coolant hose life

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Some will tell you they last forever. I say BS. Personal experience, I replaced all hoses after 10 years and almost 200k miles. They looked fine.. but how many heat cycles, vibration, rubbing...

Cheap money to not be stranded...

 
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10 years and 194,000 miles so far. No evidence of cracking or hardening and no leaks. (I did have to replace a cracked and brittle expansion tank.) I suppose operating and storage in a hotter climate would be harder on the rubber bits...

 
I replace them when they start leaking. So far...1 car...zero motorcycles, but I have never kept either longer than 18 years.

 
I have never replaced one on my '05. I do inspect them. I don't replace coolant hoses on any of my vehicles unless I see a sign of weakness. FWIW, the first sign of a hose getting weak is normally a swelling near one of the ends.

 
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Something I learned in a different life as a Sears Appliance Tech was that hose's that leaked were the ones that had been taken off. If you put the hose clamp back on back in the same spot on the hose it didn't leak. I was called in on a couple of emergent leaks that the clamp was never in the original groves. An old timer pointed that out to me and I always try to follow that rule. Me thinks the hoses do get brittle and if you are removing very often care in re-assembly is important.

We don't need to take many hoses off on the FJR, just the one that goes to the coolant pipe. With valve check # 4 coming up I had thought about replacing that hose??????????

Pan

 
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This past year my 07' (at about 27K miles) developed a leak, due to wear against some debris that got stuck between the hose and shield, probably from the vibration. During that replacement surface cracks on another nearby hose was detected that appeared from age, so I had all the hoses replaced with the exception of the two under the tank. Out of all the hoses replaced only the one showed signs of surface cracking age. I treat bikes like cars, inspect at least annually and replace when they show the signs of aging. If I had the bike torn down for any major rebuild/inspection/service, I would probably replace hoses if they showed the need or the hoses were approaching 20 years.

 
27 years and 265.000kms in my other bike ''XTZ 750 Super Tenere'' 1990 year model and they work without problems...
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