I have a 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan with 145,000 miles on it. Last week when I was underneath the van I noticed that both of the lines running to the rear heater are severely rusted, flaking off the back paint or plastic outer coating, caused by all the rust on the metal tubing.

The lines are not leaking at this time but the rusting looks very deep. I'm thinking it's just a matter of time before they start to leak. Have others had this problem? I've seen a post or 2 about this and it sound like the lines are expensive. The rust seems to be contained to a 2 ft. section and looks like the could be repaired with rubber heater hose or metal tubing. Has anyone tried anything like this? Is there a reason why heater hose wouldn't work...fear of it being pierced by road debris? I was thinking I could cover the tubing with a larger diameter metal tubing or a metal mesh sleeve of some type.

Looking forward to everyone's input!

I read somewhere of a owner splicing in a section of heater hose to replace a rusted area. You need to find a section of the existing line that is in good condition so you don't compress it closed with the hose clamps.

LOOKS LIKE I READ IT HERE. ITS A FEW POSTS DOWN

I'm thinking that I will cut the lines and replace with heater hose. I should be able to flare the tubing a little, in order to give the clamp something more to hold on to, I believe that a radiator runs at 15 lbs of pressure..stands to reason that the pressure in the lines wouldn't be greater than that, so I wouldn't think I'd have to tighten the clamps too much beyond snug.

I may stop in at the Dealer and ask a few questions. I've been very fortunate in getting good advice from a Service Advisor and even a couple of the Techs.

I'd still welcome any and all input on this topic from the forum.

Chuck

Yes, you can use heater hose... I did it and it works... been working for over three years now.

Headlesshorseman thanks for your reply. How did you go about the splicing?
Did you remove the lines from the pump and or rear heater core, or did you do the cutting and splicing with the lines in place. What did you use to cut the lines? A tubing cutter like what one might use on copper tubing or a hacksaw or what? what did you use for clamps? I would suppose screw down band clamps Did you try to flare the tubing or anything like that to give the hose a better surface to grip on? Also did you try to shield or sheath the heater hose with anything..like a flexible metal romex casing? Do you think that it's even necessary to shield it? Any guidance you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Spit

I used a hacksaw to cut lines at front firewall, no flaring needed.
Use 4 screw clamps. Run hose to heater core in rear and connect new hose to nipples on core. (Mine fit perfectly). The entire metal pipes were rotted all the way back.
I put a very small drop of ivory dishwashing stuff on inside of hose ends so I could slide hose on very easily. No shielding needed, used those black plastic cable ties to support new hose.

Headlesshorseman thanks for your reply. How did you go about the splicing?
Did you remove the lines from the pump and or rear heater core, or did you do the cutting and splicing with the lines in place. What did you use to cut the lines? A tubing cutter like what one might use on copper tubing or a hacksaw or what? what did you use for clamps? I would suppose screw down band clamps Did you try to flare the tubing or anything like that to give the hose a better surface to grip on? Also did you try to shield or sheath the heater hose with anything..like a flexible metal romex casing? Do you think that it's even necessary to shield it? Any guidance you can give would be greatly appreciated.

SpitI used a tube cutter, one of the small ones that rotate around the tube to cut it. I removed only the part that was bad, cut the hose to the proper length and used circular clamps (what I think you mean by "screw-down band clamps) to hold it together (the ones that constrict/compress when you use a screwdriver)... NO need to flare, not enough pressure to make it necessary.

Also, I didn't shield it because the only thing that seemed to cause any problem was the splash/spray pattern that caused the corrosion in the first place... I think salty winter slush and spray caused the problem, so replacing it with rubber hose and *stainless steel* clamps worked great as a fix. Like Bernard above said, nylon ties (thick ones) work great to prevent drooping hoses.


I've had absolutely no problems in three years since I did this fix.