Neither of my soobs get close to the miles of use 'normal' folks get. But, in Texas, rubber and fluids DO go bad with time.

The wife's 2003 H6 OBW has it's original hoses. Only 93K miles, but 13 years old.

Just wondering if you guys think a burst hose is imminent or if I can somewhat reliably get a few more years out of them? Do they burst/split, or usually 'pinhole' ? And, If I were to preemptively replace hoses, should I change just the large rad hoses? or rad and heater....what would you change?  Is Gates OK or would you spring for OEM ?

Edited September 6, 20169 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

Usually you can feel the rubber on whether it is still good or getting rough dry rotted. Haven't seen a burst one. Had one go bad near the clamp. Managed to push the hose on further and re clamp it until I could replace it.

 

If/when replacing, I would also do the little hose off the water pump. Those are often in rough shape. Heater core hoses dont seem to fail much but are worth an inspection to make sure.

Look at the fsm cooling system diagram to find all of the little bypass hoses. Once you decide any one of them isn't looking good, Replace all of the cooling system hoses before they fail. Not worth the risk to wait until failure.

I have racked my brain over leaking hoses with pin hole leaks that only leak at high revs. No rubber lasts forever. In my opinion, the miniscule dollars stretched by trying to push a hose beyond 10 years is dwarfed by the potential inconvenience of it breaking in the boonies.  I know I would be kicking myself if I allowed a rubber hose to leave me stranded like that.

 

But that is probablyjust me. I am weird. 

well, I asked to try to get some data points. I'm now leaning towards doing all the big hoses and the oil cooler and WP bypass hoses next April. But I'm not gonna panic if they slide a year after that.

 

aren't there throttle body and IACV and maybe other hoses as well? what about those?

 

It may depend on the next travel plans outta State.

When was the last coolant change?

Ten years is a long time for radiator hoses. The heater hoses usually last much longer if they're not exposed to oil.

 

Also, don't cheap out on replacements. Subaru OE hoses don't cost much more than parts store stuff, and you don't have to do any cutting/trimming, and they last much longer.

honestly I think coolant has been changed only once or twice so 4-6 years or so. Coolant 'looks' great.

Edited September 7, 20169 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

It's recommended to change plain green every two years.

Most "long life" coolants are safe for 5 years.

The newer mixes are supposedly safe for 10 years, but I don't exactly trust that. Fresh coolant protects and cools better.

 

I would change the coolant and upper and lower hoses sometime soon. If the thermostat is old, change that as well.

t'stat was changed with last coolant but, yeah, I planned on changing it.

a little off-topic, but, Subaru long life 'required' or is there a Zerex or NAPA, etc. alternative?

What he said - standard green coolant isn't considered long term stuff. Change 3 years or less.

 

I'd use OEM, they are notably robust.

 

The ones closer to the road are more problematic - maybe due to northeast winter treatment or maybe just due to road exposure? I don't know but in my experience they're more likely to incur rust (on clamps) which compromises hoses too.

 

I wouldn't call failure imminent if they look good and history of vehicle has information suggesting good care and no egregious issues.

 

OEM hoses installed and maintained well - not frequently removed/stretched/pried/overheated that don't get saturated with fluids last a long time. I've got 260,000 and I think I've only replaced the oil cooler hoses. Finding significant numbers of OEM installed hose never overheated and in great shape is hard to verify.

 

They are just hoses and replacement can be cheap insurance.