asiandoood: WHAT IS THAT BIG BULGE?

Friday night after work, I heard something from under the car when I got home. I decided to check out what the noise was. Popped the hood and checked everything. Seemed okay, until I saw my upper radiator hose. See anything wrong?

Yeah....that cannot be good at all.... Look at the expansion of the hose before it reaches the radiator endtank. I was very fortunate to have caught this. The hoses were deteriorating from the inside out and is breaking down structurally. This causes the hose to expand and deform under pressure. With 150+ degree coolant flowing and cooling over the years, hoses needed to be replaced every 3-4 years or depending how much the motor is used. I've overlooked this part of maintenance and noticed that the hoses might of been factory hoses from the original vehicle.

I was very fortuante that the hose did not burst and explode when I was driving. It would of made a huge mess and probably ended the life of the motor itself.

On Sunday, I made a trip to VatoZone (Autozone) to pick up some replacement hoses and clamps. Almost shelled out about 100 bucks for Samco Hoses...but decided I didn't need them at the moment. The replacement hoses cost about 30 bucks.

First drained the radiator of all old coolant.

Took the radiator out and did a full flush to rid of any small dirt, soil or buildup that may have found its way inside.

Took the upper radiator hose out. The engine side was a pain in the ass to pull off. The old hose basically fused itself onto the head of the engine. I had to pry it off and use some of my super human strength to pull it off. The plastic bag was used to keep the remaining coolant off the block. (Preventing a mess).

Second task was to take the lower hose off. This one made a mess also as most of the coolant resides in the lower hose. Radiator side was easy...but just like the upper hose, the engine side that connects to the Thermostat housing was fused on. This part of the hose was even harder to get to as on the GSR motor, the part is near the already narrow area of the motor behind the head, next to the intake manifold. I hate the GSR manifold, it gets in the way of everything. To reach it better, I had to take the intake off to get to the housing.

After manhandling the lower hose, the new hose slid right on.

New clamps applied...

New upper hose applied along with clamps...

Once everything was clamped, it was time to refill the system with new coolant and bleed out all the air. Since my motor didn't come with a bleeder valve, I had to do it the long way.

Run the motor at idle with radiator cap off. Turn on heater and fan at full blast until motor reaches operating temperature. Wait for 2 radiator fan cycles to pass. By that time, most of the air should have escaped the system.