa=X&hl=en-us&biw=1024&bih=666&tbs=vw:l,ss:44&prmd=sivn&prds= num:1,epd408718641729121201,paur:ClkAsKraX2pobA7 qGzRZErMUMOqqzkXwdhf1rSa-rBRrVtbFrNczfPRLSqGgggzrtGGtawt_bb0DGqOfMaIatP8V6G kx_YHpdJvsDd1bFzHq1P39GLWD5xTaoBIZAFPVH71KZCQbM37B 7t4uiWSh2Yfjde27AQ,pid408718641729121201,cs:1&ve d=0ahUKEwj7-PrV3s_bAhXhIpoKHak0BpYQgjYIzwQ). Anyone know if it can be found cheaper?

Otherwise, next step might be to pull off the alternator to get room to check if there’s enough slack to cut off the hole and re-attach. Or try the splicing...or other jerry-rigging techniques from the previous post.

Thanks!

Thought I’d update that I ended up fixing this. Bought the coolant line for the 3.0 engine I linked to above. It fit well, except there was a recessed on one of the fittings....I was able to cut that section off and get it to fit snug. I’ve been driving it for a few weeks now with no issues. Thanks so much for everyone’s help!

The lettering I have on my line I replaced is “69H-18C-266-JA”...which doesn’t seem to correspond with yours. If you’re looking to the passenger side of the engine, the two hoses go into the firewall...I replaced the bottom one, which looks to correspond to the hose you’ve got in the picture on your post. I found what looked to be the right part on ebay, and lucked out because it in fact was. Hope this helps?