I have a 2009 Dodge Journey SXT (FWD), and a couple of weeks ago, I noticed my coolant was leaking under the front passenger side and for 2 weeks I’ve added 1liter of Mopar 50/50 anti-freeze. The following week I brought it to my mechanic, and when the vehicle was raised, we saw that the leak was coming from the Y-shaped hose, it’s made of plastic (cheap and low quality); I think it connects to the engine then splits between front and back heater cores.

See attached: Image-1

I phoned dealership and asked for a quote, to my surprise, you have to buy the whole assembly, which is $245 before tax, oh boy! and then labor on top who knows how much my bill would be.

See attached: Image-2

So I showed the schematic to my mechanic and told him the price as well. He didn’t like the idea of replacing the whole assy as I would end up paying more, so he offered me an alternative solution. He said he’ll just cut the leaking part and will replace it with an aftermarket hose, and he’ll only charge me $150 for everything, so I agreed.
Leak is now fixed; I checked under the car and saw a white plastic hose in place of the original.
Do you guys foresee any shortcomings or problems I might be facing in the future with this alternative solution?
Thanks.

 

Kinda hard to say without knowing what type of material your mechanic replaced it with. I'd just keep an eye on it for awhile. I had a similar piece break on a Camaro I owned once. I just used a stainless steel "Y" fitting I had laying around and a couple hose clamps. Worked like a champ.

 

thanks jkeaton, yeah I should've asked him to use metal instead, it would probably last a lifetime.

 

I had that same part go bad. I did the work myself and it only cost me 20 bucks for the parts.That part from the dealer is a cheap plastic "T" for the heater lines going to the rear of the car. That "T" is MOLDED to the rubber hoses that run from the engine to metal lines under the car and then all the way back to the heater core in the rear, hence the extreme cost from the dealer.

As long as your mechanic used a good "T" fitting and heater hose, you should not have an issue for a long time. I have probably put around 25K+ on mine without any problems.

 

Any advice on where to get a t fitting that will match up? What size does it need to be. I'm having the same problem.

 

Dealer part.

 

The op stated that you had to order the while assembly from the dealer. I have read people were replacing them with plastic and even metal y fittings.

 

True, wonder if you could look the part up and get measurements that way.

 

So what did you hook the other line up to? If u only used a strait pipe

 

If it’s a Tee you are replacing, there are 3 lines that need to be connected. What did you do with the third line?