Just a quick question here for everyone.

I'm putting the A/C back into my car but see a potential problem in the fact that a PO did away with the heatercore diverter valve and just ran a straight piece of hose from the core to the rad.

I REALLY don't want to reinstall the diverter valve because I see things like that as unnecessary clutter in the engine bay. I really don't see a manual shutoff valve purchased from a place likes lowes or home depot as being ghetto if installed properly. It would only be what, twice a year I'd have to pop the hood to turn it on/off?

My question is how did they hold up in the long run? Are they leak prone? Besides being seen as a ghetto alternative by some, are there any drawbacks/problems associated with them?

 

A quality valve as used in industrial apps will give no problems ;had one on mine for years

 

The factory valve turns off the hot water BEFORE it gets to the heater core, located inbetween the intake manifold and the core. Put your shutoff valve there, and leave the straight hose from the core to the rad as is.