Leaking heater hose

[tsuintx]

My wife's Tahoe has started to drop about a palm sized puddle of coolant overnight.

Found nothing from radiator, but then noticed drops off the bellhousing and followed the trail upwards and ended up at heater hoses.

Looks like the one on the left is leaking from where it connects to heater core inside the firewall.

What am I looking at here as far as fixing it? I'm assuming the hose is replaceable somehow? As long as you can get your hands in there, of course... Or am I actually looking at heater core replacement?

One thing I'm a bit worried about is that it looks like there are hoses from the AC also connecting to it. So, if I remove the hose to replace it, am I going to lose freon and then have an issue with that, or...?

Just found the leak today, so haven't had much time to investigate it online yet, but any and all info is greatly appreciated.

 

[tsuintx]

After a bit of research, it looks like the connector is prone to failure, so guess I'll go ahead and get a new one of those and see what happens.

 

[tsuintx]

Maybe I missed something when I changed mine today, but that sure wasn't a 15 minute job like the dude in the video claimed it was...

 

[08HoeCD]

Yeah, these heater hose connectors are definitely prone to failure, just as any plastic part is that is constantly exposed to heat cycles. Wouldn't it be nice to have brass fittings instead.

Glad you got it done. Just accessing the connector well enough to disengage it is typically the hardest part. There's not a lot of wiggle room.

 

[tsuintx]

Wouldn't it be nice to have brass fittings instead.

Ain't that the truth! And what the hell is wrong with just using damn worm clamps???

 

[tsuintx]

One more thing for those who have to do this job at some point in the future: this GM quick connect release tool does not work on it. https://www.amazon.com/OTC-6046-Heater-Quick-Connect-Release/dp/B000F5HUTE

 

[08HoeCD]

I've seen people construct their own T-connectors using brass plumbing hardware and C-clamps and rubber hose sections. I did not go that route but now I kinda wish that I had---done right, this type of plumbing will probably never fail.

 

[tsuintx]

Same here. I probably should've also changed the other one that wasn't leaking, but oh well...

Once I realized what a PITA it was, I just wanted to get done with it.