what disconnect tool for 1999 Jeep Cherokee trans cooler lines?

I have one "quick" disconnect fitting that is keeping me from pulling the rad on my Heep...

I have tried the QD tool set that I already had, a Lisle brand one with the plastic tools... bought a similar looking set from Harbor Freight... bought a 3/8" "Powerbuilt" QD tool from Carquest... NONE OF THEM WORK! The problem appears to be that the line is 3/8" but none of the 3/8" tools have a large enough outside diameter to disengage the clips. (there are four fingers inside the female fitting... I can see a different but identical fitting, if that were the one I needed to get off I'd just finesse it with a small screwdriver, but the one that I really need to get off I have no clearance around it, the QD is right up against the radiator and the driver's side frame rail.) I tried shaving a little off the plastic of the Harbor Freight 1/2" tool to see if that would work but it is too flimsy to disengage the clips. I also tried wrapping the Powerbuilt tool with metal foil duct tape to increase its OD, but the fingers just peel the tape off.

If anyone has a tool that is known to work on these connectors, a mfgr. and model no. (and where you purchased it) would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise I'll just hacksaw the crimp off the line and use a hose clamp, ugly though that may be... I really want to avoid doing that though.

thanks

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel
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they are quick connect fittings, not quick DISconnect.

can you post a picture on the web of the location of the connector?

GW

Reply to
Geoff Welsh

or better yet, just replace your foil tape idea, with a strip cut from an aluminum soda can. GW

Reply to
Geoff Welsh

I know nothing about this but here are some comments found in a quick web search:

  1. As regards the Quick Disconnect: Cut the quick disconnect off. Get a brass male-to-male 3/8 adapter and 2 inches of 3/8 hose. Re-assemble with rubber hose and 3 hose clamps. The quick-disconnect is stupid, difficult to use and unnecessary. In other words: you can slip the rubber hose right over the copper tube coming from the radiator and secure with a hose clamp. However, once you cut the quick-disconnect out of the system, the hose will be about 2.5 inches short. Just add 2 inches of hose and the brass adapter (the half inch of length) and you are good to go.
  2. you should only cut it off if the quick disconnect gives you grief. Which it typically does. If it comes right apart....it will probably leak when reassembled. Then you will have to cut it off.
3.This is exactly how i spent my day today, after messing with the 'quick connect' for 4 hours, i reinstalled the new fitting back into the 'quick connect', put the trans into drive with parking brake on, and the fitting leaked. so tomorrow, i am cutting it off. 4.When I replaced my radiator about 3 months ago I ran into the same problem and made the job take an extra day ! I messed with the lines forever and just ended up breaking the nipple on the radiator off ! Just cut the line as close to the radiator as you can, cut the rubber and just use a hose clamp to put it back on the new one. Mine has yet to leak and it fits nice and tight.

There are a lot more in the vein.

Reply to
AMuzi

Now that right there is a statement of truth!

Maybe later, see below.

Well, since I was installing a new rad I called the shop and had one of the mechanics send me pics of the new rad (shop owner is my friend, I bought a new rad on his shop account and he's dropping it off to me this evening after work) looked like the new rad had the male end of the QD on it so I just hacksawed the one on the old rad in half, pulled the rad, and then I could turn the hose up so I could look in it... finagled the stub of the old male end out by wiggling the QD tool around while pulling on the stub with Channellocks.

No pics, because it started raining in the middle of this procedure, and since I don't have the new rad yet, it seemed like a splendid time for a beer break.

I'd still like to know how the (expletive deleted) to do this in the car without destroying anything, in case I have to someday.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

as you can see from my previous post, I did in fact get it off, but only by destroying the old radiator (it has plastic side tanks and the hard line does not have a fitting, it apparently is in a unit with the trans cooler and the whole mess is epoxied in place) which was no big deal, I was pulling it because the other side tank was leaking anyway.

If it does leak after reassembly, after spending as much time fighting with this stupid thing as the entire rest of the disassembly process, I will have no qualms whatsoever about hacksawing that (expletive deleted) thing apart and getting a new length of rubber. The rubber section is short enough it's not even worth splicing, I'll just cut both crimps off.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Aaaaand after a new thermostat, a new alternator, and a new radiator all wi thin two weeks, I'm bleeding the air out of the new rad and all of a sudden I have an ABS code...! It seems to be trying to make up for the last two years where all I did was fluids and a tuneup... and of course I don't hav e a scanner that will read ABS codes.

Reply to
N8N

within two weeks, I'm bleeding the air out of the new rad and all of a sudd en I have an ABS code...! It seems to be trying to make up for the last tw o years where all I did was fluids and a tuneup... and of course I don't h ave a scanner that will read ABS codes.

Google,,, Flare Wrenches

Reply to
JR

That works too! It's been my experience that the connector is usually just plain stuck, not that the release tool isn't working, and when you can't can't get to it easily, there's nothing wrong with cutting off something you are throwing away anyway.

GW

Reply to
Geoff Welsh

and for anyone who hasn't seen them, :

are nice to have.

one is 5/16, one is 3/8, and a fuel line connector is almost identical to a trans cooler line connector in many cases where a Quick Connect is used.

GW

Reply to
Geoff Welsh

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