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Did you try jamming it back onto the pipe? Maybe you got lucky and the quick release collar loosened due to rust build up or something. The rust on mine (looks like yours) made removal really difficult. The trick to the collar is you slide it towards the engine to release it, while pushing the hose itself further onto the pipe. This allows the collar to push 4 "fingers' out of the way and the pipe can slide off. The hang up is the rust prevents the plastic collar from sliding freely.
For installation I found that putting vice-grips on the hose so that they didn't crimp the rubber but instead abutted the metal crimp collar gave me an advantage. I was able to hammer (lightly) on the vice grips and drive the quick connect far enough onto the pipe that it compressed the new o-ring and clicked into place. It was REALLY hard to get the hose to click on otherwise.
If you have a ruptured hose you may be able to take it to a hydraulic show and get it repaired, either by inserting a metal pipe inline to replace the comprised section of hose (if there's room), or by having them replace the entire rubber sections and supplying you with a new section of hose and quick connect on your old hardpipe that connects to the transmission.
so I tried getting it off and it’s was so rusted and plastic cap was so frail that the plastic cap broke off. Now I’m stuck with a rusted coupling that will spin but won’t come off. Is it safe to just try and pull it off?
Hmmm. Conundrum. The 4 fingers (barbs) I mentioned will prevent it from pulling off. The harder you pull the harder they'll lock until something finally breaks. It's more likely that the cooler will get damaged in the process. I was able to first get the passenger side hose off the cooler but ultimately had to get the radiator far enough out that I could separate the cooler from the radiator and remove the radiator from the engine bay so I had enough room to get the cooler up to eye-level, with the stuck driver's side cooler hose still connected. From there I was able to get a small electrical terminal tool (like a super small slotted screwdriver with a hardened tip) down in the coupling and a combination of working the collar back and forth and pressing the individual fingers with the tool finally released the quick connect. Sounds like a huge PITA? It was.
I'm not sure how to advise you on overcoming a broken collar. You may have to bring the cooler and the whole hose to a hydraulic shop and let them sort it out. Or rip the hose off one way or the other, potentially destroying the cooler, and then replace the cooler and get a new hose made. It all depends on how much of the collar can be made to work once you get the cooler into a place that you can more easily monkey with it.
Here's where I ended up trying to fix the same leak. Which now after replacing the missing o-rings and reassembing still leaks...
Thanks for the info ahab. I may just do what you have done and take the cooler out and hopefully I haven't caused too much damage yet.
Just a thought...the ATF appears to be leaking out of the front of the coupling/collar at about a drip every couple seconds. What if I got some heavy duty sealer/shrink tape and just stopped up the leak? Its definitely not a long term solution but thinking it may work until I get new tube and connector.
IF you can get the cooler clean enough, and to do so you'll need to get it up and out enough (with the one hose still attached) like I did so that you can dry it off really well, then some of that radiator repair tape that you stretch and it sort of heat shrinks itself in place may work. There is no way this will work in situ though. There's no room to clean the assembly adequately, nor to get good wraps of the tape on there. It will have to be bone dry and clean for the tape to seal, otherwise the trans fluid will seep out, eventually at the same rate most likely. My leak was not visible while running and would leave a couple half dollar sized stains on the ground when I parked. You could not watch and see drips as the truck ran. In fact, I let it idle for a half hour while I was refilling the coolant and topping up the trans and it didn't drip at all. Your leak sounds pretty massive by comparison so unless you get a good seal on there, I'd be afraid of running the trans out of fluid.
I had that same cooler line completely rupture on me a while back. My quick release was also stuck and would not come off. So bad I ended up dremelling both ends of the hosing and replaced with new. I couldn’t find hydraulic so I went with the highest temp and psi I could find. Then double worm clamped each end. One on either side of the metal pipe flange:
Theres enough metal tube sticking out for you to put a piece of hydraulic hose and clamp it. I've been going a year with just regular hose clamps and hydraulic hose.
Not to resurrect this but I finally got around to working on this again. The lower metal pipe flange now moves a little when I push on it - much more than the other ones. It seems almost loose. Assuming this isn't normal, I think I have have broken something when trying to wrestle the hose off. Once I get a new hose on, is there any way to verify if cooler is still working properly (assuming no leaks)?
The only thing you can "break" with regard to the trans cooler itself is its ability to remain liquid-tight. I would highly recommend doing what Taylor Cadence if your fittings are at all questionable. This is the only way to ensure they don't leak once their integrity has been compromised due to rust buildup, cracked plastic, etc. You should clean the entire area so you'll be able to identify any leaks once reassembled. I have done this twice, once when I replaced the missing o-rings (as shown above) and again this weekend when I changed the whole leaky cooler. Both times the effing driver side fitting popped off as I filled the transmission, and sprayed fluid all over the front of the truck. Now, again, there's no way to tell what's leaking, from where, or if it's residual fluid from the hose popping off. Again, wherever I park there are a multitude of drips of red trans fluid all over the ground below the cooler. Ridiculous design at best. I would sh!tcan the quick release fittings and replace them with a section of hose and high quality worm drive clamps. Which I will be doing as soon as I have the wherewithal to drain the cooling system again (which has no drain), and tear the whole POS apart so I can re-clean it and find out if this new cooler leaks. At this point there's STILL no way to tell if the system leaks or if the truck is still just dripping excess trans fluid from the massive spills. At least I'm good at disassembling the front end due to the three times I've had to change out a thermostat in the last 250 miles. Looking forward to doing that once again...
Anyway, my point is that you're better off getting rid of the factory stuff and going with something simpler once problems arise. These British engineers were on crack.
06-21-2018, 02:48 PM
At least I'm good at disassembling the front end due to the three times I've had to change out a thermostat in the last 250 miles. Looking forward to doing that once again...