When to consider replacing radiator/heater hoses?

[Alex]

I remember about 15 years ago, I had a 12-13 year old Honda Prelude, burst the lower radiator hose at about 130k miles. Now I’ve got on 03 Element and 03 CRV at 145k, and 175k miles respectively. The radiator hoses still squeeze soft and look visually ok.

Does anyone ever change their hoses out as preventative maintenance?

Topic

[dreamer2355]

It usually depends on who you ask. Some people change them as preventive maintenance, others will change them when they show signs of deterioration.

[Alex]

What do you guys use to see if a hose has started to deteriorate? I’ve looked and squeezed. They always seem fine to me.:/

[stingray66]

when I ran the fleet dept At DHL we changed them out at 65,000 miles Some hose seem fine BUT with a truck running 12 hours a day 6 days a week we did NOT want to take any chances And yes I seen hoses last well over 100,000 miles BUT for something that is cheap you really don’t want to break down 2 AM

[Chris111179]

X2^^^,
I replace them if they show signs of cracks near the clamps or they are hard to squeeze.

[Alex]

So with 145k and 175k on my two cars, with the hoses visually looking and feeling okay, am I in the category of:

1) darn lucky they haven’t spilled coolant all over the place.
2) seen many cars go longer without having any problems.
Or
3) who knows? Some hoses are luckier than others.

A followup question: do you guys change out the heater hoses and reservoir hoses at the same time?

[Chris111179]

I would change them out as a set myself, I think your option 4) take good care if hoses and they last.

[Dave]

You can feel it. Feel the hose up and when you hit a soft spot, it’s almost like your finger will go through it.

Also check for cracks, corrosion, and anything that looks funny.

And then there’s time.

When one of my cars hit 150,000 miles (15 years old), the upper was starting to get soft at the thermostat housing. That’s when I went and bought all the hoses for my car: upper, lower and heater hoses.

I should have replaced the water pump at that time too because it went out 10,000 miles later.

But that’s me – if it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.

[Alex]

Well, thanks for mentioning the heater hoses.

On my 03 Honda CRV, the outlet heater hose, at it’s connection near the back of the engine – the rubber looks swollen and it’s a little wet in the area. I smell no coolant, and my reservoir is still full. Im presuming that the hose will probably burst sometime soon. Hopefully it will wait till this weekend!

So Im going from preventative maintenance, to necessary maintenance here…

Ive never replaced heater hoses before. Any tips?
1) I see ECTG use silicone spray on lots of rubber hoses. Seems like a good idea.
2) Do people prefer to pull off the hoses with a hose plier, or do you cut the tubes? or do you use radiator hose picks?
3) Should I drain the radiator and cooling system or should I just catch the spill from the tubes?
4) Any tips so not to break anything? Seems likethe connecting pipes are metal.
5) Any problem just does heater hoses and waiting on the radiator hoses till the summer or later date?
6) Do some people lubricate the new hoses with grease/silicone before installing? Bad idea?
Any other thoughts and tips?

[Author]

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