New coolant hoses @ 73K miles

[The Driver]

The radiator on my NA had turned putrid brown, and the hoses had never been replaced.

So I bamboozled Skip Cannon into helping me (and by helping I mean he did 95% of the work ) to replace all the hoses and install a neat auto radiator (a bit thicker than 5 speed ones) that he had in his shop, in my NA.


SONOFA%*^&#! Those hoses had vulcanized into the bosses! It took us (well it took Skip ) close to ten hours to remove those ungodly hoses! Please people, do not wait 71K miles to replace those hoses, it will not be pretty.

On the serious plus side, Skip found a few leaks along the intake, and on my way home the engine felt stronger. There were a few items that were loose inside the engine compartment, and yeap, Skip took care of those also.


We were almost done, when I remember that the radiator that my car had, only had about 30K-40K miles on it..

[new2mx5]

I just did mine a couple of weeks ago at 80K miles, same issue, putrid brown sludge and rock hard hoses, not much fun. I had to chip the brown sludge out of the overflow bottle, it was 1/2" thick in the bottom corners and wouldn't wrinse out without chipping it up. I think it's the fact they are 20+ years old, not the mileage.

[The Driver]

Yes I hear about being the age and not so much the miles. My coolant lines were CLEAN and no browness or rust whatsoever.

I did ask Skip if unbolting the engine from the mounts was the way to go. He was not interested in that, but I still think it was a good idea...

[psulja]

Was just working on my NA, getting ready to pull the engine and all my coolant hoses are stuck lol. I'm probably going to use a 90* pick to try to pull them off tomorrow. I'll see how well that actually works.

[The Driver]

^ Carefully sliced them along the hose. It will make your life easier!

[psulja]

haha, I didn't really feel like buying new ones at this point of the build... but where did you find yours and how much should one expect to pay for all new hoses?

[The Driver]

Med-Center, is a Mazda Dealer in Alabama, with a SWEET website and free shipping (CONUS). I spent $101 for ALL 9 hoses.

[psulja]

Awesome, maybe I'll order those next week. Although I won't need the upper rad hose since I'll be doing a coolant reroute before my 1.8 goes back in.

[psulja]

^ Carefully sliced them along the hose. It will make your life easier!

Pulled the hoses off today without slicing them. Got a pick in underneath the rubber and slowly worked them off. Took a bit of work but within 1/2 hour the heater hoses and lower rad hose were off. Upper rad hose came off easily.

[The Driver]

Pulled the hoses off today without slicing them. Got a pick in underneath the rubber and slowly worked them off. Took a bit of work but within 1/2 hour the heater hoses and lower rad hose were off. Upper rad hose came off easily.

Lucky ba$tard! :jelly:

[LOL]

I read this thread and wonder why you guys are having so much trouble. I just removed my factory hoses at 180k and all I needed was an angled pick.

[The Driver]

I read this thread and wonder why you guys are having so much trouble. I just removed my factory hoses at 180k and all I needed was an angled pick.

As stated earlier, the coolant hoses ALL OF THEM, got welded/melted/caked unto the "bosses". Even after we sliced, they still took forever to take out.

[The Driver]

I read this thread and wonder why you guys are having so much trouble. I just removed my factory hoses at 180k and all I needed was an angled pick.

As stated earlier, the coolant hoses ALL OF THEM, got welded/melted/caked unto the "bosses". Even after we sliced, they still took forever to take out.

[LOL]

As stated earlier, the coolant hoses ALL OF THEM, got welded/melted/caked unto the "bosses". Even after we sliced, they still took forever to take out.

Was there some sort of engine fire? That's very odd.

[The Driver]

Was there some sort of engine fire? That's very odd.

Nope. The engine compartment was clean. Dirty, but clean. I mean the car had 73K miles, so spotless it wasn't.