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Old 12-29-2009, 02:40 PM   #1
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Coolant Hose Problem 6.0 PSD w/ Espar Hydronic or Flat Plate

On Christmas day we returned home from spending the night at my sisters and parked the van only to see a waterfall of coolant coming from the engine compartment. I took the van to my local Ford dealer and the problem is when SMB West installed the coolant lines to the Espar and Flat Plate the hoses are rubbing against the drivers side of the steering shaft. Thankfully this happened on a short trip and not on a back country trail.

If you have a 6.0 with the flat plate or Espar I would strongly recommend checking these hoses before heading into the back country. If you remove the air intake duct from the the air filter box and pull it aside you should be able to see if the hoses are in contact with the steering shaft. I have a picture but it isn't great since the hoses are buried pretty deep in the engine compartment.

By the way the Ford dealer says this will be about a $500 repair so better to catch it early.

Happy Trials
John

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Old 12-29-2009, 02:49 PM   #2
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Re: Coolant Hose Problem 6.0 PSD w/ Espar Hydronic or Flat Plate

I would send that pic to SMB West after a polite phone call and see what they say.
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Old 12-29-2009, 02:53 PM   #3
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Re: Coolant Hose Problem 6.0 PSD w/ Espar Hydronic or Flat Plate

I would still check Fords work as well. It makes me laugh when my Ford dealer points out shotty work; My local dealers are terrible about such things. I'm not sure yet but after Ford worked on my van I started having problems with my Espar. Although Greg (Lube specialist-Espar) could be wrong, he claims the problem with the water heater points to a kinked hose. I'm do back at smb this month and will bring up your issue as well. At least SMB seems to go the extra mile when you point out a known problem. Thank's for the warning.
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Old 12-29-2009, 03:07 PM   #4
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Re: Coolant Hose Problem 6.0 PSD w/ Espar Hydronic or Flat Plate

I have already sent the picture to Peter at SMB West but unfortunately they are closed between Christmas and New Years. I talked with the technician that is working on the van about how he is going to re-route the hoses but I will also be double checking their work.

So far I have had several warranty issues and SMB West has been great about taking care of them.

John

PS. Disabled Explorers, I saw your van in the latest Overland Journal, nice rig!
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Old 12-29-2009, 03:42 PM   #5
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Re: Coolant Hose Problem 6.0 PSD w/ Espar Hydronic or Flat Plate

The EXACT same thing happened to me. I was able to do a temporary fix on the road, by buying a U shaped heater hose and reverting the engine block output back in to the input. At home, I needed 12' of .75" heater hose, and replaced it in about an hour. DON'T let the dealer rip you for $500!!! I also, for further protection, installed flexible aluminum tubing over both hoses for the length of the engine compartment and re-routed them away from the steering box.

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Old 12-29-2009, 03:48 PM   #6
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Re: Coolant Hose Problem 6.0 PSD w/ Espar Hydronic or Flat Plate

Luckily my van is still under warranty so I won't be footing the bill on the repair. If it weren't I would just do it myself.

John
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Old 12-29-2009, 04:47 PM   #7
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Re: Coolant Hose Problem 6.0 PSD w/ Espar Hydronic or Flat Plate

None of the dealers I've dealt with would do warranty work on non-Ford parts. Or did you mean that SMB will reimburse you for the work?

Mike
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Old 12-29-2009, 05:26 PM   #8
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Re: Coolant Hose Problem 6.0 PSD w/ Espar Hydronic or Flat Plate

Follow the hose all the way to the flat-plate. My hoses were rubbing on the bracket that held the Espar fuel pump to the frame rail. I caught it just in time. Installed a new hose with additional padding. Note that this may only occur when a recirc pump has been added to the flat-plate sytem.
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Old 12-30-2009, 10:10 AM   #9
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Re: Coolant Hose Problem 6.0 PSD w/ Espar Hydronic or Flat Plate

That is one thing that I can say about SMB west. They are very good with warrAnty work. They will even find a place near you for repairs. They also reimburse you very quickly or just pay for repairs if they have contact through the repair shop or Dealer service. Good luck John!

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Old 12-30-2009, 11:16 AM   #10
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Re: Coolant Hose Problem 6.0 PSD w/ Espar Hydronic or Flat Plate

There are posts about water and electrical lines that are exposed to damage due to how they were routed. After I picked up my van I grabbed a bunch of rubber protectors in various sizes along with a handfull of zip ties, crawled under my van and went to work. I found several spots that needed to be addressed. But I'm sure I missed some places that still need to be looked at. Better to find it while the van is sitting at home than on a road trip.
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