Coolant tank??

[izzy]

Wow, labor sure is inflated now a days.

Replacing the degas and the thermostat is pretty much a simple job that can be handled by anyone who is able to change disc brake pads.

The problem with the thermostat is that you probably will need to replace the thermost AND the housing. The plastic housing has a couple "ears" inside that the tstat requires to work. They snap off after about 80,000 miles. The two parts cost around $80 each if I recall. What a weird design. On my old chebby and every other car I have owned, you just dropped the tstat in place, the Ford requires you to screw it in place and it will NOT work without the ears.

The degas is pretty easy. Hardest part is getting at the hose fitting for the long piece, which btw, the factory already has attached for good reason. Take a good look and find the opposite end of the long hose and that will be the hardest part to remove. After that every thing just weasles out.

BTW, some guys had recommended one of those cable operated spring clamp tools to remove the hose clamps. I bought one of those from NAPA last year. For me it doesn't make things much easier. Instead I really like the long curved nose needle nose pliers they sell, or a good Channel lock if it will fit.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

I used these hose clamp pliers. I couldn't get my monkey hands and any kind of pliers into the tiny little space.

 

[Jim Henderson]

That is very similar to the NAPA tool I bought. However, I did not use them for the degas bottle hose since I previously used a Channel lock.

But I have tried to use this tool on the main radiator hose and one of the small ones near the throttle body. Problem I had at least for the main hose was that there wasn't enough clamping range to fully remove the main hose clamp, and the little TB hose was too small to allow the tool to work. The NAPA bent nose pliers worked fine(I now keep them in my car), actually any pliers would have worked there. Still trying to get a success with the special tool, but my habit when I remove sping hose clamps is to chuck them as far away from me as I can and then put in a worm gear clamp. So I never have a second opportunity to try the special tool on that hose.

The needle nose pliers are sort of like these, http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/C...Needle-Nose-Pliers-6-/_/R-CHQLNPB6_0380525648
but mine are much longer. I did not see them on the wbepage. Maybe only the warehouse store has them, they have all sorts of cool stuff, much better than the local stores.

Oh well, some day...

Jim Henderson

I used these hose clamp pliers. I couldn't get my monkey hands and any kind of pliers into the tiny little space.
View attachment 828470633

 

[joegr]

Yes, I use right angle pliers on the small hose clamps, but the hose clamp pliers tool that I have is big enough to work on the large radiator hoses. (It works on the mid-size ones too, just not the smallest hoses.) I'm the opposite on the clamps. I throw out the worm gear clamps and replace them with the spring ones. I don't mind the worm gear ones on hoses that go over metal, but I definitely want the spring type on hoses that go over plastic.

 

[izzy]

The pliers pictured above are from advance auto parts. They have an opening reach of like 4-5 inches and clamp down all the way. So they get all the clamps big to tiny. They work well. They were $25 iirc. But I always use coupon codes so I think they were $17 after 30% off.

 

[Jim Henderson]

The one from NAPA does have enough open reach but doesn't seem to ratchet down enough to remove the big hose clamp.

Also seems like the clamp end of the NAPA tool is a bit wobbly so it falls off if you have to clamp down a lot. So I guess the flexible NAPA hose clamp tool would not be my recommendation. Probably the other brands you guys mentioned are the choice here.

I bought the NAPA tool because it was a pita to get at the degas water bottle hose clamp, but after the fact. All the other clamps on my car including the degas are reachable with channel locks and the bent nose pliers so I guess the flexible tool is a waste for me.

Jim Henderson.

 

[Jim Henderson]

Just an update re my NAPA cable type hose clamp tool.

I just replaced my radiator this past weekend and so obviously needed to remove a couple clamps.

STILL NO LUCK with the cable tool. It is brand named OEM Brand and I bought it from NAPA. From my experience this weekend while I was paying more attention to how the tool worked, I noticed that while it would clamp down and squeeze the lower radiator hose clamp down some, it was not enough to squeeze it down so that the clamp would slip over the bumps on the radiator outlet pipe, no adjustment of the screw oruld get me there. So I had to resort to my channel locks again, but this time due to having the wrong angle I couldn't get a good enough grip on the ears of the clamp and one actually snapped off, bword. So I actually had to dremel tool this clamp off.

Naturally I replaced it with a worm type clamp. Not sure why Joe prefers the opposite. I guess maybe it is tricky not to clamp down too hard and crack the pipe. Maybe I am lucky or have "the touch" when torqing stuff down so the screw clamps work well for me.

So, so far I have no success story for the OEM Brand from NAPA, clamp tool. I am very sad, I like special purpose tools.

Jim Henderson

 

[jjcool00]

I don't know off-hand what brand mine is, but I bought it from Amazon and it's worked flawlessly for the applications required.

I don't like those clips because the screws become loose with time. It has happened to me several times. Most recent one I can recall was on my intake when my intake literally fell off the pipe and was sitting in the engine bay. The other clips don't become loose.

 

[joegr]

... Not sure why Joe prefers the opposite. I guess maybe it is tricky not to clamp down too hard and crack the pipe. ...

There's that.
There's the fact that the spring clamp moves to accommodate thermal expansion and contraction, and the natural compression of the hose wall.
There's also the fact that the spring clamps are easier (faster) to remove and install than the worm gear type. (Of course, this is only true if you have a reasonably good tool for them.)

 

[izzy]

Just an update re my NAPA cable type hose clamp tool.

I just replaced my radiator this past weekend and so obviously needed to remove a couple clamps.

STILL NO LUCK with the cable tool. It is brand named OEM Brand and I bought it from NAPA. From my experience this weekend while I was paying more attention to how the tool worked, I noticed that while it would clamp down and squeeze the lower radiator hose clamp down some, it was not enough to squeeze it down so that the clamp would slip over the bumps on the radiator outlet pipe, no adjustment of the screw oruld get me there. So I had to resort to my channel locks again, but this time due to having the wrong angle I couldn't get a good enough grip on the ears of the clamp and one actually snapped off, bword. So I actually had to dremel tool this clamp off.

Naturally I replaced it with a worm type clamp. Not sure why Joe prefers the opposite. I guess maybe it is tricky not to clamp down too hard and crack the pipe. Maybe I am lucky or have "the touch" when torqing stuff down so the screw clamps work well for me.

So, so far I have no success story for the OEM Brand from NAPA, clamp tool. I am very sad, I like special purpose tools.

Jim Henderson

I think your tool may be defective. Mine works flawlessly.

 

[Jim Henderson]

Joe is most likely right. I never worked on a car with a plastic cooling system before, always heavy metal for me in the past so don't know the idiosyncracies of plastic. Probably also explains why I hate plastic so much on cars, too darn fussy in hot places, at least with the LS. I mean come on, replacing $800 worth of plastic parts as "routine" maintenance. Arrr.

As far as the OEM clamp tool, it is rather flimsy so I suspect that may be the main reason I haven't had success with it.

Jim Henderson

There's that.
There's the fact that the spring clamp moves to accommodate thermal expansion and contraction, and the natural compression of the hose wall.
There's also the fact that the spring clamps are easier (faster) to remove and install than the worm gear type. (Of course, this is only true if you have a reasonably good tool for them.)

 

[LS4me]

Joe is most likely right. I never worked on a car with a plastic cooling system before, always heavy metal for me in the past so don't know the idiosyncracies of plastic. Probably also explains why I hate plastic so much on cars, too darn fussy in hot places, at least with the LS. I mean come on, replacing $800 worth of plastic parts as "routine" maintenance. Arrr.

It's all about saving every gram of weight so the manufacturers can meet MPG and safety standards. Extra safety weight has to be offset somewhere.....