Trans cooler line splicing help please!
 

Hey all,

I just finished changing out my new radiator, water pump, t-stat, and added a coolant filter. It went pretty well. You can check it out here if you want:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...completed.html

My new problem is this:

The P.O. was a moron, and somehow kinked the steel trans cooler line supplying all three of my trans coolers, up front where it transitions to rubber hose. Here are some pics of the section I removed.

Attachment 58111

Attachment 58112

I cut out the kinked section and bought longer rubber hose to repair the section. The problem I now have is, drips at the splice where I cut the metal line, as well as drips where pretty much all of the metal to rubber transitions are in the system. Here is my question:

Does anyone know where I can get fittings to transition the metal lines to barbed hose connections for the rubber trans cooler lines?

I tried Home Depot, and ORieleys, with no success. I am going to try Grainger, but I figured I would throw this out to you guys to see if anyone could help me out. Ideally what I would like is a flare fitting to hose barb connection, so I can use Oetiker clamps on the rubber hose fittings, and unscrew the flare fittings to detach the hoses, but I will try anything to eliminate the leaks. I HATE LEAKS!

Thanks in advance for any input,

Mac.

Something like this would be BAD ASS:

Male Flare Adapter, 5/16 x 3/8 In, 303 SS - Stainless Steel Tube Fittings - Fittings - 4HFJ3 : Grainger Industrial Supply

I would need to change all my rubber hose to 3/8" though, but that is not such a bad idea anyway with three trans coolers in line. I will need to check to see if I can change all the hose fittings first, or find this fitting in a 5/16" pipe to 5/16" hose connection. Any ideas on where I might find that?

Thanks again,

Mac.

its strange that you're having a problem there, i've used a hose clamp over bare steel line plenty of times without a leak. is your hose a size too big for the pipe? what kind of clamps are you using?
those fittings look pretty good, but for some reason i thought the cooler lines were all 3/8", both in the steel and in the rubber. even if not, you can stretch the hose one size while installing it.

it does sound like your using too large of hose to me too.whatever i used was real tight and hard to slide on.i lubed it up good and slid it on as far as it could go.the clamps were just for looks lol.
after you cut those kinks out,did you re-flare the end again?
your using high temp trans hose right? napa sells the good stuff.

you can get what your after here though:
http://www.bulkpart.com/2/category/cooler-fittings.html

Yeah it is a mess down there, 3/8 hose on 5/16 pipe, 5/16 hose stretched over 3/8 hose barbs! Ridiculous! I keep finding things like that on this truck, don't even get me started on the wiring! Frigin PO's. I think that I am going to buy some of those fittings, flare everything and use the Oetiker clamps. It will look sweet, and I have done a lot of beverage line work with those parts, and they don't ever leak when installed correctly. I just need to figure out if I can change out all of the existing barb fittings to 3/8. I like the idea of larger ID lines too although a fluid line is only as big as its smallest piece.

BTW Josh I have heard that Ford used several different sizes of trans cooler pipe, but I miced mine and both my 93 and 94 have 5/16 solid lines.

Just went through the same thing. Flared & scuffed the end of the metal line, to give the hose something to grip. Then doubled up the hose clamps. Worth trying the DIY fix, 'cause the replacement lines aren't cheap.
Good luck.
Doulie

Doulie, I thought about flaring my solid lines, it would certainly help, and I have double clamped a couple of my current connections. I think I am going to try the fittings. It seems that I will be in around 100 to 150 bucks, but it will look super clean, and, if done properly, never leak. I have a radiator trans cooler, an aux cooler in front of the radiator, and another B&M electric fan cooled cooler back by the trans, and most of it was done half-assed. I need to clean it up!

my new cooler came with 3/8" hose and it worked fine going from the rad cooler to the aux trans cooler, but the stee cooler lines are 5/16". i tried the 3/8 hose on the 5/16 line and felt that it was to big. so i got some 5/16 and surprisingly the 5/16 slid right on the 3/8 hose barb and is not leaking. when i tried to pull the 5/16 off the 3/8 barb i could not get it off but.......

I had the same problem. I pushed the rubber line up on steel one several inches and put 2-3 clamps on each line to get it to stop.I found out not all steel clamps are created equal and I had the cheap ones. Some will strip out when you get to tight. I like the ones that you can just keep tightening until you start seeing rubber oozing out the holes in the band. :-X04 They make different kinds and some are better for small lines like this.

Google bolt hose clamp

This is what you need.

you mean the hose clamps that have a machine screw with a nut - i love those!! the "normal" ones are enough for most jobs, and will be enough if the hose is the right size for the tube, but those are even better!

Here is what I would really like to use:

Product Data

I have done a lot of work in the food service industry, and these clamps are bulletproof. This type in particular doesn't create any pinch points. If I can get the right fittings, I will use these on all the flex lines, and flare all my rigid hose. Then I will be able to disconnect the flare fittings and never need to F with the hose clamps again. The nice thing about them, is they wont come loose, and even if they did you could just crimp them again. The tool to crimp them is ridiculously expensive, but luckily I already have one. Between you me and the keyboard, I have use tile nippers to tighten them many times in the past and the clamp can't tell the difference! I have ordered the flare to barb fittings, but there is some confusion as to which flare nuts will work with them. I will wait until I get the fittings, then try to find a compatible flare nut. The Oetiker clamps are easy to get and come in a variety of sizes. It is going to be a work in progress, because my truck is running great, and I am as busy as a one legged man in an ass kicking contest right now, but when I pull it all together, I will share the info. I might even put together kits since a lot of these parts need to be purchased in bulk.

Stay tuned!

Mac.

yes exactly. they are great

You mean you talking about a banding type thing like I use in the insulation trade....hell we got bands pretty freaking small....im talking small lol.

what i do is double flair the line and then screw on a flair to hose barb fitting. i get them from napa.

TJC,

Is that something like what I linked to in the beginning? could I still use the oetiker clamps? How do you double flare a line?!? Do you happen to have or can you snap me a pic of one of your connections. My order got bounced for the other ones. I'm not close to a napa, but i'll find one!