Went to dealer today to get a 3/4 replacement O ring for the water heater line. He gave me the same as in the dorman 90. I ask him was that what they use if they have a leak on the fittin and he said yes with no problems. Is it possible when you installed the fittin on the pipe you could have cut the O ring? Just asking. I took one of the originals to Dixie Bearing and they measured the O ring and ordered several. Maybe they will be correct.

 

+1

Mine leak too, but not much. I've lost about an inch out of the coolant reservoir since I did it 500+ miles ago, so it isn't leaking much. I hope it turns out to as easy as swapping out the O-rings, we'll see how it works out for KPC. O-rings are a touchy deal... there's one that's right and pretty much everything else is wrong. It's not like this was some monumental fail, it just needs a more "salt in the soup".

We could end up using something like this and some straight couplers.
http://www.classicparts.com/1955-59-...ctinfo/68-712/

 

Add me to the list of people with leaking Dorman 90s. Mine is leaking at the front of the engine on the right (facing the engine). That seems to be the only place. It is a minor leak though but I do smell coolant a little sometimes.

I did buy the NON diluted coolant (because I didn't know they had pre-diluted). At $24.xx a bottle this stuff is expensive. Now I have to dilute it and add more.

Hope we find a quick solution to this. Thanks everyone for the work already.

 

I am going to dealer today also, but the OEM originals are a little larger/thicker and much much more stiff when you squeeze them. Will post what i find out this afternoon.

 

I went to Ford parts dealer today and asked for the replacement O ring kit for our trucks. Dealer showed me a kit but would not open it because they say it cant be returned if open, Are you kidding me? $40 bucks. I could not tell any difference in this kit # E69Z18D434A. This kit did contain everything to do one hose only on both ends. I was looking at the O rings through the plastic and could not tell the difference between the Dorman one I brought with me. I found a Ford parts dealer a whole lot cheaper called Lakeland Ford(wholesale ford parts). http://www.wholesalefordparts.com/p/...8472G.htmlThat kit is 24.67 there. A Girl there named Nikki ran my Vin# and came up with this kit #1R3Z18D434BA, which after I looked looks to be just the clips and not the O rings. It was 4.28 each. She said she thought the O rings were included but I checked E-bay and all I seen was clips. It just doesn't look feasible to buy any kits since you can buy the OEM truck hoses for 17.64 and 16.08 + shipping 10.95= $44.67. That comes up to about $22 a hose with everything including the clips. I went ahead and ordered both hoses Part numbers BL3Z18472B inlet hose and BL3Z18472G outlet hose. That way I'll have 2 new ones ready to go if needed. If someone can get the correct O ring size separate and buy them individually that would be best. So far I still have no leaks, but if I develop any I am going to cut and make up my existing gates hoses with some good quality 90's. It may be best for you that have not installed the Dormans to take them back and go that route. If I had the original packs I would consider taking them back. When the OEM one's I ordered come in I will remove one O ring and have it measured for size and see if I can find some. Im just frustrated that this became a issue. It seemed perfect at first. Will let you all know if I develop any leaks.

 

Thanks for the info and guinea pigging. If the OEM o-rings from the OEM hoses work out then it's probably just a good idea to add that swap out to the "How To" on this... I don't imagine we'll ever be needing all four hoses at once. I will probably try that this weekend and see what happens unless you post otherwise before then.

 

Just got done with the o-ring swap, and just like KPC my Dorman o-rings were not as thick. Easy to see with the eye, not as easy in a picture. Kind of easy to swap, a pick set helps immensely as well as a vise to hold the connector. Everything in there is black so good lighting is also a must. There is a ring (doesn't come out) that separates the two o-rings, so make sure it's where it's supposed to be.

Results? So far (which is to say one trip to Sonic for breakfast) my leaks are gone. Previously if I would push the connectors in they would start to leak but not since the swap. I don't drive the truck too much but I will probably drive it to/from work next week to see how it is going, but early results are positive.

 

Excellent news guys!

I will wait a few days to hear you both have been leak free for sometime before swapping mine out.

In the mean time, I will measure the exact lengths of hose I used for those who want to replicate what we have come up with.

Between us all who have used these, we will get it figured out!!

 

For those that have used the Dorman adapters, why didn't you reuse the rings from the original hoses? Were they messed up when pulled apart? Years ago when we would have to remove those quick connect fittings for other repairs we always just reused the original rings and never had any issues with leaking.

 

Well the simple answer is the Dorman fitting is complete with o-rings and clips....so it was "reasonable" to expect a brand new part to fuction as designed.

It was just a fluke it had a slight diffenece in spec that would allow it to weep, they "should have" worked as is.

The o-rings are not even apparent unless you started looking for reasons it was leaking....they are hidden by a angled mating surface that the clip matches up against.....if KPC hadn't investigated and found those, we might not have known why it happened. This is my first experience with this type of quick connect fitting, looked like a leak waiting to happen to me with the stock hose since you could move it up and down on the barb, but they don't leak.

My point is, if you have never worked with these before, it is not obvious there are o-rings inside, so you wouldn't know to change anything....again, bought a "new" part, expected it to work as designed.