Blew a heater hose apart bad.....and found friggin DEXCOOL!!!!

[Ian]

Im ****ing pissed right now. I got on it tonight full throttle and came to a stop at a stop sign. I smelled antifreeze but it didnt register with me. Then i stop at a red light, see steam coming from the headlights, and pop the hood to see antifreeze everywhere. I jump back in and take a quick ride to my friends shop (like 1/4 mile from where i was thankfully) to find my heater hose blown apart at a fitting.

Note: In the first picture, the part that broke is to the right side of the hose in the pic.
Hose piece that broke
Fitting end broken


Upon further investigation, i pull out the dipstick from the radiator resivour and find the notorious DEXCOOL sludge.

So i have a few questions:

1) has anyone ever replaced this fitting/hose, and how do i go about doing it?
2) ive already searched about the Dexcool shat on the boards here, and found out how to pretty much flush the radiator of it, but does anyone have any more tips for doing this? I HAD to mix the green and what was left in the radiator for the short ride home tonight, but am flushing it tommorrow (i know you shouldnt mix it). Any tips?


Main thing im lookin for is pointers on the hose fitting, and how to replace it....

Thanks guys

[chas]

1) need to buy new fitting from dealer unless you fix it a different way (like cutting off the fitting and using a hose clamp i guess).

2) flush the engine with water (i see you have a back flush fitting in place already). drain engine as completely as possible by opening the radiator drain plug and the knock sensors. fill with 50/50 dexcool and DISTILLED water.

[Ian]

Well, the fitting is completely busted. I was wondering how much of the tube i need to replace. The metal fittings on the tube (as you can see in the picture) are crimped or something, and you cant just take them off. I dont know where the fittings come apart, and i wanted to know if i have to replace all the rubber section and if it somehow comes off before it turns into the solid metal tube that runs into the firewall.

Can anyone with a chiltons or haynes manual look this up for me? Probably "heater hose replacement".

id appreciate it, thanks.

(o, and theres not a chance in HELL that im puttin dexcool back in. im flushin completely and usin the green stuff.)

[hockeyman]

I looked in the chiltons manual, and it doesn't have any info on replacing the hose(s). It does show a pic of the hoses though, and they look as one whole unit per-hose. Which means...
GM is gonna ask you to bend over for a doctor's visit when you ask them for the price.
One of two things to do:
1. Find the heater hoses on ebay.
2. Cut the metal end of the hose (it's bad anyway) and slide the hose over top of it and hoseclamp the balls outta it.

-Marc

[Ian]

thanks marc, i fixed it. im refilling now.

[Ian]

All fixed. Fixed the blown tube, flushed the radiator and block about 7 times, drove with water in it for a few miles, flushed again, and filled with GREEN 50/50 mix, not Dex-crap.

Everything is all good now [img]smile.gif[/img]

Thanks for the help guys.