Water Hose Replacement Protocol

[Stratosurfer]

All,
Bypass line in the Burb began leaking (pinhole leak)and when my mech changed it out I asked him to look at all of the hoses. All hoses and T-stats appeared to be original. He said some had gotten soft and with the vehicle at 125K miles and nearly 11 years on the road we agreed replacing all the hoses was the safest bet. We have many long distance trips planned this summer (at $4.15 a gallon-yikes!).
My bill for all hoses replaced except those going to the rear heater core, which is disconnected awaiting a new heater core in the fall (RR tire blew and belt went hard into the connections) was $725.00: This included a new serpentine belt and 2 T-stats, new DEX-COOL as well and all labor. This seemed a little high so my question is this: As these trucks age, when one hose leaks should they all be replaced?? I know I did the safe thing, but was I -overly- cautious.
I ask all this for my 97 Tahoe has only 60,000 miles but is now approaching 12 years old with all orig hoses and T-Stats as well.

[JFerg65]

I think that makes $4.15 a gallon diesel sound like good deal!!! Ouch!

I think you did the right thing if everything was original. You then get into that proverbial can or worms, once you get everything drained. It turns into a big case of the "Why nots?" Why not change this, why not change this and on and on. I do that all the time.

I would rather be down in the shop getting parts changed instead of on the side of the road with my family.

[Hubert]

Yeah, its hard to stop the "bleeding" (while I am here might as well replace this and that too). I try and replace stuff that the labor for going back in is much more than the part. With a close second or same priority if its critical and potential costly catastrophic failure next if its a hard part or one you wouldn't trust most shops for fixing then do while you are there or by someone you trust. The rest is don't fix it unless its broke.

Hoses and soft parts are hard to judge near the end for max life and running til just before failure . My thoughts if questionable I might have replaced the lower hose and heater hoses but to minimize cost I might have kept the upper radiator hose as its easy to check and readily accessible so I would keep a close eye on it at oil checks etc and make the call as necessary.

Thats the price to pay for a 7+ yr old truck and why you have to be careful paying top dollar for an older used vehicle. If you drive enough to worry about it you will always have EITHER a truck payment OR a maintenance payment take your pick.

Its just like the ole adage

You can get most anything fast, cheap, or good. Pick any 2 you want.

[rustyk]

It's much easier to deal with hoses in a repair shop than alongside a road soemwhere in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone service...

[Robyn]

I agree with Rusty 100%

When the coolant is out the hoses are a snap to replace and doing most if not all of them is smart.

Another good thing to look at is the quick connector on the water crossover pipe.
This is where the heater feeds off of.

These little devils rot out from the inside and you cant see when they are about to go away.

Most generally when one goes to remove them they break off in the crossover and require some surgical skills to remove them.

Warning*** easy outs generally dont do anything more than make a mess.

The trick is to cut the offending little creature in two and remove the two halves from the threads with a capeing chissel.

Its like dental work almost.

Once the beast is removed the threads can be chased with a tap and a new unit installed.

Napa and others sell a steel unit that will not break off and replaces the Oem unit exactly.


Best

Robyn

[rustyk]

Lower hoses are more critical because they're on the suction side of the water pump, and are subject to collapse; the upper hoses are the converse - and imminent failure hides itself.

To add to what Robyn mentioned about the rascally little fittings, use a good sealant (I use NAPA's Aircraft Sealant - stays pliable, doesn't leak, and a small bottle is a lifetime supply - unless, like me one uses it for many other applications). It's like Permatex #2 on steroids...

[97-6.5TD-F]

My 97 has 232000 miles and has all original hoses. I just rebuilt the engine last year and checked them all, and reinstalled them all!

[Stratosurfer]

My 97 has 232000 miles and has all original hoses. I just rebuilt the engine last year and checked them all, and reinstalled them all!

I will throw it out for conjecture as I have on other similar issues: PMD coolers etc: I am 'Lattitudinally Challenged' being here in Central Texas. I can only surmise that hoses live a shorter life span enduring so many heat-soak cycles on shut-down. Yesterday, May 10th 2008 it topped 98F here. Days like this I have recorded underhood temps of around 180F FOUR HOURS AFTER shutdown when I was struggling with where to put my PMD cooler.
I just can't imagine those high heat situations nearly as often in Alberta Canada and wonder if what 97 is saying can't be true along with what my mechanic told me to be true as well.
The climate difference and the degradation of the hoses in these radically different climate zones I suppose has to be radically different. Nonetheless 97 you are a pro mechanic and certainly trust your own skills; I am a layman trying to figure all this out! But I have to believe the considerably higher heat environment I live in, particularly the heat soak on shutdown must drastically reduce the lives of these coolant hoses against a much more temperate climate.
Texas is 'God's Country' to me, but it does have it's disadvantages as well...

[Robyn]

The hoses generally can fool you.
The rubber outside can be nice and soft and look great. The inner fabric cord the reinforces the hose and makes it possible to hold pressure degrades over time and with the myriad duty cycles.
The chemicals in the antifreeze along with any other stuff that finds its way into the coolant, can, over time seep through tiny inner leaks into the cord, causing the material to break down.

With anything over 3 years and 100K on the clock I would definately replace the hoses.

Hoses are like electronic components in some ways as you cant see many defects until they quit.

Heat kills hoses and belts.

The small cost and time required to replace these is so much easier to deal with than a failure out on the road.

Many times a hose can fail and you dont know it until damage has been done.

IF the low water sensors works right and the light comes on you can usually shut down in time to save catastrophic damage but its still a PITA out on the road.

The lower hose as Rusty mentioned is under suction when the engine is running, BUTTTTTTTT, has a coiled spring in it to prevent collapse.

Heater hoses, bypass hoses and upper radiator hoses are the ones most common to fail.

When I rebuilt the 94 Burb a while back I tossed every hose under the hood on the burb pile including the feed hose from the fill tank to the lower hose. I also replaced the fill tank too as the cap flange was starting to crack along the lip where the cap screws on.

IMHO, unless hoses are very new, they will tend to be somewhat cranky to get them to reseal after removal from the hose bibs, especially places like the water pump. (If the bib is an as cast part)

I hate breakdowns and when they happen far from home it can be a real nasty time.

Had a breakdown on my way to LA a few years back and had to spend a day or so in Yreka California.

Sadly, I knew what was wrong and the shop that was open would not listen to me and wasted $500 of my money to do nothing that needed doing.

The next day I was able to get the rig to a small shop up the street and the fellow asked me. "whats wrong with it" I told him and 20 minutes later I was back on the road and for only $140.

The Gasser Burb (454) had a bad trigger coil in the distributor and so we just replaced the distributor with one from the NAPA store up the street and poof, all good again.

Breakdowns on the road are inconvenient, time consuming and costly not to mention NO FUN

A stranger in town is easy picking for many shops. Some look quickly at the license plate and if its out of state they wring their hands in delight as they fleece you.

Just replace the hoses and be done with it.

Coolant does wear out too. Yessssss the additive package breaks down over time and the corosion inhibitors can go away leaving your radiator and heater core subject to corosion. The water pump can also be at risk.

In large trucks we check the stuff every so often with a test strip to make sure its good.

If your coolant is the original or old flush the block and system with clean water and refill with new green juice too.

The small cost of doing this little bit of preventive maintenance can save you a buttload out on the road.

There is nothing worse than having a vaction trip screwed up by a breakdown.

Years ago we rented a large motor home to take the inlaws on a family fishing trip across the state. We got about 300 miles out and the motor home quit and it was a nightmare to get the thing home.

Trip was ruined and vacation time was lost all because of a POS rental.

Never again.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Robyn

[97-6.5TD-F]

I agree with you 100%, it is a good idea to replace with any kind of age and miles. One thing that may have helped on my truck is that it had regular coolant flushes at 60k even when it had the dexcool in it, and I have been running twin air scoops on the hood since about 100k.

We also surely dont get many 100 degree days, maybe 3 or 4 mid summer, hahaha! But I cant count the number of -20 or colder days last winter :eek:.

[CareyWeber]

Of all of them I would never skip replacing the lower hose on my 97 it's amajor pain in the u know what to install. I think it would be a very bad situation to have to replce it on the side of the road.

When I swapped out my coolant at the 150K I replaced them. Now at 213K I plan to replace the lower one again.