Tool ideas?

patrick66

Old Man with a Hat
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Here is what I need...looking for ideas for a pressurized four-way air fitting that is good from 10 to 30 psi. I need a 5/8" OD plastic or brass four-way junction, to run two heater hoses, a Schrader valve and an air pressure gauge. In plastic, I can find 1/2" & 3/4" four way junctions, but no 5/8". A brass four way has been very tough to find that is useable.

Obviously, I'd have to assemble something like this. Any ideas?
 
If you need to use 5/8 could you use a 1/2 to 5/8 adapter? Is it female to male?
As saylor said a diagram would be good so we can get a idea of what your trying to accomplish.
 
Hope this helps visualize what I need to make. I want to be able to test heater cores while still in a car or truck, and without removing the core to immerse them in water.

20201228_180408.jpg
 
Any well stocked plumbing supply shop should have a 1/2" "cross". They are available in either black or galvanized iron, brass, or even PVC plastic. You can get pipe bushings to bush it down to either 1/4" or 1/8", depending on the size of the schrader valve and the gauge. Get a couple of 1/2" male pipe X 5/8" heater hose barbs from your local auto parts store, the Carquest part number for these is 277959.
 
I can buy 5/8 pipe to hose all day from my marine suppliers. Brass or Nylon. 5/8 hose by 1/2 or 3/4 male pipe thread. Then a 4 way cross in 1/2 or 3/4 . Then reducing bushings to go to 1/4 or 1/8 female for the gauge and Schrader.
 
keep it simple, you don't need anything but whatever pipe fits inside 5/8 heater hose or whatever copper tubing and two tees...On the bull of the tee you either solder your sweat to pipe adapter or if its a threaded tee, you bush it down to what you need.... Id use pipe, two nipples with threads cut off one end and another nipple in-between the tee's
End of story
 
man i got a bad feeling about this. but lets do it. you want a leakdown kit, but for a heater core.

i do NOT know the answer to this, but I propose: is air and liquid gonna test the same? under pressure?

i guess your plan is to grab the bungos sticking out of the firewall?

are you gonna pop one and its gonna splode antifreeze in the cabin?
 
wouldn't it be easier to cap off one of the heater fittings, put on a pressure regulator and use a tee?
 
This is how I would do it. Use 2 tees and a short piece of pipe rather than the 4 ways junctions. You can also swap the pressure gauge/schrader valve to the ends if that's easier. It also may be easier to find your fittings in 1/4" pipe, but that depends on how well stocked your local hardware store is.

Tester.jpg
 
any hand pump cooling system pressure tester would do the same thing.
wouldn't it be easier to cap off one of the heater fittings, put on a pressure regulator and use a tee?
seems something like this would be a better idea but with the heater core isolated to localize a pressure leak to the core.
 
I've told this story a couple of times on this site, here goes again- My first C body came with a recently recored radiator. All was good for the first few thousand miles, then the heater core started leaking. It was an A/C car, so had the skinny dual core, which at the time wasn't available new. So I took the old one out and brought it in for a recore at a local shop. Got it back, installed it, it leaked right away. Took it out again, brought it back. They called me and said "we tested it, and it doesn't leak". So I went in, and asked to see it tested. They had a huge tank full of water, and had air pressurising the core. I said "well it's not hot", they said "that doesn't matter". I said "well obviously it does". So the guy who actually did the job, who wasn't too happy with me questioning his work, yanked it out of the tank, hit it with a tiger torch, and dropped it back in. Bubbles started rising, apologies were doled out, and they fixed it again, and I installed it again, after thoroughly testing it myself with 180° hot water.

So I wouldn't bother making this tool which will be used how many time's? And may not even provide accurate results. If it leaks air while being tested, surely it would have leaked coolant before the test.

From my experience, if you have radiator corrosion, and the radiator needs recoring, or replacement, the heater core is not far behind, and with the new radiator installed, the heater core is now the weak link. At the 50 year/60K-100k mark, both of these items should be replaced, in my opinion.
 
I've told this story a couple of times on this site, here goes again- My first C body came with a recently recored radiator. All was good for the first few thousand miles, then the heater core started leaking. It was an A/C car, so had the skinny dual core, which at the time wasn't available new. So I took the old one out and brought it in for a recore at a local shop. Got it back, installed it, it leaked right away. Took it out again, brought it back. They called me and said "we tested it, and it doesn't leak". So I went in, and asked to see it tested. They had a huge tank full of water, and had air pressurising the core. I said "well it's not hot", they said "that doesn't matter". I said "well obviously it does". So the guy who actually did the job, who wasn't too happy with me questioning his work, yanked it out of the tank, hit it with a tiger torch, and dropped it back in. Bubbles started rising, apologies were doled out, and they fixed it again, and I installed it again, after thoroughly testing it myself with 180° hot water.

So I wouldn't bother making this tool which will be used how many time's? And may not even provide accurate results. If it leaks air while being tested, surely it would have leaked coolant before the test.

From my experience, if you have radiator corrosion, and the radiator needs recoring, or replacement, the heater core is not far behind, and with the new radiator installed, the heater core is now the weak link. At the 50 year/60K-100k mark, both of these items should be replaced, in my opinion.

I have to tell this story... A number of years ago, the utility company decided to finish run natural gas down our road. This was perfect timing for me as I needed to install a new furnace before winter, but that's another story. Anyway... I got the specs and did my connections inside and ran the iron pipe for the new furnace (this was before plastics). All the utility company had to do was hook up the gas meter and double check for leaks. They warned that if they found a leak, they would only tell you where it was and you'd have to take care of it, reschedule and maybe even pay a service charge for the next time.

So.... Me being me... I hooked a pressure gauge to my new pipe, plugged all the ends, pumped it up with compressed air to about 50PSI and checked all the connections with "snoop" (basically professional soapy water LOL). Then I just left it. The utility guy came in a couple weeks later and the gauge hadn't moved. He looked and said "I wish everybody did this".

Now... My neighbor was going to put in a new furnace too. Like me, did all the plumbing etc. and I offered up a gauge and we'd run a hose from my place to pressurize his pipes. He laughed.... Said that was ridiculous and I was just wasting my time. I asked the utility guy if the neighbor's was OK and he said "I probably shouldn't say, but everything leaked... EVERYTHING..." and then "You should have helped him" and I told him and we had a good laugh...
 
man i got a bad feeling about this. but lets do it. you want a leakdown kit, but for a heater core.

i do NOT know the answer to this, but I propose: is air and liquid gonna test the same? under pressure?

i guess your plan is to grab the bungos sticking out of the firewall?

are you gonna pop one and its gonna splode antifreeze in the cabin?

Pressure is pressure. My radiator guy uses air to 20 psi on cores in or out of a vehicle. Pressure drop or a hiss? Leak present.
 
o I took the old one out and brought it in for a recore at a local shop. Got it back, installed it, it leaked right away. Took it out again, brought it back. They called me and said "we tested it, and it doesn't leak". So I went in, and asked to see it tested. They had a huge tank full of water, and had air pressurising the core. I said "well it's not hot", they said "that doesn't matter". I said "well obviously it does". So the guy who actually did the job, who wasn't too happy with me questioning his work, yanked it out of the tank, hit it with a tiger torch, and dropped it back in. Bubbles started rising, apologies were doled out, and they fixed it again, and I installed it again, after thoroughly testing it myself with 180° hot water.

i figured air and liquid wouldnt produce the same test result, but then add heat to it wew *mind blown*
 
Heat is often a factor in a stress crack - what may well hold up under cool conditions may well leak at temp... hence the above story from @3C's & a D? ...

While it's rare, just testing with air doesn't always find the issue. One should attempt to simulate or recreate conditions the leak occurs in.
 
Heat is often a factor in a stress crack - what may well hold up under cool conditions may well leak at temp... hence the above story from

True, but after reassembling my dash once, disassembly to test the core isn't time-effective. We've all got tools in our shops we've used once or twice. $12.00 for parts for the pressure checker parts. Cheap enough.
 
Agreed - one also has to temper their zeal for thoroughness with reality - and a stress crack is rarer than a corrosion leak which should show up with air pressure.
 
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