Alfa GTV6 Rear Coolant Hose

 

There’s nothing like the mesmerizing sound of an Alfa Romeo GTV6 on the open road. When you’re behind the wheel, you never want to stop—especially for that dreaded "B" word: Breakdown! I’ve owned my GTV6 for 39 years, and it has been impressively reliable. 

Still, I've had a couple of close calls that almost left me stranded. One was an alternator failure. Fortunately, I made it to a friend's house and avoided being stuck. The first incident, though, was the rear coolant hose coming out of the left cylinder head, leading to the "T" fitting and feeding the heater core.  This burst, spewing coolant and a huge cloud of steam and ended an enjoyable drive. Luckily, I was able to splice the hose together and make it home, avoiding a huge tow bill or overheating and damaging my engine.

My advice to anyone who owns a GTV6 is to inspect and replace this hose before it leaves you stranded.

Alfa Romeo GTV6 Rear Coolant Hose

Can you see the rear coolant hose? In the picture, it is the hose located just to the right of the fuel inlet hose.  This rear coolant hose feeds the heater core and comes out of the left cylinder head and is buried in the valley between the two heads.  As you see, this hose is obscured by the intake plenum, the fuel inlet hose, and wires.

This hose is buried behind the engine and pressed against the firewall. It’s easily overlooked when inspecting your engine. As a result, it often becomes old, neglected, and frequently soaked in oil—making it prone to failure, possibly on your next drive.  

This hose is difficult to reach with the intake plenum installed; removing it may help. Once the plenum is off, you might as well inspect your intake pipe couplings. Note: A lot of coolant will leak out when removing this hose, so have plenty of rags around.  Ideally, you should drain a good portion of your anti-freeze out before removing this hose.  Don't forget to bleed your cooling system. The link at the end of this post on replacing the thermostat has tips on bleeding your cooling system.

The Alfa part number for this hose is 60701345. It’s a hard-to-find part, so check your preferred Alfa vendor, eBay, or bring the hose to match at a local parts store. The GTV6 alloy engine does not like overheating, so while you're at it, consider replacing all your hoses. The worst things you can do to a Busso engine are to not change the timing belt, run low on oil, or overheat it.

Alfa Romeo GTV6 Coolant Hose T Fitting

Inspect your "T" fitting. Mine had some corrosion.

So I soaked it in Evaporust.

Rust removed and ready for paint.

If you can't salvage your "T" fitting, the part number is 60533669.  Note that these fittings are subject to deterioration, and because they have two different hose sizes, they are not easy to find locally.  So it is a good idea to get one and have it in your spare parts stash before you need it.

Don’t forget the two thermostat bypass hoses up front behind the thermostat housing. These are also out of sight and frequently neglected. Read more about them here:

Alfa Romeo GTV6 Thermostat Replacement

Smooth sailing and happy motoring!

Disclaimer: 

This post is provided for informational and entertainment purposes. If you have any doubts about your ability to perform this work or have any issues, I recommend having it done by a professional. I am not responsible for any issues arising from your reading this post. Use at your own risk.