Radiator hose tip

[AZmike]

When removing radiator hoses be very careful. I ended up with the old, brittle plastic fitting for the lower radiator hose stuck in the old hose when I "removed" it. I had to replace the whole radiator because I wasn't careful ($65 after 4 hours of driving across town).

Just thought it would be a good idea to remind everyone else to be gentle (or slice that old hose off). No sense in anyone else screwing up like this.

[Vanilla Sky]

i feel you man... even with the connectors are metal, you gotta be careful... i messed up a brand new AC condenser by not being super carefull (it's repairable, but still...)

Derick

[AZmike]

The upper and lower radiator connections to the Toyo radiator I had were plastic.

[Lester Lugnut]

There's been alot of talk about this at another car site - european. Some believe that using a very low phosphate coolant helps reduce wear on the plastic necks. Other dismiss it as bunk. I personally believe that overtightening of the clamps is the biggest problem.

One pro mechanic at a Mercedes site said that he snugs down the hose clamps to where he believe it's fairly snug, then hooks up a cooling system pressure tester to the radiator. He then observes any and every point under the hood(primarily hose connection) where coolant can leak; then gradually tightens any spot where coolant is seeping from.

The idea here is to prevent overtightening of the clamps.