Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Preventative Maintenance? 24V Hoses

[Mad Max]

What kind of life expectancy do you have for OEM coolant hoses? Or what kind of service life did you experience before failure/replacement? (yrs. /miles)



I've seen the generic "replace every four years", or the routine checking of condition, but I'm curious what people's experiences have been.



Also, what replacement did you use? D/C, Cummins, Dayco, etc?



Many Thanks,



MaX

 

[John]

Mad Max, I replaced my upper and lower radiator hoses as well as my OE thermostat after about 3. 5 years of use (17k - 20k mi. per year usage). I believe I finally purchased replacement hoses from Mopar (for a few different reasons). The thermostat and O-ring were purchased from Cummins although, Geno's Garage sells them as well.



Last year I purchased a complete set of the trick silicone hoses from SPA when they were released (coolant and intercooler hoses) along with the trick set of stainless steel T-bolt clamps. Right now I'm currently waiting to receive a replacement (updated) set of these hoses. As you may or may not know, there were fitment/installation problems associated with the early hoses sets. One good thing about these hoses, they will not deteriorate as do their "rubber" counterparts.



BTW, when I removed my OE upper/lower coolant hoses they were still in excellent condition. I washed them with soap and water, applied 303 Protectant, placing them in my Ram for spares (just in case). My hoses may or may not be in "typical" shape... as I detail my engine fairly frequently, I periodically apply 303 Protectant to all the hoses thereby increasing longevity.



Just thought I'd respond to your thread as I saw no one else did.

 

[Mad Max]

John,



I'm sitting at 65K in less than three yrs time. I'm running Shell's ETC coolant. I intially planned on replacing everything at 100K, waterpump, thermostat (again) and hoses. Having switched to the coolant around 40K, I am leaning towards going for 150K miles before replacing it all.



I'm definitely going to have to look into those silicone coolant hoses. Do it all at 150K and do nothing else but test the coolant strength once/yr. and water for something to break. =)



Thx for the feedback.



MaX