Radiator Hose Replacement?

[BobW]

In the past I would routinely change my radiator hoses every couple of years as part of preventative maintenance. Now with the 150K change interval on the Dex-Cool I'm wondering what to do.

Change the hoses and catch and replace the fluid. OR assume they included 150K hoses ;o)and do nothing OR buy a spare set to carry.

And, have you seen the prices on those hoses $19 and $48 (!) - and those are the GMPartsDirect prices. Stealer prices are doulble that! Buying a set to carry around while the rubber deteriorates makes me kinda choke.

What do YOU do?

[FirstDiesel]

Of course I'm going to jinx myself here but I haven't had a hose blow out in years. I changed from replacing hoses every few years to replacing them only if the looked like they were bad or I was doing other work and had the radiator drained.

I would go as long as you want to go on the coolant and then do everything at once.

JMHO

[dmaxalliTech]

Its very rare these days to find someone come in and want there hoses changed as maint. I have to agree with firstdiesel, wait until they look questionable, then spring for the change. I personally would NOT let dex-cool go for anywhere near the 150k life expectancy. I dont think I would go much past 75k with it. I have seen it create some nasty problems when its gets old. I have seen a coolant filter kit on LUBESPECIALIST.com web site, dont know much about it, but it may help keep cooling system in good shape. I may try and found out more info on it

[BradL]

I'm about to replace hoses and change DexCool on my '01 with 81,000+ on the clock and nearing 5 years old.

My question is: do I need a special tool to remove and re-install the spring clamps on the hoses? Or will vise grips/channel locks work okay?

I received the hoses from gmpartsdirect last nite and was pleased to see that the hoses came with all new clamps.

[Jim Brzozowski]

BobW, I choose to not wait for 5 years on that dex-cool. I've seen several guys having their thermostate housings replaced and hose connections corroding and leaking on some of the older trucks. I can't remember the numbers, but the PH has to be within a certain range and too much accidity can eat away at things in the cooling system. I've already changed mine out after 2 years and will probably continue to do that just to be safe. As far as hoses, I've run hoses for 10 years before just to see how long one would run. I doubt you need to be concerned about the hoses for at least 5 years, but I wouldn't recommend leaving the coolant in that long.

[AB_DURAMAX]

When you guys are replacing the coolant, are you looking at the time in years or the millage as the indicator?? I am in a situation with very little millage (22,000 miles) but the truck is coming up on 5 years old. When should I replace the coolant??

[BradL]

I replaced hoses and coolant over the weekend, and '01 hoses generally looked good. I had only two areas of concern - the lower radiator hose felt a little soft in the elbow right out of the radiator, and the surge tank inlet had a 1/16" exterior cut in it where it was rubbing against an edge on the fan shroud. These new hoses seemed to have an overall better fit than the '01 originals - the lower radiator hose was not as long going over the radiator outlet neck so that it didn't make as sharp a bend going by the intercooler hose, and the upper hose fit better as well.

The dexcool looked good as well - just a little dull in color compared to the new dexcool. As far as I could tell I had no gunk/deposits in the coolant.