Which intake ports are coolant supplies and which are returns?
 

I scrapped my heater core a long time ago complete with all the tubes and hoses coming off the intake. After freezing my butt off all winter, I finally decided to try and put the system back on but I really dont want to reinstall that ugly nasty black tube on the top of the intake. I was wondering which ports I could use as a feed and which as a return so I can snake a nice hose in a low visiblity location to a new heater core.

I tried pulling hot air from the top of the headers but the cold air from outside cancelled it. I tried pulling hot air from atop the cats and running it through a small tube with a pc fan coming through the shifter plate. I finally tried a small cigarette lighter portable heater and that was completely and totally useless so it's back to old fasion heater core for me!

Could I place my transmission cooler in the cabin instead? How much airflow does a tranny cooler need to work on an AOD (with transgo kit and some kevlar band and I think someone ripped me off and sold me a stock TC)

Damn dude you live in Boston with no heater:eek:

If it was me I would just hook the heater core back up.

Does your carburated intake manifold not have the correct ports for the black metal lines or what?

The ports are all there but I am loathe to clutter up my super clean enginebay with the mass of hoses necessary to run the original setup. I was thinking to run exactly 2 hoses and tuck them away and run them quietly into the cabin (or use the tranny cooler)

The tranny cooler is an original idea for sure:D

But I would just try and do a clean install on the heater core. Use some steel braided hose or something to make it look good.

I'm in the same boat. Except that the port that was orginally used for my coolant inlet is now occupied by my temp sensor. Can I use any port on the intake?


-Josh, aka the tireburner

Well, I figure that the original OEM tranny cooler was pretty much, completely worthless since it is part of the scalding hot radiator assembly so I think it's more like a tranny heater. I conclude from this that....technically.... the transmission can work without a cooler so if by placing the cooler in the cabin, suspended right underneath the fresh air inlet where the old heater core assembly used to hook up (the one that goes to the cowl), I give it far less airflow, it shouldnt be any worse than the original setup. Plus I think there's plenty of air flowing through the cowl so that shouldnt be a problem.

I figure there's plenty enough components generating heat in the car without me piping coolant around.

....or maybe I just HAVE to be different ;)

Oh yeah, so which ports CAN we use as our esteemed colleague tireburner was asking and most importantly, which is the "return port"?

ALL of the intake ports are supply, the only return on the water system goes into the water pump. All of the hoses going into the pump are in, the part of the pump that goes onto the block is the out of the pump. The water goes through the block, up through the intake, either through the heater core, the bypass by the thermostat, or the thermostat housing through the radiator and back to the pump. So to remove your heater core you had to plug one of the returns on your water pump. Simply unplug it, and run out any place on the intake where you can screw a fitting in to a water jacket, through the heater core and back to the water pump.

Mr. Black is right...everything is a supply on the lower intake. The return is out the thermostat housing. There should be a plug in the back of the lower intake but I forget if it's driver's side or passenger...I would imagine you could find an AN fitting to fit that or an equivalent pipe thread or whatever it is...then run a hose off of that and a return back into another port on the lower intake.