How often do you change hoses? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Scott98 · #1 09-21-2004, 09:25 AM

How often do you change the water carrying hoses on your diesel? I have asked two indys this question and both have said NEVER. I was shocked to hear this. I change my belts about every 60k and have thought about changing the hoses as a precautionary measure. I definitely don't want to wait until one breaks and risk losing my engine. But these guys both said German rubber is really good and there is no need to replace them unless one breaks. I've got 203k on my car and have owned it since 139k and have never replaced the hoses. I have no idea how old the ones on the car are.

What do you guys think?

Scott

kamil · #2 09-21-2004, 09:28 AM

My hoses looked pretty good but I am not sure when was the last time they were changed. As a matter of fact, I just placed an order for a lower and upper radiator hose yesterday. They only cost about 10 bucks each so I thought of it as cheap insurance. I travel about 500 miles a week with my car so spending a measly 20 dollars is way less than being stranded on the side of a highway with your car overheating. If you are questioning your hoses then I would definitely change them just for the sake of them being new.

tomm9298 · #3 09-21-2004, 11:04 AM

I ALWAYS change belts and hoses every 50k miles.....

rdanz · #4 09-21-2004, 11:09 AM

If it ain't broke don't fix it. Is a good practice to live by.

Hatterasguy · #5 09-21-2004, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdanz

If it ain't broke don't fix it. Is a good practice to live by.

Unless you have a 603, then a $10 hose can cost you a $2k head. Not to mention the lower hose on an SDL cost $90.
German hoses are very well made I would say everytime you change the belt for the upper it is ony a few bucks. But every 10 years or 100k miles for the rest.

#6 09-21-2004, 01:04 PM

25 or 30 years ago, changing coolant hoses on an annual basis was not a bad idea. The hoses that we have today, however, are VERY long lived. I don't know exactly what material they are now made of unless it is kryptonite.

These hoses will last years and years and years. That said, I still inspect them VERY closely on a regular basis. Look closely around the edge of the clamps. Also if they stop looking shiny, then I replace them.

Since when they do fail, it is almost always along the end at the edge of the clamp, they are very easy to repair well enough to get you home. Simply take off the clamp, trim off the end of the hose and stick it back in place and retighten the clamp. After that DON'T FORGET TO GET A NEW ONE!

As an earlier poster said, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." If, on the other hand, you are one who uses a topsider and never gets under the car to inspect things, then replacing them every few years might not be a bad idea.

Have a great day,

Scott98 · #7 09-21-2004, 01:23 PM

[QUOTE=LarryBible]

Since when they do fail, it is almost always along the end at the edge of the clamp, they are very easy to repair well enough to get you home. Simply take off the clamp, trim off the end of the hose and stick it back in place and retighten the clamp. After that DON'T FORGET TO GET A NEW ONE!
QUOTE]

I had that happen once on my Vette and did exactly that. The trick is knowing what happened and shutting off the engine before there's damage. But I guess if a radiator hose breaks, fluid will be spraying everywhere and you will see/smell it in time...or so you hope.

Scott

#8 09-21-2004, 02:28 PM

I simple carry a full set of spares with me in the car. I have had hose spring a leak on me on a road trip while pulling a trail, with the dog, the 7 month old, and not very impressed wife. I fixed it, Magiver style with electrical tape while in the parking lot of a walmart. The car was a 1991 range rover, which nobody in state of Texas seems to have a replacement hose for, but we were able to continue with our drive. Since then in all the cars, especially foreign, I started carring replacements hose, plugs, belts, tools, etc. Just in case.

dieseldiehard · #9 09-21-2004, 04:54 PM

My 300D hose story. Driving on a freeway at a high rate of speed, I smelled antifreeze, the sweet smell I associate with the stuff (I've had it in my face enough times to know!) and saw some steam on the windshield. I was just approaching an offramp and with one eye on the temp gauge I exited right into a gas station. I raised the hood and by this time there was steam a plenty, and coolant pissing out a stream from the heater hose, that "S" shaped hose that goes from the block to the firewall pipe for the heater supply, adjacent to the oil filter cannister. I loosened the rad cap and filled 'er up, then I drove (slowly) to an auto parts house nearby. No luck on an equivalent hose there but they sold me a foot of red rubber hose the right diameter or nearly so. I installed that and drove back some 20 miles, thankful that my wife wasn't driving the car!
Since then I heard of a case where a Jiffylube employee shut the lid of the filter cannister on said S-shaped hose and as a result the owner wound up with a engine that was toast and had to threaten to sue Jiffylube for a new engine, its a long story.
The moral of the story is a failure of a cheap hose can lead to an engine failure. I check that hose every time I change oil. I suspect that being "S" shaped, it has lots of bends and that cracking can occur if its old rubber. Also it gets a lot of flexing in order to clear the cannister lid, isn't that a bad place for an odd shaped hose?!

Now that I am thinking on this subject, I believe I'll go buy a spare to carry on my next cross-country trip

Dieseldiehard
1971 220 (gas) 4-spd manual 106441
1979 300TD w/ ’85 turbo engine 295530
1983 300D 243280
1985 300TD 217300
1987 300D 258230

dabenz · #10 09-21-2004, 09:54 PM

That's a good question. daBenz's last hoses went about 75K mi, and were all perfect when I changed them (all nine pieces!) and put the old pieces in the trunk for spares. The pieces that were in the trunk were also perfect and are now on a shelf in the shop. I think those were the original. So that's good rubber then. Now?

Scott98 · #11 09-24-2004, 12:10 PM

I just received a copy of the Mercedes Benz Automatic Climate Control diagnostic bulletin from JCD. The bulletin states "We recommend that you change your water hoses every 4 years or 35,000 to 40,000 miles. Statistically, the failure rate of hoses increases sharply after 4 years and the consequences of hose failure are simply not worth the risk."

I just thought I would put that out there for whatever its worth.

Scott

#12 09-25-2004, 07:47 PM

Scott,

I'm the one that started circulating that ACC bulletin several years ago. It was printed by an MB parts company in Houston called IMPCO. They have since been sold to Performance Products.

The reason they put in the bulletin that you should change hoses often, is because they sold hoses.

Many of the hoses on my '84 240D as well as my '88 300E are original. I inspect them thoroughly at every oil change and have replaced several because they looked bad.

If a person is in the habit of running things until they break, then that person should probably replace the hoses periodically, although I think 30,000 mile intervals is ridiculous. If a person is one to inspect such things and keep an eye on them, then that person can probably go forever without preventive maintenance hose changes.

The hoses are made of much better material than they were 20 or 30 years ago and last a VERY long time.

One other consideration when determining whether or not you should replace hoses on a preventive maintenance basis is your engine construction. If you have an iron block, iron head engine such as a 616 or 617, it is almost impossible to damage one of these engines by overheating unless you just keep driving it until it won't go any farther instead of shutting it down when you see that it is overheating.

An aluminum head engine is a different animal. If IT overheats, it can very easily blow a head gasket and/or warp the head.

Have a great day,

Ducati · #13 09-26-2004, 02:50 AM

My rad hoses were replaced in 1999 and still appear fine and bulge free, feel flexible and dont "crunch" like rotten hoses I have felt (like on the Ford Taurus my father-in-law recently gave to us)
What has failed on my cooling system was the rad itself. The hose inlet at the top of the rad is Plastic and gets as brittle as old bakelite over time, no matter how fastidious your cooling system maintenance is.

PLASTIC?!?! On a MERCEDES BENZ? On the RADIATOR?!? I was really dissapointed. Then very angry, after paying over $600 (Cdn) for a new rad, as the old one was not repairable, even though the fins and the rest of the rad structure looked very good.

That was in Oct 2002. Which reminds me - I must power flush the thing soon and use the piss-yellow coolant from the dealership. The rad shop used VW coolant, assuring me it was every bit as good as MBz antifreeze. Is it?

Plantman · #14 09-26-2004, 10:31 AM

Not benz related but my Camry recently got it's original hoses changed after 142,000. In this South Florida heat, that seems pretty amazing to me.

Oh, and I only changed them cause I felt it was time, not because they were leaking or spongy. Just didn't want to chance it.

Must be the new technology.

suginami · #15 09-26-2004, 01:07 PM

I'm of the opinion that hoses are hoses. They are all made of rubber. German hoses are no different than American or Japanese hoses.

They are surely not going to last the lifetime of a car.

The hoses started going on my '93 300E (3.2) in 2001. I was stupid enough to change just the hoses that leaked, instead of all at once.

On my 1994 Infiniti G20, I figured 10 years was long enough, and changed all the hoses in the car, radiator and heater hoses, as good preventative maintenance.