Heater HOSES: Fancy molded or bend-it-yourself bulk? Anti-chafe??

[fixizin]

Anyone ever replace their heater hoses on the 3.0? The forward ends get pretty curvy, with some tight radius bends... can this be done safely with bulk hose? Will the bends later collapse as the hose softens?

The OEM hoses appear to be pre-molded, and they're available... for a bend-over price. What's your real world experience?

Also, there's woven nylon sleeves at certain rub-points, to prevent chafing. Do they sell lengths of this stuff? Are there other anti-chafe options?

Thanks in advance, fix...

PS: These hoses are 5/8" I.D., right? And 3/8" I.D. for the ones that feed the upper intake manifold?

 

[fixizin]

Due to the tight bends required, I went with the Gates molded jobbers... #22468 for heater-to-engine (t-stat housing), #22469 for heater-to-WP (return line).

The Gates fit fine in the important crowded area behind the alternator, but the bastiges made the little 1/4" feeder hoses that serve the intake manifold about a half-inch too short... kinda pulls things a tad close to the oil-filler cap... maybe they'll relax and stretch over time...? Not sure the OEMs would be any better, and I wasn't going to spend 3x the $$ to find out.

Best deal by far on these is at www.bestvalueautoparts.com $21.50 each

I've seen 'em OVER $58 each! WTF?!?!

Another reason I went with the Gates--and abandoned my intention of doing it all in red EDPM or silicone hoses--is a lack of 5/8" to 1/4" reducing tees... looks like even the mighty Gates Corp. has the same problem as they just forced (or heat fit) the 1/4" line on a 3/8" tee, LOL!... hope that doesn't shorten its life.

Lower rad hose with bypass wye is the Gates #22351. This is the BIGGEST BUGGER, getting that 5/8" bypass hose on the bottom nipple of the t-stat housing from UNDERneath. Spit-lube helped tremendously... hope it doesn't shorten hose life, lol.

Upper rad hose went with Goodyear #62257. Perfect OEM fit, right down to the corrugated heat shield that allows it to lay right on top of the alternator.

Notes and nuances:

Fookin' alternator bracket is one thorn bush full of sharp edges caused by numerous casting sprues... Note to self: get cordless Dremel and DE-HORN that bitch.

Whole job made possible (or WAY easier) by the kluge-iest tool I've seen in a while, the "Ratcheting cable-drive hose-clamp plier"... people want $45-60+ for these, but the cooling system angels steered me to the right Advance Auto at the right time; they were blowing out an AmPro model for half price, $26... but it's been opened I say, perhaps even touched, lol... OK, $21... SOLD!

 

[fixizin]

SORRY to revive a 13-year-old thread, BUT... ah made a MAJOR $$ error in the klugey heater hose prices... must've been thinking of the RADIATOR hoses, 'cuz I just found Ye Olde 2008 receipts and those molded HEATER hoses were a whopping $32.99 EACH, or $66 (tax-free) in get-real terms...

This time 'round, got Continental brand instead of Gates, strangely, only $26.79 for the more curvy heater-core to WP (#62848), and $28.79 for the simpler engine-block to heater-core (#62847) from Rock Auto... so much for inflation.

Compared to the cost and hassle of either trusting a bunch of uni-coils to bend bulk hose, or sweat-soldering a bunch of copper jury-rigs with dubious "barb" holding power, plus add'l hose-clamps with fuh-duk'd tool access paths, I decided to punt and go with molded hoses... once again... but THIS time gonna swap 'em on or before 2031AD... lulz...

 

[DILLARD000]

Error correction on a 13yr old thread; that's either being a good example or anal! Good info in any case.
My preference is to use common standard\stock items were possible,
as long as it does not adversely effect function\reliability, so to increase availabilty of replacement if needed,
& tell the OEMs to shove their outrageous prices for unecessarily complicated over engineered parts.
Seeing current prices lower or little inflated from 10 or 15 years ago, is likely
due to being able to shop online & not being forced to buy at the local store.

 

[fixizin]

BUGGER all!... "side feeds" on the new Continental hoses even shorter (IIRC) than the 2008 Gates versions! Bloody hell, are you telling me that between molding the large 5/8 hose, and "welding" in that fancy Tee, that the place to save money is cutting the piddly 1/4" side hoses 1-2" short?... REALLY!?...

Duh Guilty Party (notice even the hose diameter and texture differs 'tween the 2 sides... ??)

... anyway, had a 1/4" ell I bought in 2008 "for just such an occasion"... short circuit, no more heated (cooled?) intake manifold. Unicoil hose bends looking better all the time.

 

[Dirtman]

Aftermarket hoses try to fit as many vehicles as possible so one part number may now fit 5 vehicles that were "close" instead of just one but doesn't fit any of them well...

I've found Dayco usually leaves things longer than needed though so you can trim them to fit instead of being too short and screwed...

 

[dvdswan]

I used these...

 

[fixizin]

Aftermarket hoses try to fit as many vehicles as possible so one part number may now fit 5 vehicles that were "close" instead of just one but doesn't fit any of them well...

I've found Dayco usually leaves things longer than needed though so you can trim them to fit instead of being too short and screwed...

Good point on "universality"... Dayco, seems they were "missing" from RockAuto for a while, now they're back... shoulda spent the few extra bucks... taken in by the Continental hotpants hotties (pit girls) again... durn...

Oh well, I'll worry about that Rube Goldberg manifold loop if I ever move north of The Arctic Circle

 

[fixizin]

CON-(job)-tinental, winging it...

... one heater hose seamless and smoooooth...

... the other one klugey and corrugated...

It's like they're TRYING to ruin my concours show ratings...

 

[fixizin]

OK, going forward, going to run "cool intake", but for now, whilst running FLUSH load, I stretched them a bit to flush out the manifold...

... bit of a hassle to add oil. Since the tiny 1/4" plastic ell I was using was actually weeping a bit, will be upgrading to this copper jury-rig, and since there's no "barbs", I'll just put TWO hose clamps on those long legs:

Just say NO to overpriced molded hoses... unless you have a "good excuse"... like me... lulz...