Coolant "Y" Pipe to the Heater

[Ed_Strong]

The "Y" Pipe that comes off the Water Pump and splits to the heater and Bypass Piper started leaking at the weld for the plit (will post pictures later). I tried looking at the online Ford Parts sites and the part cannot be found.

Right off the pipe I got part number XF2E-18663-AB but none of the sites are able to find it. Anybody has a different part number that could work on the online Ford Parts dealers?

I would like to price it online before calling the local parts dealer and I will really appreciate any help.

[KIME]

Originally Posted by Ed_Strong

The "Y" Pipe that comes off the Water Pump and splits to the heater and Bypass Piper started leaking at the weld for the plit (will post pictures later). I tried looking at the online Ford Parts sites and the part cannot be found.

Right off the pipe I got part number XF2E-18663-AB but none of the sites are able to find it. Anybody has a different part number that could work on the online Ford Parts dealers?

I would like to price it online before calling the local parts dealer and I will really appreciate any help.

I REPLACED THIS ON MY 01 THIS PAST SUMMER WILL CK PT#&$$$ THIS EVENING AND REPLY TUESDAY.

[12Ounce]

Try XF2Z-18663-AA.

[wiswind]

If all else fails, send an email to Y2K Ford in Seattle.
They have a provision for this on their parts website.
Give them your VIN and a description of what you need.

Another thing you can do is go to your local FORD dealership parts counter, they have a MUCH better parts breakdown on their computers than I have seen anyplace else......it has blow up pictures with part numbers.

I just looked on alldata......does not show any picture of your part (for my '96.....and I have it on mine)

[Ed_Strong]

Well, I went ahead and got the part thru my local Ford Parts dealer ($48.44 w/ tax) and they had no trouble locating the part and actually had 2 in stock... I guess they know the high failure rate on this part!

Anyway, got it installed and everything is working fine now.
Here's the old part...

Heater "Y" Pipe


Outlet to ByPass Tube rusted thru and "Y" seam damage


Closeup on "Y" seam damage, metal was too weak for repairs


This failure had been going on for a while... but the funny thing is that I never saw the Temp Gauge go past the middle, where it always sits at normal operating temp. I never had a chime or a low coolant warning on the dash, never saw a leak, puddle or stain in the engine bay area. And I never smelled coolant untill a week ago when I started using the heater. Then yesterday I pop the hood to have a look since the heater stopped working and it sounded like a tea kettle, steam but no coolant gushing and just a faint stain around the PS Pump, engine and firewall.

I had to add 2 gallons of 50/50 to bring it up to normal level, but there were no signs of trouble, unless this hole just happened when I stated using the heater last week!

I had a hard time finding the specified coolant to use on my 2000 Windstar and the Ford dealer wanted too much for one bottle, so I got a bottle of Peak "All Green" Antifreeze which states it's compatible with "Ford 2000 and earlier" models.
Anyway I need to do a flush soon as the old coolant is obviously contaminated with rust... I just hope the bypass tube holds, I don't want to mess with the intake all over again!

[Grabber5.0]

My 2000 just started leaking right at the tee in the tube. How big of a pain is it to replace? Looks like an awful lot of stuff has to come off to get to it.

[garync1]

Originally Posted by Ed_Strong

Well, I went ahead and got the part thru my local Ford Parts dealer ($48.44 w/ tax) and they had no trouble locating the part and actually had 2 in stock... I guess they know the high failure rate on this part!

Anyway, got it installed and everything is working fine now.
Here's the old part...

Heater "Y" Pipe


Outlet to ByPass Tube rusted thru and "Y" seam damage


Closeup on "Y" seam damage, metal was too weak for repairs


This failure had been going on for a while... but the funny thing is that I never saw the Temp Gauge go past the middle, where it always sits at normal operating temp. I never had a chime or a low coolant warning on the dash, never saw a leak, puddle or stain in the engine bay area. And I never smelled coolant untill a week ago when I started using the heater. Then yesterday I pop the hood to have a look since the heater stopped working and it sounded like a tea kettle, steam but no coolant gushing and just a faint stain around the PS Pump, engine and firewall.

I had to add 2 gallons of 50/50 to bring it up to normal level, but there were no signs of trouble, unless this hole just happened when I stated using the heater last week!

I had a hard time finding the specified coolant to use on my 2000 Windstar and the Ford dealer wanted too much for one bottle, so I got a bottle of Peak "All Green" Antifreeze which states it's compatible with "Ford 2000 and earlier" models.
Anyway I need to do a flush soon as the old coolant is obviously contaminated with rust... I just hope the bypass tube holds, I don't want to mess with the intake all over again!

Thanks for posting the picture.. I have a 2001.. I just went and inspected mine.. It looks ok.. But thanks for the photo.. I was always wondering what all the fuss was about with these pipes.. Now I can see..

[Ed_Strong]

My 2000 just started leaking right at the tee in the tube. How big of a pain is it to replace? Looks like an awful lot of stuff has to come off to get to it.

Just remove the cowl for easy access and it can be done!

I did remove the fresh air Intake Duct for the cabin, it's the big oval plastic shroud that sits right behind the PS Pump. All you need is to remove 2 nuts, one on top one on bottom (12" extension and a deep 7/16 socket) and a small vaccum hose that connects to it on top. Takes less than 5 mins to do and I feel is well worht it considering the amount of room you get!
Especially for the removal of the heater hose which sits behind the engine.

The "Y" Pipe is held on in place by 2 (10mm) screws, one on top of the Water Pump and the other on top of the PS Pump which is hard to see.
In my case, hoses that go into the "Y" Pipe were very easy to remove as I thought they were going to be caked on by the heat, age and presence of rust!

The only thing that gave me a hard time was the removal of the "Y" Pipe from the Water Pump. It was caked on and there's not much room to wiggle it or pull it out. So I used standard plyers to rotate and break it free (maybe 1/4 inch to each direction as there's little room for play) and a small 6 to 8 inch pry bar to the flangethat attaches it to the Water Pump to force it out while wiggling, time consuming, but it did the trick.

As a precaution I removed the serpentine belt and the connector for the cam synchronizer which sits right behind the water pump to give me more room to play and to avoid any further damages to both any of those parts and my knuckles.

All in all, it was fairly easy and even tho i took my time and went slow and carefull it took me about 1½ hours to remove and less than 1 hour to put it back together.

[Ed_Strong]

Originally Posted by garync1

Thanks for posting the picture.. I have a 2001.. I just went and inspected mine.. It looks ok.. But thanks for the photo.. I was always wondering what all the fuss was about with these pipes.. Now I can see..

No problem Gary, glad to be of help, but as a warning to all... don't judge the rust stain around the "Y" weld as a sign of trouble to come, that is more a sign of the outcome, that's just a staing from the little coolant that spilled. I can clean it off and make the pipe look as good as the new one I just bought.

What I'm trying to say is that this pipe looked great and showed no signs of trouble a few of moths ago when I was doing maintenance on my van. This damage comes from the inside and works it self out without a warning!

I always thought that my van used orange type antifreeze when in fact uses green, so everytime I looked at the degas bottle and saw orange I was looking at rust and didn't think of it. I mean a flush was done at 30K before I got it and I'm just over 60K miles now!

When the level went low I never realized on it cause the bottle was stained to the "Full Level" and I never bothered opening the bottle to check as it apeared to be at level from the outside. So just be carefull and keep check for signs of trouble.

The part that 12Ounce listed a few posts above checks out at Y2KFord and Genuine Ford Parts and it's around $25 plus shipping. So if you plan to keep your van I would recommend you get this part and the Bypass tube for when the time comes instead of having to pay much more at the local parts dealer.

Does anybody have the Bypass tube part number? I would like to get it since the one on my van gotta be getting close to blowing up by the look of things.

[12Ounce]

Are you referring to XF2Z-8548-AA (KM-4386)?

All in all, I think we would be better off not flushing and fooling with the radiator coolant so much. I know I'm not in the mainstream here ... but I don't have any system corrosion either! I have 250k miles on my vehicle ... and except for when a hose popped off at about 60k miles ... the coolant is still "original" mostly. I do believe in testing the coolant and keeping it rich in anti-freeze (-55 deg F) ... and occassionally dump in a pinch of baking soda to keep the acid at bay.

I admit the coolant is beginning to look pretty awful ... but still effective. I may break down and do a dump and refill this spring ... nothing fancy ... just want it to look prettier.

[wiswind]

I switched my '96 over from green to G-05, just dump and fill...no flush, no chemicals.
I like to keep some Barr's Stop leak in there.....the tablets are best....and if you can put them into the bottom radiator hose....that is best.
Otherwise....put the tablets into some water to break them down...and once you drain the system....poor in the stuff from the tablets with the first fluid you put in.
So that you don't have it all sitting below the radiator cap.....to be pushed into the overflow bottle as the coolant expands as it warms......before it has a chance to circulate through the system.

When I was trying to look up that pipe last night (without luck), I found that the 1996 - 2003 3.8L windstar uses the SAME water pump.

Knock on wood....my original water pump is still going....in my '96 at over 207K miles.

[Ed_Strong]

Originally Posted by 12Ounce

Are you referring to XF2Z-8548-AA (KM-4386)?

Yeah that's it... thanks. It's priced lowest at Y2KFord!

Item Number .... MSRP ..... Core Price ... Price
XF2Z8548AA .... $59.44 ... ..... $0.00 .... $30.76

TUBE ASY - WATER BYP

That's just the part without shipping added of course.

[Grabber5.0]

Originally Posted by Ed_Strong

Just remove the cowl for easy access and it can be done!

I did remove the fresh air Intake Duct for the cabin, it's the big oval plastic shroud that sits right behind the PS Pump. All you need is to remove 2 nuts, one on top one on bottom (12" extension and a deep 7/16 socket) and a small vaccum hose that connects to it on top. Takes less than 5 mins to do and I feel is well worht it considering the amount of room you get!
Especially for the removal of the heater hose which sits behind the engine.

The "Y" Pipe is held on in place by 2 (10mm) screws, one on top of the Water Pump and the other on top of the PS Pump which is hard to see.
In my case, hoses that go into the "Y" Pipe were very easy to remove as I thought they were going to be caked on by the heat, age and presence of rust!

The only thing that gave me a hard time was the removal of the "Y" Pipe from the Water Pump. It was caked on and there's not much room to wiggle it or pull it out. So I used standard plyers to rotate and break it free (maybe 1/4 inch to each direction as there's little room for play) and a small 6 to 8 inch pry bar to the flangethat attaches it to the Water Pump to force it out while wiggling, time consuming, but it did the trick.

As a precaution I removed the serpentine belt and the connector for the cam synchronizer which sits right behind the water pump to give me more room to play and to avoid any further damages to both any of those parts and my knuckles.

All in all, it was fairly easy and even tho i took my time and went slow and carefull it took me about 1½ hours to remove and less than 1 hour to put it back together.

Thanks. That doesn't sound like anything I can't do. Now if I can convince my wife to wait a little longer instead of having to get the part from the dealer. I don't know why I let new cars intimidate me. Old cars are just so much simpler, so much less to go wrong. I guess I just don't like to jump into something new without seeing someone else do it first or help guide me through it. I just found this forum, and reading it has been pretty encouraging.

[12Ounce]

I bought the parts at a Ford dealership ... and got prices similar to what's written here, IIRC.

[Erikx]

Hello I am new to these forums and have a few questions. First I own a 2000 windstar and have recently had a coolant leak which 3 shops i have been to could not find where it is leaking from. I first to it to a monroe shop where they supposedly performed a leak test with dye and told me that it was my coolant temp sensor leaking at the threads....ok i said go ahead and fix it. after the repair they cal me and said we have a second leak. Well i told him ilooked at the entire engine bay prior to bringing it in and i never noticed a leak at the sensor location. and now you say i have a 2nd leak elswhere?. in fear of getting ripped off further i asked what the leak could be now...he said it is most likley a head gasket which they could fix for around 1200.00 bucks or a lower intake gasket for arounf 400-500 dollors. I said no way and left and took it to a local pep boys...pep boys said they never really heard of a temp sensor leaking but they needed to do a leak pressure test themselves.....for 40 dollors....now mind you i spent 89.00 for the sensor and coolant flush now im spending 40 just on a leak test....after about 2 hours in pep boys they say i have no leaks what so ever.....i think great and leave the next day im driving and it starts leaking fluid in the same spot ( between tranny and oil pan). I then take it to a different shop and they cant see where it is leaking but it is leaking and tell me same thing head gasket or lower intake. ( by the way pressure tests all read at the time no loss of pressure????) Yet i have no check enging light on and temp gauge never goes above normal although i lost heat for about 1/2 hour today then heat came on.

After researching these forums and sites on the net things are pointing to the bypas tube under the upper intake manifold. I am all ready to perform this task when i see this post with a pic of the "Y" tube....my question here is that does not look like the tube under my upper intake...is that a different tube on my 3.8l or is it in another location on my engine as if it is maybe that is the tube with the leak? And can i check that "y" tube without opening the upper intake?


Also to note I do not have any visible coolant or any of that white milky residue in my oil or under my oil cap and no white smoke comming from my exaust.