Replace hose or fuhgeddaboudit and chillaxe?

[drypowder]

As noted in the thread about the misfiring cylinder due to ignition issues, there was plenty of oil below the distributor, indicating a bad distributor O-ring (very common with old Hondas), and when changing the distributor cap and rotor, we noticed there was a little oil inside the dissy, indicating a bad shaft seal.

So today I pulled the distributor out to change both seals. The heater hose (running from engine block to heater core) is directly under the dissy, so the leaking oil has been dripping partly onto the hose. The hose doesn't feel terrible - I expected it to be very soft and gummy feeling where the oil has been dripping on it, but it's not terrible, only slightly softer than unaffected parts of the hose.

I came into this expecting that hose to be in terrible condition so I was thinking I'd have to replace it, but after seeing and feeling it, I'm thinking that I can safely skip replacement and just reinstall the dissy and call it job done.

Here's what the hose looks like:

Cons to replacing it:

• oil is no longer going to be dripping on it (well, until the new O-ring starts failing)
  
• given that the hose leads back to the heater core and is snaked under other hoses, it looks like it's going to be a real pain in the arse to remove old hose and install new hose
• I have to drain and fill coolant to replace the hose. Only ~13k since I drained, flushed and filled; on the flipside, it's been 3 years since that coolant change. But not a lot of miles!
• I have to do all this in my building's parking garage and building mgmt is not going to take kindly to residents wrenching on their property, if another resident or one of the maintenance guys decides to yap to management.
• always possible that while replacing it, I damage something else - it's a tight fit back there.

Pros to replacing it:

• nice new hose, feelsgoodman vibe, and absolutely no worries that it's going to spring a leak, spraying coolant out and overheating the engine
• takes care of a coolant drain and fill that I'd otherwise have to do in a year or so

I'm torn. What do you guys think?

 

[BloodRunsThicker]

As noted in the thread about the misfiring cylinder due to ignition issues, there was plenty of oil below the distributor, indicating a bad distributor O-ring (very common with old Hondas), and when changing the distributor cap and rotor, we noticed there was a little oil inside the dissy, indicating a bad shaft seal.

So today I pulled the distributor out to change both seals. The heater hose (running from engine block to heater core) is directly under the dissy, so the leaking oil has been dropping partly onto the hose. The hose doesn't feel terrible - I expected it to be very soft and gummy feeling where the oil has been dripping on it, but it's not terrible, only slightly softer than unaffected parts of the hose.

I came into this expecting that hose to be in terrible condition so I was thinking I'd have to replace it, but after seeing and feeling it, I'm thinking that I can safely skip replacement and just reinstall the dissy and call it job done.

Here's what the hose looks like:

Cons to replacing it:

• oil is no longer going to be dripping on it (well, until the new O-ring starts failing)
  
• given that the hose leads back to the heater core and is snaked under other hoses, it looks like it's going to be a real pain in the arse to remove old hose and install new hose
• I have to drain and fill coolant to replace the hose. Only ~13k since I drained, flushed and filled; on the flipside, it's been 3 years since that coolant change. But not a lot of miles!
• I have to do all this in my building's parking garage and building mgmt is not going to take kindly to residents wrenching on their property, if another resident or one of the maintenance guys decides to yap to management.
• always possible that while replacing it, I damage something else - it's a tight fit back there.

Pros to replacing it:

• nice new hose, feelsgoodman vibe, and absolutely no worries that it's going to spring a leak, spraying coolant out and overheating the engine
• takes care of a coolant drain and fill that I'd otherwise have to do in a year or so

I'm torn. What do you guys think?

As long as the hose is in good condition as you stated I'd leave it there.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[Djstorm100]

Hose is cheap, time is not. Catch coolant in a clean bucket and dump it back in after hose replacement. This is one of those things..it's easiest to replace it now vs later.

When I buy a use car. I put all new fluids (coolant, oil, engine, transmission, brake) and coolant hoses (both heater and radiator).

 

[drypowder]

Hose is cheap, time is not. Catch coolant in a clean bucket and dump it back in after hose replacement. This is one of those things..it's easiest to replace it now vs later.

When I buy a use car. I put all new fluids (coolant, oil, engine, transmission, brake) and coolant hoses (both heater and radiator).

Grrr. I knew one of our resident wrenches was going to push for replacement.

How much of a biatch is that hose to replace? I have a 11" long 45* angled needle nose pliers to loosen the hose clamps, and long hose grip pliers to pull the hose (and I suppose push on the hose, or can you reach that heater core hose attachment point by hand?).

 

[Tailhunter]

You're already in there ...

 

[Mirac]

Replace.

 

[Mike Overlay]

Really. Damn it man, your worse than a woman.

Wipe the hose off. Put the car back together and drive it.

 

[Johnny]

The next thread "How to replace a cracked heater core"

 

[DCGallim]

Depending on how tight it is to get to the clamps a set of these could save you some busted knuckles and a lot of time.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0...24f260d7608c&pd_rd_w=R3UuX&pd_rd_i=B00AN8DOBG

 

[drypowder]

Really. Damn it man, your worse than a woman.

Wipe the hose off. Put the car back together and drive it.

While I was deciding what purse would go with my outfit today, I thought I'd kill some time by replacing the hose.

Only concern is the dissy o-ring that Advance Auto says is an "exact match" wasn't quite as thick as the o-ring I pulled off the dissy. But I cleaned up under the distributor, so I'll know if the new o-ring starts leaking, and removing the dissy and installing another o-ring (which I'd get from a Honda dealer next time) will be a piece of cake compared to replacing the distributor shaft seal.

Depending on how tight it is to get to the clamps a set of these could save you some busted knuckles and a lot of time.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0...24f260d7608c&pd_rd_w=R3UuX&pd_rd_i=B00AN8DOBG

Neat tool.

Gotta say, what a difference the right tools make. I used 11" 45* angled needle nose pliers to open the hose clamps, and hose grip pliers to get the hoses off the nipples. If I had been using regular pliers for the hose clamps and channellocks for the hoses, as I'm sure many weekend wrenches do, I'd have been miserable.