"Y" connector blowout

[ZigZagFred]

This "Y" connector blew out and dumped most of my coolant on the road while I was driving home. Fortunately, I was less than a mile from my house. The temp turned red as I was pulling into the driveway. The darn thing is made of PLASTIC! I got an aluminum replacement from Dorman. I recommend checking yours for cracks, etc. This could have been a disaster.

 

[GixxerJasen]

Make sure to check the other press fit connectors on the other ends of the hoses as well. Stupid design all around by Ford. Mine blew apart by the rear heater, hoses are expensive.

 

[SilverStealth]

This "Y" connector blew out and dumped most of my coolant on the road while I was driving home. Fortunately, I was less than a mile from my house. The temp turned red as I was pulling into the driveway. The darn thing is made of PLASTIC! I got an aluminum replacement from Dorman. I recommend checking yours for cracks, etc. This could have been a disaster.

If you wouldnt mind sharing, what year is your Expy and how many miles do you have?

 

[ZigZagFred]

"BlueBelle" is a 2019 Expy Limited. She has about 47,000 miles on the odometer.

 

[SyndicateZ]

My Y's blew along with a upper radiator hose leak at 78,000 miles.

2019 Limited

 

[callwill]

What years were they used on? I have a 2011 w/ 125k. Dont want to be stranded.

 

[BMW2FORD]

I recently changed them on my 2018 and “heard” the new hoses were updated. The plastic wyes on the new connectors were exactly the same so good move putting in metal ones. The ends that push into the heater core hoses were different but don’t look any better and just twist to remove looking like it’s better for the people servicing the vehicle.

 

[Trainmaster]

They've been used at least back to 2008 and all the ones I've owned, except my 2023, have leaked. Ford says they never heard of the problem.

 

[Left Coast Geek]

the Y connectors in the heater circuit started dribbling on my Mexican adventure last year. a shop south of hte border said the part would take at least a week (which I couldn't spend if I wanted to stay with my group) so they offered to bypass the heater, which worked and stopped the leak, I had them replaced when I hit Phoenix a month later.

 

[ZigZagFred]

Various forums have shown me that we have a common issue. Vital parts that are nearly impossible to access for replacement should NOT be made of plastic. I was able to replace ONE of my "Ys" with an aluminum one, but the other one was only available with a plastic "Y". I hope it lasts as long as the first one did (5 years, 47,000 miles).

Update: My original post was incorrect. Our 2019 Expy Limited actually has 81,913 miles on the odometer. The 47,000 figure I quoted was for our OTHER car. If the plastic one lasts 81,000 miles, I will NOT complain (well, not very loudly).

 

[5280tunage]

Various forums have shown me that we have a common issue. Vital parts that are nearly impossible to access for replacement should NOT be made of plastic. I was able to replace ONE of my "Ys" with an aluminum one, but the other one was only available with a plastic "Y". I hope it lasts as long as the first one did (5 years, 47,000 miles).

Dorman shows they have two replacement hose kits for this, as well as a more generic replacement part. Did you use one of these? part numbers 626-370 and 626-369

Dorman Products - Aftermarket Auto Parts & OE Solutions - Search Results

Dorman gives auto repair professionals and vehicle owners greater freedom to fix cars and trucks by focusing on solutions first.

www.dormanproducts.com

or the more generic part, which I found a video of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpYYg5_1rWs

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/dorman-help/dorman-help-45-degree-coolant-hose-junction-kit/mtm0/47294?q=47294

This issue has me up at night now, i'm getting close to the mileage where it seems a lot of folks have this issue, I'm considering buying all three kits just to be prepared.

 

[ZigZagFred]

I used the Dorman 626-370.

 

[BigOleFordFan]

@ZigZagFred

Glad you were close to home when it happened, because driving an overheating engine very far is NOT something anyone should contemplate. Happy that you made it home safely !

But since my '011 just turned over 90k, and even though I see no evidence of leaks or cracking etc, I think I'll be ordering those parts tomorrow, just in case

 

[Calidad]

87,000 I just checked mine no leaks. Also in a mild climate. I do wonder if more extreme temperature regions see earlier failures of this Y connector

 

[BigOleFordFan]

87,000 I just checked mine no leaks. Also in a mild climate. I do wonder if more extreme temperature regions see earlier failures of this Y connector

Perhaps, but in general, plastic is less tolerant of extreme LOW temps rather than extreme high temps, which you would think would be the case with the OP being in Texas, but maybe the part had a small defect at the factory in the molding process that caused this failure

But then again, my '011 spent the first 9 years of it's life in Louisiana (fairly hot most of the time), and the rest up here in PA (moderate summers but bone-chillin winters !), yet I see no signs of cracks or leaks in mine...go figure !

 

[callwill]

This turns out to be very timely for me. I was on a trip and a couple of times i caught a wiff of that hot antifreeze smell. I looked under the hood and sniffed around trying to determine if and where there might be a problem. Didnt find it until i grabbed the plastic tee near the Y. Fingers came away wet. Then i noted what i consider to be one dumb connection. 3 inches up the line from the tee is another plastic straight thru connector...they could have saved one connector and made the hose longer. Is the hose just shoved up inside those fittings? I want to replace all 3 starting with the tee and the straight thru. I will be looking to see what i can find in plumbing fittings that will work with a length of new hose. What is the ID on those hoses?

 

[ZigZagFred]

A couple of the hoses are 3/4 inch I.D. Some are 5/8 inch I.D. Strangely, they all have the same outside diameter. Measure carefully. Good luck with the swap. It's a bear of a job.

 

[callwill]

I dont know how much of a bear it will be, the 3 fittings i want to replace are easily accessible from the passenger side and not buried. I dont know how the fittings come off the hose, but if need be i will cut them off and use new barbed fittings with hose clamps and lengths of hose to replace them. Currently its only the tee in second picture that is leaking,

 

[Calidad]

I read that the Mache went under a complete redesign on the cooling system not long ago due to the insane number of hose connections that all posed leak issues. I feel like the same engineer was on the EX and had stock investments in the hose fittings company

 

[ExpyBillD]

Owner of a 2019 Limited.. my 3rd Expy. Had a 1997 Eddie Bauer and 2007 EL Limited. Got both of those to over 250K miles! Anyway... The Ys on the 2019 blew out at 71K. Coming home, at a stop light, smoke/steam coming out from under the hood. Pulled over and there is coolant coming down from the passenger side of the engine. Got it home without any overheating occurring. Leaks stopped once parked, so it was an under-pressure issue. Right around the same time, start hearing a rattling noise from the engine at start up, cam phasers! The good: I bought this puppy used when the mileage was at 71,066. Dealer had a 30 day, 1000 mile power train warranty. Only charged me for the part for the coolant hoses while the cam phaser work and then some, all covered under the warranty. Purring like a kitten now. On a recent road trip, 1400 miles of driving, got 22.4 MPG!!! My 2007 never made it above 18!!!