I have a ram van 3500 with overheating and coolant leak issues. I have already replaced the thermostat and water pump but still have leaks in the front from the engine compartment and from an outlet in front of the drivers side rear tire. Also when the vehicle reaches 210 degrees, steam comes out of roof heater vents in the back. If its my heater core can somebody help me figure out how to bypass the core just so I can return to work? Any help will be appreciated.

 

My knowledge is limited to the van that I have a 2002 1500 with a 5.9L, but I'll take a stab at it. Looking at the front of the engine bay on the passenger side you should see two hoses going into the front heater core, (5/9 dia. if I remember right). Follow those down, and you should see a T or Y pipe that connects 1 to another hose that goes to the back, the other to a vacuum operated valve. Those should be to your rear core. Connect the 2 hoses together so that the hoses going to the back are open, and the engine side is a closed loop. Hope this helps. As a general rule, providing the year engine, and whether or not your van is stock or a converson would probably get more responses from more knowledgeable folks. Good luck!

 

Bypassing the rear heater core will work. Unfortunately, this creates a path of low resistance will probably cause the hot water to bypass your front heater core as well.

Find the y connectors (or tee connectors) under the hood that come from the rear heater core. Remove and cap off the hoses that go to the rear heater core with plugs. These rubber caps arent that easy to find so most of us would probably just have to improvise something. The heater hose size on my 2000 van is 5/8th inch.

This is the type of cap that you want. I had to do a lot of searching just to find these but I found some caps that are similar on Ebay as well. Good luck!

http://www.northernfactory.com/SHOP_...VERFLOW/RW8060

 

Dorman sells the "T" (tee) at nearly every auto parts store. I've replaced mine already. The main company that makes this is called Eldon-James Manufacturing.

The tee is located just higher than the alternator and back some above the T-stat.

There are two sizes.
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_plastic-heater-hose-tee-1-2-x-1-2-x-1-2-inch-dorman--help_22147132-p

 

Thank you everyone. The fact that there were 2 cores was racking my brain. It appears I have a larger problem at hand as well. I'm still having coolant leaking out from the manifold that is under the a/c compressor. Unfortunately I am unable to fix that myself. But, again, thanks guys for the help.