i removed the coolant restrictor thing on the heater hose beacuse it started to leak from the crimp. i replaced it with just some normal hose and clamped it all together and then up to the waterpump.

so far so good. temperatures *seem* to be a tad warmer than normal, but that might just because it was hotter when i got done in the afternoon than when i got started in the morning. heater still works, maybe not as hot as it used to be, but its still toasty. doesn't matter much to me, down here in florida we only need that thing for maybe a week and thats only in the morning.

so $5.75 in parts from discount auto to bypass that valve was worth it, much better than the $100+ price tag for the whole heater hose.

so for those who used "Search" and found this because your restrictor valve on your heater hose is leaking, go ahead and remove that sucker you won't break anything.