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Update on replacing 4 coolant hoses and process R&R Posted by bender [Email]  (#268)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from bender) on Sun, 5 Jun 2022 15:47:05
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After 21 years, I decided it was time to replace the remaining coolant hoses on my 2001 Viggen. Two throttle body hoses, the u-shaped hose and the lower rad hose. The other hoses had been replaced a few years back. Car is never winter driven and has less than 50k miles. The reason for doing this is preventative maintenance. I didn't want any leaks or surprises.
To my surprise however, the hoses were all in fine shape. Nothing wrong, as far as my eye can tell with any of them, even the lower radiator hose. I read that the lower radiator hose (SWEDECAR mentioned this) sees cold coolant and so doesn't really suffer as much wear. But, I'm glad I did it for the peace of mind. Still though...they looked fine!
During the process, I also replaced the thermostat. For this, I did NOT remove the upper radiator hose. It's not necessary. It can stay on the housing.
I did everything without moving anything out of the way. This made it harder I'm sure, and probably not recommended for all. It required a little over a couple days of work with breaks in between. But, I prefer not to move things out of the way unless I really need to.
All of the hoses have spring clamps and I needed to use the special tool with an extension chord to loosen them.
***Lower rad hose & u-shaped hose***: Very tight in here, but first I removed the top clamp of the U hose, then the top clamp of the upper part of the lower rad hose, then I removed it off of the water pump (requires really strong fingers and hands) to make room for the tool to remove the clamp off of the lower part of the U hose. With lots of strength and might, I pulled the U hose out. Then, I used the tool (again, quite tight in there) to loosen the spring clamp at the bottom of the lower rad hose.
TIP: I sprayed water on the hose (maybe even soapy water might be better, but water worked fine for me) so that I could maneuver the now-loosened clamp (while the tool is holding tension) away deeper onto the hose so it no longer clamps on the thing it clamps on. I then, with lots of cursing and focused determination and a little water, used my fingers to get the bottom part of the lower rad hose out. This is not easy. Fitting hands down there is tough, but doable (unless you have huge arms and hands).
Then, I put the new hose in boiling water to soften it, maneuvered it down there and replaced everything in reverse order. Not easy to get the clamps back on and just right. It took a lot of back and forth with the tool, and also to leave them in a way that is accessible next time.
***Throttle body hoses***: This looked easy, but fishing the new hoses was not at all easy. I needed a helper, sprayed water to stop some of the friction and had a really hard time figuring out how they go. Best to take a photo before removing them. To my amazement, I managed to figure it out. I had to loosen one of the vacuum hoses, which broke on me, but thankfully I had a replacement one (silicone).
TIP: if you do move the vacuum hose out of the way, be careful not to break the plastic nipple (not on the TB, but on the other end of the vacuum hose, near the brake fluid). Better to cut the hose with a sharp knife if to be replaced, NOT pull it off. Breaking that plastic nipple would be a nightmare.
Not much more to say here, just that it was really hard to get them fished properly. Getting them on the nipples was hard too. I used pliers, carefully (put tape on them to protect the hose from getting any damage) and pushed them on (also used some water here).
All in all, this job IS doable without removing anything at all, it's just hard, requires lots of time, determination, strength in ones hands/arms and...patience.
Good luck to anyone else doing this.
bender.
_______________________________________ bender 2001 9-3 Viggen Laser Red 5 door 44k miles 2000 9-3 SE Midnight Blue 5 door (Sold)
, Sun, 5 Jun 2022 15:47:05 <-- Viewing This Message
, Sun, 5 Jun 2022 16:29:31, Sun, 5 Jun 2022 17:29:00
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