Chrysler Repair: 1999 Chrysler T&C - coolant leak, plumbing supply company, coolant lines

Question
Hi Roland,
I have a 99 T&C that I love, however it 'lived' in Ohio for most of it's life and has a lot of rust.  My current problem was diagnosed as 'leaking and rusted out lines' that supply the rear heat/AC unit from the front heater core.

Firestone says it takes 5.1 hours of labor ($397.00) and lines are available ONLY from the dealer at $152 each.  There is no way to cap off the feed to the rear unit according to them.

Do you have ANY information on this type of repair and what it should cost?

Thanks

Answer
Hi Bill,
If the leak is in the water coolant lines there is certainly a simply way to close off that loop to the rear heater core. The Haynes manual shows the lines at the rear heater core to be rubber hoses with spring tension clamps holding them on the nipples of the core. So all you would need to do is get a couple of bolts or pieces of steel rod that have the same OD as ID of the hoses, cut into the hoses at a point forwart in the line of the leak area and  substitute the bolts/rods sections in the hoses and reclamp the hoses. I have done this sort of thing myself with a VW Jetta when the core went out and the cost/difficulty of replacing the core made it uneconomic.
If you want to do it elegantly, you can go to the nipples at the front connection of the supply hoses and see what the ID of the nipples to which the hose connects are. Then there is a rubber 'stopper' that you can buy vaious sizes of at a plumbing supply company for under $5 and merely insert them in the nipples, turn a wing nut and the stopper swells up under such compression to fill the opening and lock itself in place, rubber to metal interface, and these will easily withstand the pressure of the coolant system (about 20 psi) because they are used to cap off water lines at much higher pressures. So I would decline Firestone's offer and do it yourself.
If the leak also includes the A/C lines, then that is something that can be dealt with by an AC shop who can either repair the lines or cut and seal them for much less than Firestone is estimating. I would have the A/C shop do it because you will need to get a recharge of freon anyway so it would not be that much additional to shut off the circuit to the rear evaporator coil.
Roland
Roland