I just picked up a super clean '93 Cherokee country with under 130k miles..
20 miles from purchase climbing a grade on the 15 I overheated. Under the hood I find the plastic heater hose control body had basically disintergraded.
I bypassed the controller and looped the hose back to the pump. I still had 250+ miles to drive home. I made it with no issues after the repair/mod.
Are there any heavy duty or brass heater control valves available out there. I'm not finding any.
It seems like a very important part to be made of plastic.
Thanks!

 

Eliminate it. Use the 97+ heater hoses.

 

The valve is vacuum operated with a vac line that comes from the heater controls. Make sure you cap the line off.

The valve was eliminated in '97 so it turns out to be not that important after all.

 

My heater control valve blew up when I replaced the heater hoses a couple years ago.
No problems at all to eliminate the valve.
AC operation seems uneffected by eliminating it.

 

X4, eliminate it and use 97+ hoses.

 

I would love to bypass the heater control valve. But which direction? There are 4 lines going in the assembly. Do we need a T anywhere? Or just 2 couplings?

 

Just two couplings, or buy the 97+ hoses. Plug the vac line that goes to the valve.

 

Is this right?

 

as long as the coolant flows and doesn't leak the heater core doesn't care which way it flows.

 

Yes.

 

I'd think you might get trapped air if the "in" hose was mounted on top, but the OP has it set up correctly.