Lower Radiator Hose Help

Burkeomatic

New member
Dec 2, 2019
5
0
1
San Antonio
I actually have a question about the lower radiator hose o-ring, and I am not sure where to put it. It looked like the other posts of the subject were in the smoke screen section, so here it is. I bought a dorman 926-160 o-ring, but with no matter how much force I exerted on it I couldn't get it to slip on to the radiator. I am 6'4" and 220, so I am not a small guy. I stuck my old ring back on and it is still leaking. Is there anyway that o-ring is too big? Was I just not lining it up exactly right? It seemed to have a hard time wiggling into that little groove where the o-ring is supposed to sit in the rad hose. Attached is a pic. The dorman part is considerably larger than the smaller one that came off the truck.
 

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DAVe3283

Heavy & Slow
Sep 3, 2009
3,670
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Boise, ID, USA
I didn't realize there was an o-ring on the LBZ+ lower hose, but apparently there is. Apparently, there were 2 sizes used, so you probably just bought the wrong size:
[YOUTUBE]2moBpvldRuk[/YOUTUBE]
 

Burkeomatic

New member
Dec 2, 2019
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0
1
San Antonio
I didn't realize there was an o-ring on the LBZ+ lower hose, but apparently there is. Apparently, there were 2 sizes used, so you probably just bought the wrong size:
[YOUTUBE]2moBpvldRuk[/YOUTUBE]

Thanks, I ordered the other size, but then I realized I had a water pump leak too. :mad:
 

Burkeomatic

New member
Dec 2, 2019
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San Antonio
Well, I got the correct sized ones in the mail finally. After I went all in on the whole new lower radiator hose. I can confirm that that dorman part is way too big. Not sure why it was listed for lbz trucks. I have them free of charge for san antonio residents. On a sad note. I found out about the upper bypass tube substitute for an injector ring too late. So I will be tearing all the crap back apart to install that little bastard after doing the water pump job. The water pump wasnt so hard as it was replacing all the stupid broken crap I found. I felt so defeated after all that work and having coolant piss out of that bypass tube after I wrangled all the cooling fan cage and associated garbage back in there.
 
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Bdsankey

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Feb 1, 2018
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Neenah, Wisconsin
Well, I got the correct sized ones in the mail finally. After I went all in on the whole new lower radiator hose. I can confirm that that dorman part is way too big. Not sure why it was listed for lbz trucks. I have them free of charge for san antonio residents. On a sad note. I found out about the upper bypass tube substitute for an injector ring too late. So I will be tearing all the crap back apart to install that little bastard after doing the water pump job. The water pump wasnt so hard as it was replacing all the stupid broken crap I found. I felt so defeated after all that work and having coolant piss out of that bypass tube after I wrangled all the cooling fan cage and associated garbage back in there.

On every water pump job I do, I make sure to start the truck before everything is 100% reassembled to save myself time in case I did snag an o-ring on the way in since all the required bits (water pump) are not belt driven. Obviously I'm not letting it run for a ton of time but a good 30 seconds to a minute with a battery charger hooked up for good measure seems to work well. This method has saved my ass a few times when I got in a rush.
 

zakkb787

<that’s not me...
Sep 29, 2014
2,340
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Granite Falls NC
Yeah that coolant fan cage was the first thing to go when I got mine. No way in hell im tangling with that crap if I ever throw a belt in the side of the road
 

Burkeomatic

New member
Dec 2, 2019
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0
1
San Antonio
I ended up purchasing an injector o ring that was the same size and lubed it up real good with some silicone plumbing grease and it went back together with no issues. It was a good bit of work for a stupid mistake. I usually do fill it up and run it a bit before all the stuff goes back on, I was just flustered and didnt think about it. I guess thats what I get. At this point I have pretty much re done the whole cooling system minus the heater core and upper rad hose, I think I should be good for a while.
 

TheBac

Why do I keep doing this?
Staff member
Apr 19, 2008
15,269
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Mid Michigan
I ended up purchasing an injector o ring that was the same size and lubed it up real good with some silicone plumbing grease and it went back together with no issues. It was a good bit of work for a stupid mistake. I usually do fill it up and run it a bit before all the stuff goes back on, I was just flustered and didnt think about it. I guess thats what I get. At this point I have pretty much re done the whole cooling system minus the heater core and upper rad hose, I think I should be good for a while.
Welcome to the club. :hehe:
 

VEfreak

Member
Oct 18, 2018
54
1
8
Yeah that coolant fan cage was the first thing to go when I got mine. No way in hell im tangling with that crap if I ever throw a belt in the side of the road

I’ve learned you just got to know what to take out to access those bolts. If you take out the intake and supporting brackets and the driver side fender well plus inter cooler pipe, it’s trivial to access the lower bolts. Removing all those things is quick and easy. And if you have an lbz it’s best to take the driver side fan shroud bracket off of the block if you need to access the water pump outlet nuts.