heater hoses

[v-6dailydriver]

are the heater hoses a dealer only part? has anyone found a after market replacement for them? i have a 97 with the plastic caps on the engine side.

[ThaDyce17]

Re: heater hoses

Personally i've gotten hoses from Advanced autoparts so check them out for the part

[v-6dailydriver]

Re: heater hoses

i checked with advance, they have never seen any like this before...

[gugdathug3]

Re: heater hoses

yea its been hard for me too looking for the right size fitting. ive looked everywhere besides dealer. they have a gm sport savage tho around here with new and used camaro parts maybe try some junk yard? or sadly the stealership.

[David8399]

Re: heater hoses

Yes They Are A Dealer Part, THE TWO HOSES COME TOGETHER AND ARE ARROUND $100 And Last I Checked Were On A Back Order. Did The Hose Break Or Did It Break At The Rubber And Metal Connection?

SO I JUST CHECKED IT AGAIN AND IT IS STILL ON BACK ORDER AND IS $157

[v-6dailydriver]

Re: heater hoses

mine haven't broke yet... but are blistering right by the block connection

[oldman]

Re: heater hoses

I tried to post earlier but I did not see it appear, so I will try again. I am new to this group but I have employed a solution to the Camaro heater hose problem. GM used a German hose connector (Norma type) for both heater hoses at the engine end. The hose assembly is NOT available from anyone but with the able assistance of a small town GM dealer (Zieglar Chevrolet, Bamberg. SC) and their mechanic, I have a great solution I recently implemented on my son's 2000 Camaro. The same 3.8L engine is used in some GM front wheel drive cars from 1995 to 2002. Since these engines were transverse mounted, they could not use the same Norma connector but had to use a right angle fitting. Since the engine casting piece is IDENTICAL for these cars, the right angle fitting fit perfectly. The parts manager even test fit the part on a camaro before I bought them. My son will email the GM part numbers and I will post later, but if you get a GM dealer to look up these fittings for a 1996 Buick Park Avenue, this will give you the correct numbers.
I implemented this fix as follows:

Remove the two hoses at the engine by backing off the white plastic covers. You will then need to turn the black Norma connector so that the fingers are not under the casting flanges. Then pull them out. Note they are different since the lower one has a water flow restrictor in it.

Install the new parts (there are two part numbers since one has the flow restrictor). These new parts face forward and have a metal bracket with screw that attaches to the existing casting housing boss. Note this boss is about an inch below where the fittings insert and has a threaded hole (metric). You probably didn't notice it since it wasn't used with the Norma fitting.

Remove the entire hose assembly from the heater core forward, The assembly is held in place by one allen screw on the wheel well. Remove the hose clamps at the heater core nipples. You need to reuse these squeeze clamps since it is impossibole to use screw clamps here. Cut the hoses longitudinally with a knife and peel them off the nipples so you don't stress the heater core nipples. Don't try to pull them offwith force! Also prelube the new hoses with antifreeze to make them slide on easier.

Note that one heater core hose is 5/8 inch and one is 3/4 inch. Note also that BOTH new GM parts are 3/4 inch barbed fittings. That means for one hose you need to use a 5/8 inch to 3/4 inch barbed hose adaptor easily available at Advanced Auto, etc. (look in the HELP! section for these plastic adaptors). They cost about $3. I came off the new GM fitting with a short piece of hose and then used the in line adaptor so it was easy to get to in the future.

Since the hoses face forward, I routed the new hoses in the space vacated by removing the OEM hose assembly and then up to the heater core nipples.

This solution also lets you use standard "buy by the foot" heater hose instead of more expensive molded hoses. The two GM parts should cost about $60 together.

I hope this helps. I have some photos and my son will get me more. I will try to post them when he gets me the GM part numbers. I hope this helps those of you with this same issue. I would like to say most dealers I called just relpied "part not available" and offered no alternative. It is nice to know there are still "old time" dealers out there who will spend the time to help. GM really needs to note this on their parts lookup for the Camaro/Firebird.

[oldman]

Re: heater hoses

My son sent me the GM part numbers today. The upper fitting is p/n 24504476 and the lower fitting is p/n 12570305. I hope this helps. He is also emailing me a photo of the finished job so if anyone is interested in this please email me.

[ssms5411]

Re: heater hoses

Thanks for the info, will be waiting for pics.

[Rob Bell]

Re: heater hoses

Yes, please post the pics, that would be good info, thanks.

[steddy]

Re: heater hoses

I'm interested also. Sounds like a good fix.

[ssms5411]

Re: heater hoses

I just swapped out my tensioner today, and I would love another setup on removing and putting on those heater hoses. Please post when you get the pics.

[oldman]

Re: heater hoses

I emailed my son tonight to remind him to send "after" photos. I will make "before" and "after" pix available when I get the email.

[ssms5411]

Re: heater hoses

I got those 2 heater hose parts just know from Fed ex, they look outstanding, they are metal with a 90 degree bend and have dual O rings to go in. Also has a metal tab where it slips over the peice of alm. sticking out on the tensioner. All I can say is this is a good investment for the tensioner. Once there in it looks like you just slip the heater hose on and use a hose clamp to secure it. No more breaking plastic peices when pulling them off. To the OP , thanks and I think those part #'s should be a stickey. Because this will be a great mod, even if you don't need them yet.LOL I have torble posting pics on this site but I will post them on the other site.http://www.fullthrottlev6.com/forums...636#post662636

[oldman]

Re: heater hoses

Thanks for the pix. Those are exactly the fittings we used in my son's Camaro. As I pointed out originally, the fittings face forward, but use standard heater hoses and lay them in the area freed up after you remove the
OEM metal/rubber hose assembly. Remember to adapt one of the 3/4 inch hose to a 5/8 inch hose (one heater core nipple is 5/8 but both of the new fittings are 3/4). Good luck to all on this fix.