On 7/23/2011 12:41 AM, Ringo wrote:
> is 14 yrs. old this month, and the hoses all look excellent, also
> getting maintained, cooling system flushes ON TIME, etc. My 94 Chevy S10
> PU, had its' hoses replaced at the 14 yr. mark, simply because the head
> gasket got repaired. So since I was already paying to have that done,
> having the hoses replaced wasn't much of a stretch. A good friend of
> mine who has been working on cars since he was 12, now like 73 or there
> abouts, tells me not to worry about them, that they are way different
> (Much better quality material/rubber) than the hoses back in olden
> times. I believe his Chevy full size PU is an 89, and still on the
> original hoses.

modern days hoses are certainly better than those of yesteryear but they
still fail. i had one of the heater hoses blow out with a glorious
cloud of steam emerging from the engine compartment while stuck in
bumper to bumper traffic. fortunately i got through it by turning the
heater on full blast and kept an eye on the temperature gauge and made
it to a garage without any damage. this was in november 2005 and my car
is a 95 (probably acutally made/sold in 94 - making it the same age as
your car). when you get the timing belt replaced everybody is quick to
replace the upper and lower radiator hoses since they come off as part
of the timing belt installation, but they don't suggest the two firewall
heater hoses or the other four small hoses on the engine. funny how you
are comfortable running the car with 11 year old coolant hoses but
uncomfortable about letting the timing belt get over 60k before
replacing it... and that i feel completely differently about it. to
each his/her own. regards,