I'm at 61k miles and need to swap belts and hoses. Anyone have experience and tips/ techniques for swapping out the heater hoses? The clearances look very tight, so I'm expecting it to be a pain and knuckle buster. Was curious if anyone used any special tools, etc. Also, from the diagram in the FSM it looks like there are 4-5 hoses if I do all of them which maps to what I'm seeing on sites like Rockauto....any preference in brands? Any thoughts/experience would be appreciated.

 

gates belts and hoses

 

Thanks...I know they make good products. How bad are the heater hoses to swap out?

 

I understand replacing belts at 60,000 miles, but I've never replaced heater hoses on any car less than 10 years old. Is it really worth the effort, time, and money? It certainly does not hurt anything.....but.

 

61k is premature for hoses typically. Up to the 80's, yes. Now, not so much.

 

I've never really heard of preventive hose replacement.

I have a '94 Trans Am that has all the original hoses

 

+1 on NOT changing the heater hoses. They're a B**** to get to and there's no real benefit to replacing them at 61K.

 

The oem lower radiator "spring-style" hose clamp gave up on our '05 around 65k, let air into the system, overheated, caused minor havoc. I took the opportunity to do silicone hoses and REAL hose clamps all around. Toughest part for the mechanic (beyond my skill level) was purging the air out of the system.

 

I may just do radiator hoses now and delay the heater hoses based on the consensus here!

 

Orly? What exactly is a real hose clamp? Worm gear? T-bolt?

 

Be careful w/ silicone hoses not to stress/crack the radiator fittings. Often these hoses are thicker and result in more force/torque to install. Use lube also to mitigate.

 

Yeah, worm gear style. I only said it that way 'cause I was kinda upset...

 

Thing is, those crimp clamps are pretty uniformly wrapped around the hose, whereas worm gear and t-bolts present the opportunity to over-torque, which can be a problem on the radiator side, where the tubes are plastic.

BTW, I learned that the hard way. I'm not proud.

 

I believe you, thanks for sharing. Hopefully the guys who did the work knew that too...

And I imagine the spring clamps are totally fine but they don't look very robust. Certainly easy for assembly... Then they are put through the coolant temperature cycle over and over again. The new clamps at least feel like an upgrade, but what do I know? (Nothing, that's what.)

 

Having replaced many radiator clamps on Nissan street and race cars over the years, it's clear that spring clamps can do the job very well. While they don't appear as robust as fancy stainless worm gear or T-bolt clamps, they can be engineered to provide sufficient torque- no more, no less.

As you say, they are easy to assemble, but more importantly the spring clamps are consistent and robust devices. Even on the priceist of race motors, spring clamps can do the job just as well as more expensive clamps if properly sized and spec'd.