Small Y-pipe coolant leak

[Bolt snapper]

Last weekend while doing the plugs and coils on my '04 5.4, the third plug well back on the passenger side had a little bit of coolant around it. For a split second I panicked, thinking it was from the head, but then quickly realized it was from a small (3/8"-ish?) diameter hose directly above the area that dripped a bit of coolant (I may have very well broken it open prying around on it and the heater hoses in the area to access the plugs). I'm assuming the hoses and the Y are all a one-piece, factory-only part? Any known hacks out there to use a plumbing fitting or something to replace it? For that matter - what the heck is it? I've never seen coolant in a small diameter hose like that?

 

[Trainmaster]

The third generation trucks have a heater hose with a tee on the passenger side of the motor that tends to leak into the spark plug coils. Not sure about the '04's, but are you sure that leak's not from a heater hose?

There are hacks on YouTube that use a cheap Chinese fitting, for people who don't want to invest the $40 to fix the leak. Ford sells the proper hose but it's a bit of a chore to get it off the firewall heater core fitting without a special tool.

I'm a little embarrassed to share such hackery:

 

[Dustin Gebhardt]

My tee fitting broke last year and I replaced it with a tee and 3 hose clamps. The OEM part has molded hose clamps, but they are easy to cut off. Once the plastic bands are cut, the whole thing comes apart easily. It was probably a 30 minute fix, start to finish.

 

[SEPTIC PROFESSOR]

A most excellent and timely tutorial !!
Here's an alternative tee recommendation:
Dixon 179-1212 Brass Hose Splicer Fitting, Tee, 3/4" Hose ID Barbed: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

 

[Gregg Eshelman]

Same on my 07. The OEM tee had already been replaced with a black plastic tee and hose clamps. Or perhaps just the original rings had been cut off and proper clamps installed.

 

[jeremiahm]

Thanks for the tip, getting this done soon!