lifespan coolant hoses,

[Ethan]

I did a search, but...

what are the approximate life spans of Mercedes coolant hoses?

and for a 1998 C230 what is the lifespan of the spark plug high tension wires?


I wanted to change these items before any problems occured, I have 70K miles on the car now.

[Duke2.6]

It will vary greatly with the type of service. Lots of idling in hot weather will shorten their life compared to less stop and go driving in milder weather. Elastomeric materials typically degrade exponentially with temperature.

Also, keeping the outside clean and free of petroleum product residues will help extend life.

As a rule you can inspect the hose visually and "by feel". A degraded area of the hose will generally manifest as a soft spot before it blows.

Most "modern" elastomeric materials - say since the mid to late eighties - will last a lot longer than those from earlier eras.

Duke

[Hatterasguy]

I would say 10 years at least, MB uses a good hose. I changed all of the original 17 year old hoses in my SDL last spring. They were fine I probably could have gotton a few more years out of them.

I will do the upper hose every 5 years because it is very cheap.