It's been awhile since I have removed the heater core hoses from my 96 vq30de (no mods). I have the image from the fsm on the cooling system routing. I have searched the org and other websites but can't seem to get a clear answer on which hose goes where. Is "from heater" coming from the upper or lower portion of the heater core and which pipe does it go into? The pipe that turns to the front of the engine heading towards the water pump? Or the other pipe with a smaller on on top of it that leads towards the TB? That's all I need to know to be finished with putting this headache back together after replacing the head gaskets WHILE the engine stayed in the car. Any help with this would be fantastic

 

it really doesnt matter. i've seen folks switching the hoses around, without any negative effects

 

Really? With no negative effects? I guess it wouldn't matter too much as long as the coolant gets where it needs to the flow of it would have a huge effect at all. I did find that the bottom is the inlet and to is the outlet though from some website I found. None the less I have them hooked up now. I went to install the battery but got a massive spark when I connected the ground cable. After searching for pics on how the alternator and starter are connected I see I'm missing that black plastic piece that sits under the locking nut on the alternator. I think that may have caused the spark I'm not sure. My 120a fuse link for the battery is toast and so is the neg battery terminal thinga ma bob that connects to the neg terminal where I attach the neg cable. I'm going to look around for that piece for the alternator, hopefully that will solve the problem. Thanks for your reply, greatly appreciated.