Hi all,

I have discovered last night that my top heater hose (going into the firewall from the engine) is leaking due to a hairline crack. It leaks intermittently. This is bad as it drips coolant onto the exhaust and makes a foul smell.

Anyway, I have purchased both the top and bottom heater hoses ready for the change.

The question is, can this be done without emptying the coolant everywhere onto everything? Obviously I would do this job with the car engine cold. And how much of a pain in the arse is it to do? Any tips or tricks to assist?

Gotta do this this arvo preferably as I need the car for a drive to the sunny coast.

Mike

you will always lose some coolant when changing hoses. since the hoses are fairly high up i dont think you would lose too much.
the heater core pipes can be squished if you are too aggressive taking the hoses off, so since you are replacing them , cut them lengthways with a sharp knife to make them split easier and remove.

park the car facing down a hill, and be careful with the lips, sometimes a bit of oil on the connection helps if there is any corrosion and it is hard to get the new hose on.

Gold people!!

Keep it coming.

Mike

Oil isn't great as a lubricant in this case because it degrades rubber and too much can cause it to leak to as can using rubber grease and whatnot.

Old trick? Spray some windex on it and it'll slip right on.

99.9% sure that the rubber used for this application will be fine for use with a bit of singer oil, or even a tiny bit of fresh engine oil. but you never know ay, i have always used a bit of singer oil on my car (never use wd40 though)

a really good trick, like the windex, is hair spray. because it slips on easily, but then sets like a semi adhesive for a better seal.

99.9% sure that the rubber used for this application will be fine for use with a bit of singer oil, or even a tiny bit of fresh engine oil. but you never know ay, i have always used a bit of singer oil on my car (never use wd40 though)

a really good trick, like the windex, is hair spray. because it slips on easily, but then sets like a semi adhesive for a better seal.

Yeah I know what you mean. We had a big recall at Holden thats currently ongoing regarding replacing the TX valve seals on the A/C system because the rubber seals had been lubricated with mineral oil and were perishing, so we know it does happen in certain cases. Better safe than sorry and all that.

That hairspray idea is cool though.

Ok job done. Cheers for the help guys. I replaced both the top and bottom hose out of prudence. It was a properly crap to do job.

But necessary so we cannot win them all.

Mike