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Hi All- a couple rookie questions that I cannot figure out. Thanks in advance. Learning a lot from this forum already, thanks to everyone helping me out with my new 1974 F250.
1) Replacing upper radiator hose. Ordered OEM hose, why is one end of the hose larger than the other ? The larger end does not fit on the radiator port nor the opposite one, its way too loose. Should I just buy generic flex radiator hose ?
2) Picture below. 2 inch hose that connects the two was rotted. How in the heck do I install a new hose in that tiny spot ? Unless the hose is super thing and mallable, nothing will fit / bend in there ?
clean the rust off both nipples as best you can so the new hose slides easily. cut the new hose just long enough to reach each nipple AND have sufficient room to clamp each end...warm up the new hose, put soapy water inside, slide all the way onto the water pump (or until the back edge of the new hose clears leading edge of the back nipple) then slide the hose back toward the engine until both clamps fit correctly.
X2 make sure you got the correct application radiator hose. getting the once you need can keep the pipe of out the fan or other truck parts.
X3 cut the replacement piece as long as the green box, NOT the yellow one. Clean the exposed pipe pieces very well. X100 get the little piece of rubber hose warm (put it in a cup of hot water) and then add some soapy water to it. Slide it on the longer piece of pipe then center it up on both and install hose clamps.
Looking at both open ends of the pipe now, you need to flush the cooling system very well.
Dumb question but how do I know what the right ( radiator / engine ) combo is ? Its all based off what radiator is in there, how do I determine which hose fits what ? Also, any idea why there are no radiators out there for sale, or if they are, they are $500 ++ ?
Post a pic of the radiator and maybe someone can tell if it's stock/correct, or something else that has been swapped in at some point.
Did the truck come with an inline-6 originally and the V8 was swapped in later maybe?
Of course, nowadays too it's just as likely you either got the wrong hose from the source, or their computer just shows one hose (the incorrect one!) fitting all '73 to '79 trucks. All that drama should have been fixed by now, but you never know when someone is going to mess up a data entry in a parts computer and mess everyone up.
Or the Chinese supplier for the US reseller thought they could save money by making the part a different way. Sometimes you never now what someone was thinking.
Since hoses are not usually boxed up, but sitting loose on the shelf or rack with a clearly defined label stuck to them, you don't get the wrong one as often as with boxed parts. Someone somewhere might put the part back in a box with a part number for something else and then the end-user has to figure out why it does not fit.
Lots of stories in the big city...
Thanks Paul. Below are 2 pics of the radiator, it has the metal casing attached to the side / top of it which then attaches to the truck. The metal casing seems as if it is rusted or welded on, or something along those lines . It does not come off. The measurements of the core are 24x18 . If including the metal casing, its 26.5x18. Any thoughts ?
Thanks. Sorry for the delay but I could not access the site from my phone for some reason.
From here at least, and without any knowledge of additional variations over and above the two (actually four) that I know of (two different sizes, two different mounting methods, totaling four), that looks very much like a stock standard size radiator. There was the "super cooling" version with a visibly larger top tank, but yours would be the standard size.
Sounds about right dimensionally too, with the size you measured.
Maybe the hose you got was for the larger optional radiator? I don't know that they have different size inlet ports, but it's very possible.
Did they give you two choices when you bought the hose? If you get a chance to get on rockauto.com you can drill down in their menus for your truck and they will give you the options including multiple part numbers from different manufacturers. Often the original part number/engineering number from Ford as well.
You can look at the various numbers and compare them to yours to see if your hose is for the other radiator.
