Coolant Crossover Pipe Repair 5.0 V8

[ktm525]

I'm tackling the front cross-over pipe today. Just waiting for the engine to cool off.

Didn't you just get your timing chains done?

 

[ktm525]

Could be worse.

lol Yes, I guess it could.

 

[Blueaz]

I took my 2013 to the mechanic's shop yesterday afternoon after seeing a coolant leak. My crossover pipes were done long ago. Turns out it's a pinhole leak in the radiator. Should be good for about a $1500 hit.

 

[RoverTide]

@RoverTide their website says that the elbow doesn’t fit NA 5.0L motor and fits only the supercharged variants. it worked fine on yours without further modifications?

Correct. worked perfectly with zero modifications. The guy acknowledged he just needs to update the description on their website. As @Rover Range mentioned, its the same water pump.

 

[powershift]

Didn't you just get your timing chains done?

Yes and the water pump, t-stat plus other cooling parts. If I wanted the front cross over replaced, they were going to charge me labor to install all coolant parts that they were taking off to access the timing chain because of "their software" and the need to remove the intake manifold. I asked to remove the front cross over pipe and that I would buy it from them and that dropped the total cost by $760.

 

[ktm525]

Fair enough. Sucks you have to tear into a fresh repair.

 

[powershift]

doa

 

[powershift]

I'm trying to pull the front xover pipe and I'm hesitant about breaking the ******* off in the block. When I tug and pull, it doesn't budge. I tried a little pry action against that aluminum cooling fin device in the center of the block. Tried tugging from the front of the pipe where the hoses connect pulling up and side to side. Any tips for removing the front xover pipe?

Fair enough. Sucks you have to tear into a fresh repair.

True, but I found my front diff breather is missing and some of the brake fluid doesn't look like it was flushed out.

 

[powershift]

Suction was holding the pipe in. It came out.

 

[RoverTide]

Now that I have a few miles on this repair (and no leaks), I am going to do a complete flush of the cooling system. Need to get all of the yellow dye out of there. Can anyone recommend a good vacuum fill tool? I want to get one, but have heard some are good and some aren't, and I don't have any experience with them. Thanks in advance.

Edit: A little research has me settled on the OEM Tools 24444 vacuum filler. My plan is to attempt to drain the system entirely, before filling with fresh coolant using the procedure in this thread https://www.landroverworld.org/threads/2012-lr4-coolant-flush.43403/ . Any additional tips will be welcomed.