DeTomaso Mailing List: July 99, Message #348

When I recently posed the collapsing hose riddle for the group several
individuals suggested that the hoses may have been connected backwards. When
I checked the routing of the hoses the top connector on the radiator was
connected to the pump inlet and the bottom connector was connected to the
return pipe from the pressure tank.

I understand the rationale of having the return water flow from the engine
going to the top of a radiator and the cooler water being drawn from the
bottom of the radiator to the pump. Obviously air would tend to raise to the
top of the radiator and gravity would assist the flow of the water towards
the pump sans air. In a conventional car with a front engine and tall
radiator the conventional routing of the hoses would also shorten the
distance between the pump and the engine.

However, the interesting aspect of all this is that the stock Pantera water
pipes are physically designed to connect the pump to the top connector on
the radiator and the return to the bottom connector. And both the Technical
Information manual and the subsequent TSB show the water being routed in
this manner. The question is: Would the vertical baffle used in the original
radiator dictate this routing?

The radiator that I am using is a Hall replacement. I assume that it has a
horizontal baffle but you can not tell from the outside of the tank. The two
connectors are only inches apart in the middle of the radiator so I would
suspect that the top connector is just above the bottom of the baffle for
the top section. The bottom connector is just under the baffle so it would
be at the top of the bottom section of the radiator. Therefore, I am not
sure that reversing the routing would have a significant impact, all other
things being equal. And the hoses align up now!

Forest - Still pondering where to stick his hose.