Leyland P76 Owners 2007

Technical

Heater core bypass

Discussion taking from the 215/V8 group on Yahoo

Question

Date: Mon, 10 May 2004
From: Shawn Wagner
Hey guys,
Tonight my heater core crapped out on my 62 cutlass.
While i am waiting for a new one (or a used one if anyone has one), can i bypass the heater core by running the hose from the water pump straight to the back of the engine?
I did this and drove it for a while.
It stayed at 180 degrees, but will this cause some damage in the long run if i run it like this for a while?
I don't know much about this so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Shawn

Replies

From: "Frank Popovich"
Date: Tue, 11 May 2004
It seems that all you would have to do is get a nipple and disconnectthe two hoses from the heater core and join them together with the nipple. I would re-route the hoses just take the heater core out of the loop.
I would not re-plumb the vehicle.
Greg
"Joha, Robert SEPCO-EPW-U" wrote:
Bypassing the heater core, heater valve and hoses (a cumulative restriction to flow, even with the control wide open) with a 5/8" hose straight from the water pump to the back of the manifold causes a large portion of the flow to bypass the radiator core and can cause the car to overheat.
When I bought my 63 F-85 it was plumbed this way, stopped my overheating problem by pinching the hose shut with a pair of visegrips till I replaced the heater core.
Robert J Joha
From: ryhe@aol.com
Date: Tue, 11 May 2004
Subject: Heater hose
I had the same experience as Frank mentioned.
I built a Karmann Ghia with a 215 in the rear and the radiator up front and bypassed the heater by connecting a hose from the water pump nipple to the back of the intake manifold.
The car ran hot constantly.
After the hose sprung a small leak, I cut it in the middle and temporarily stuck a bolt in each open end.
The car ran cool after that.
I had tried everything before that to keep it cool.
It must have been recirculating water instead of pushing it all the way to the front of the car, even with 2" pipe (the pipe was also part of the frame stiffeners).
Of course you would not have nearly the back pressure in a normal setup, but I'd plug the ends to be sure.
Bob
Last updated
April, 2007
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