Lifespan of Radiator Hose

HRS · June 5, 2017

Hi All,

How is the lifespan of a radiator horse?

Thanks,

HRS.

Rumesh88 · June 5, 2017

A radiator hose is not a maintenance item, meaning it is not meant to be replaced after a number of running kms or so many years in use. Of course the hose material deteriorate and eventually you will have to replace it one day. Cracked ends, hose bulging, softness when squeezed etc are telltale signs that it needs replacement.

Davy · June 5, 2017

To add to Rumesh88's response, the lifetime of hoses depend on how well your cooling system is operating as well. For example, if the radiator cap doesn't allow for the proper controlling of pressure within the system, the excessive pressure build up might cause a hose to give way.

A few other reasons I can think of, that could shorten the lifetime of hoses are the use of substandard hose clamps, improper installation and using abrasive liquids (ex: kerosene) to clean the engine compartment.

But if all is well, hoses should last the lifetime of the vehicle.

Splat · June 9, 2017

Yes Davy you are right... kerosene is the main killer for all rubber parts and packing's also oil seals. And our local car wash and service lads use kerosene openly or in secret, diluting it with the recommended chemical (I don't know what its called).

Regarding the hose clamps there is a debating issue Screw band ( A ) or wire clamp ( B ). some say wire clamps cut the hose but originally Japanese vehicles come with wire clamps for the radiator hose???

Rumesh88 · June 9, 2017

@Splat Wire clamps are better than screw bands for this application as they provide an almost equal clamping force around the complete circumference of the hose because of overlapping of wires. Screw bands on the other hand has much less and uneven clamping force just under the screw.

Davy · June 9, 2017

What I've observed is that most new vehicles come with spring type hose clamps for radiator hoses. I think they're a brilliant design because:

- They're self-tightening. So lower chance of over-tightening and damaging hoses.

- They have a flat surface that comes into contact with the hose, so the pressure is evenly distributed

- Very easy to install and remove. Just a pair of needle nose pliers, squeeze and pull. Done!

- Durable. I am yet to see one of these things break or fail. The thread in the screw type clamps are known to split after you remove and re-install them a couple of times.

With these clamps however, you need to buy them matching the proper size. Because if you use a very small clamp on a hose that has a bigger diameter, the clamp will have to stretch further than it has been designed and might cause problems. Similarly, if you buy a larger clamp, it might not hold the hose in place properly.

Edited June 9, 2017 by Davy

Twin Turbo · June 11, 2017

I got a car with a leaky power steering pump which damaged the lower rad hose thus needing it to be replased.

TT.

Edited June 11, 2017 by Twin Turbo

Splat · June 12, 2017

Splendid, Rumesh88 and davy thanks for shearing your educational information. so "wire clamps" it is then.... :king2:

Hey Twin Turbo.... make a DIY post on the new hose replacement..... :yahoo:

Have a good day..

MrCat · June 13, 2017

Genuine hoses last a long time under normal operating conditions. I`ve had 10 year old cars with about 150k kms on the clock, with all the hoses untouched. I`ve also had a 20 year old car where the hoses ‘looked’ to be the factory items when I eventually replaced, again about 160k on the clock. But there is a massive difference in quality between Genuine or OEM hoses against cheap aftermarket crap (including cheap silicone replacement hoses).

I`ve used screw type clamps on all sizes of cooling system hoses and inter-cooler hoses without any issues. However, make sure to use band clamps with ‘Rolled Edges’, these don’t damage the hose.

The Stig · August 31, 2017

Guys need your input.
The car in question is a n16 facelift 2007 and it belongs to my father in law.
The car has had 2 hose failures in recent past on long distance journeys to katharagama and bandarawela. On katharagama it was the top radiator hose and on bandarawela it was a hose linked to the heater core and also had to replace head gasket on the second occasion. Yesterday also a hose linked to the ac core has gone while in Borella. Luckily hl no issue to the head gaskets.
I was wondering if there is any pressure buildup inside the water pump or radiator core that's causing this. Do we have any place that we can check the water pressure and blocks here in Sri lanka?

Davy · August 31, 2017

On 8/31/2017 at 6:13 AM, The Stig said:

Guys need your input.
The car in question is a n16 facelift 2007 and it belongs to my father in law.
The car has had 2 hose failures in recent past on long distance journeys to katharagama and bandarawela. On katharagama it was the top radiator hose and on bandarawela it was a hose linked to the heater core and also had to replace head gasket on the second occasion. Yesterday also a hose linked to the ac core has gone while in Borella. Luckily hl no issue to the head gaskets.
I was wondering if there is any pressure buildup inside the water pump or radiator core that's causing this. Do we have any place that we can check the water pressure and blocks here in Sri lanka?

Expand

Does the car have an aftermarket or different radiator cap? Using a cap with a higher pressure rating than stock can cause the cooling system to over pressurise and cause hoses to pop.

The Stig · August 31, 2017

On 8/31/2017 at 10:00 AM, Davy said:
Does the car have an aftermarket or different radiator cap? Using a cap with a higher pressure rating than stock can cause the cooling system to over pressurise and cause hoses to pop.

I have to check that , thanks.
Also I noticed that even the newly replaced hoses are inflated (greasemonkey term - hose thambenawa)

gNaveendra · August 31, 2017

On 8/31/2017 at 10:00 AM, Davy said:

Does the car have an aftermarket or different radiator cap? Using a cap with a higher pressure rating than stock can cause the cooling system to over pressurise and cause hoses to pop.

Expand

Point!
The break point pressure before overflowing to the coolant reservoir is raised when using higher PSI or wrong aftermarket caps. This might allow elevated pressure in the coolant system that could have caused the hoses to pop.

On 8/31/2017 at 10:03 AM, The Stig said:

I have to check that , thanks.
Also I noticed that even the newly replaced hoses are inflated (greasemonkey term - hose thambenawa)

Expand

Better!

Edited August 31, 2017 by gNaveendra

Davy · September 1, 2017

On 8/31/2017 at 10:03 AM, The Stig said:

I have to check that , thanks.
Also I noticed that even the newly replaced hoses are inflated (greasemonkey term - hose thambenawa)

Expand

Check the cap first. If you can, when the engine is cold, carefully take the cap out and check if the pressure valve (it's a simple spring loaded valve) works properly. Compress it between your fingers to make sure it's not stuck.

Does the car run hotter than normal?

The Stig · September 1, 2017

On 9/1/2017 at 3:54 AM, Davy said:
Check the cap first. If you can, when the engine is cold, carefully take the cap out and check if the pressure valve (it's a simple spring loaded valve) works properly. Compress it between your fingers to make sure it's not stuck.
Does the car run hotter than normal?

I didn't check the cap recently but it was compressing fine. The car doesn't run hot, always midway mark unless it blows a hose.

Also I checked on the cap and I got to know that the entire radiator was replaced with a recon unit around 1.5 years ago. The car still has the cap that was on the recon unit.

Also I got to know the cause for the 2nd hose failure was a blown Atf cooler tank inside the radiator which probably released Atf into the cooling lines.
The Atf cooler tank was replaced and the entire rediator has been cleaned while it was dismantled.

Sorry if the story is comming in bits and pieces, since it's my father in laws car I don't know the exact history.

Do you know if there any machinery like compression testers to test for any blocks in the system?

Twin Turbo · September 1, 2017

Not forgetting the cooling fans. make sure they are working and at the right speed.

Edited September 1, 2017 by Twin Turbo

Davy · September 4, 2017

On 9/1/2017 at 4:24 AM, The Stig said:

I didn't check the cap recently but it was compressing fine. The car doesn't run hot, always midway mark unless it blows a hose.

Also I checked on the cap and I got to know that the entire radiator was replaced with a recon unit around 1.5 years ago. The car still has the cap that was on the recon unit.

Also I got to know the cause for the 2nd hose failure was a blown Atf cooler tank inside the radiator which probably released Atf into the cooling lines.
The Atf cooler tank was replaced and the entire rediator has been cleaned while it was dismantled.

Sorry if the story is comming in bits and pieces, since it's my father in laws car I don't know the exact history.

Do you know if there any machinery like compression testers to test for any blocks in the system?

Expand

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare. So the ATF line leaked on the newly replaced recon radiator? If the original radiator is lying around, use the cap from that instead of the one that came with the recon radiator.

There are pressure testers for cooling systems and they consist of a simple pressure gauge, a hose an adaptor to fit onto the expansion tank cap or overflow line of the radiator. Using that, the system can be pressurised (some require the engine to be kept running while some kits come with a pump) and observe the pressure gauge. On a properly working system, the pressure should be stable at the value printed on the radiator cap. If it drops before that, then there is a leak somewhere, if it goes beyond the rating, then the cap is busted. I'm not exactly sure which garages are equipped to do this in SL though.

Also, I hope ATF in the car was flushed out and changed after the leak. Coolant might have entered the ATF lines and made its way to the transmission. Not pretty.

The Stig · September 4, 2017

On 9/4/2017 at 12:20 AM, Davy said:
Sounds like a bit of a nightmare. [emoji4] So the ATF line leaked on the newly replaced recon radiator? If the original radiator is lying around, use the cap from that instead of the one that came with the recon radiator.
There are pressure testers for cooling systems and they consist of a simple pressure gauge, a hose an adaptor to fit onto the expansion tank cap or overflow line of the radiator. Using that, the system can be pressurised (some require the engine to be kept running while some kits come with a pump) and observe the pressure gauge. On a properly working system, the pressure should be stable at the value printed on the radiator cap. If it drops before that, then there is a leak somewhere, if it goes beyond the rating, then the cap is busted. I'm not exactly sure which garages are equipped to do this in SL though.
Also, I hope ATF in the car was flushed out and changed after the leak. Coolant might have entered the ATF lines and made its way to the transmission. Not pretty. [emoji20]

Actually the Atf cooling tank inside the radiator had busted. I guess due to the pressure the hose blew.
Well I wasn't there on the journey but I was told that they had to replace the head gasket in bandarawela and had to stay an additional day cause everything couldn't be done on time

So after the radiator cap theory I started meddling around. I filled the reserve tank to the top and revved the engine so that the heat would rise. The observation is that the reserve tank is overflowing properly so that means the cap is working fine right?

The Stig · October 19, 2017

Okay folks an update to the pressure problem.

So we went to a couple of radiator places and checked for blocks in the hoses and radiator and found none.

Unfortunately it seems most are not capable of detecting any pressure buildups inside the engine block.

The final conclusion we came to was that since the new head gasket that was put on wasn't original (due to unavailability at the time) and that was causing some pressure buildup inside. I will update the thread once the gasket is replaced.