Water hose questions- '86 eta

[LateFan]

My son and I are replacing all the coolant hoses on our project eta. I bought the whole OEM hose kit from BluntTech, so we have all the correct hoses.

Digging around behind the head was kind of a bear, with no room to get onto the clamp screws. Got it all apart and found there was a lot more in there and no wonder it was so crowded.

Our question is, what are these extra fittings / valves in the lower heater hose, and can I re-install without them?

On the far right is the new OEM hose from the thermostat housing to the upper heater fitting on the firewall. On the far left is the new hose from the back of the head to the lower heater fitting on the firewall. In the center, someone has spliced into the upper heater hose, installed a T, which sends a small bypass hose to the aluminum valve / fitting on the lower heater hose.


The valve or fitting says Mahler, looks factory, and says "BMW 64.11" on the top line, "8391926" on the bottom line. On the opposite side, the arrows in this shot have "II / I" between them. If it's a heater control, there are no connections of any kind to it. The new hose is in the bottom of the pic - lower heater to back of head.






I plan to install the new hoses the way they came - one goes to the head, one goes to the thermostat housing.

Any reason I shouldn't? What are these extra pieces?

Thanks -

[jlevie]

That was from a recall that resulted from a heater core failure that dumped boiling coolant on the driver's legs. Of course if the driver had been paying attention and not allowed to car to overheat to the point of boiling the coolant, the core would have never failed.

I delete that because it can cause heater problems.

[SpecM]

yea, ditch that crap

[LateFan]

Thanks, guys, so nice people know all that!

All back together on the back of the engine. Man, those two hoses that attach at the back of the head and the top of the block are a real pain to access with more than two fingers, much less orient a clamp and access the screw! Patience & perseverance! And busted knuckles...

OK, now we're off to the front of the engine and radiator and water pump.

Thanks again -