Heater Hose?

[mikey]

First off, and sadly, I don't currently have a Tercel. All good things, yadda yadda yadda....

Is there a way to change my user name to "Corolla Mikey?" that's what I'm driving, an 82 Corolla, and lots of stuff is a lot like on the Tercel. Plus, I really like this community, so I'll continue to lurk here and occasionally seek advice, like today:

On the way home, punching it up a big hill, right about when the engine had warmed up, I saw smoke coming from the rear. It got worse and worse, and when I got a mile or two ahead to where there was a shoulder, I looked under the hood. Coolant everywhere. Not really EVERYWHERE, just on the driver's side near the back. The smoke was from a drenched exhaust manifold.

Got it home, let it dry off, and lo and behold, there's a leak which sprays coolant right onto the exhaust, and kinda all over the place, too. Its the heater hose, right near where it comes out of the engine, by the rear cylinder, and the hose runs from there to the valve controlled by the dashboard. I got to thinking that all the hoses are as much as thirty years old, so I would like to replace them.

The hoses look a lot like on my Tercel, but it's not around to compare to. Are these hoses a standard diameter that I can get at O'Reilly's, or do I need Toyota parts? And should I use regular hose clamps?

[dlb]

just take a caliper and measure the pipe that the hoses connect to. that measurement will be the inner diameter of the hose that you need. any automotive or hydraulics store will have it. you will just ask for however many total feet of 3/8" or whatever heater hose you need, and then cut the various lengths from that.

[Petros]

You can use the generic hose of the right diameter for many of the locations, sometimes you need more length to make a larger radious. but in manyh locations you have to buy a molded hose to make the tight bends. there is one on the Tercel that comes out of the heater (at the firewall), bends down, than the right (from drivers seat), than forward, than up and than back to the left. There is no way to make a straight hose work there, I have tried, even with 2 feet of hose, without pinching it. The molded hose is only about 10" long with like 5 bends, it costs about $17 from NAPA. So the generic hose is WAY cheaper, but not always possible to use.

You should also check the main radiator hoses as well, especially the lower (low pressure) hose. I have seen those as old at the Tercel as well. I would replace all of the crappy wire factory hose clamps with screw type stainless steel band clamps too.

[ARCHINSTL]

OE preformed heater hose info - from the Part Numbers - OE and Aftermarket Forum:
https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php? ... 226#p48226
Tom M.

[mikey]

Thanks, all...

I realized that the leak was less than two inches from one end, so for today I just cut the end off and stuck the shorter hose back on. There's a bend near to it, making the connection a bit suspect, but it will do for now, until the weekend when I can get it done right.

[Petros]

be careful with that kind of fix, the hose is just as old, and the shorter length means there is now more stress on it. I did that once on a Nissan and forgot about it, than one very hot day a few months later the hose pulled off and blew all the coolant out at once, severely overheating the engine. The correct hose would have been a lot cheaper repair.

[marlinh]

Heater hose is usually 5/8 or 3/4 inside diameter, available in bulk. If you need to make a tight bend in the hose and can't find a preformed one there is a product out there that looks like a slinky. It slips over the hose, then you bend it to the shape you need. It keeps the position you want and keeps the hose from collapsing. Works great.

[mikey]

Yeah, that hose was old and ugly.The fix is temporary. Now I've got several feet of new hose, but I'll have to wait until the weekend to do the replacing. There is one section that's pretty bendy, from the valve to the firewall, and I'll probably just leave it alone. Looks like a special order one, less than a foot long. Otherwise it looks like an easy job.

The radiator hoses were replaced two months back.

[dlb]

i have to ask: what happened to your terc, mikey?

[mikey]

Sniff...

[mikey]

After more than 40,000 miles of desert beatings over nearly four years; at over 250,000 miles total, the maintaining got neglected. I couldn't keep up. The front end was loose and problematic. There had been an accident which left me with a salvage title and an ugly body, and the final straw was a blown cylinder, compression zero. The radiator was cracked. Windshield cracked. Popped out of gear on bumpy roads. I could list more, but it was not worth putting anything more into. I miss the old girl, but hopefully someone else got some good parts off of it. I took that car where only Jeeps should go, and I was lucky, but it never really let me down when it counted.
R.I.P.....

[ARCHINSTL]

mikey and others -
Sorry - I missed that your Terc had left us and you are now driving a Corolla .
Tom M>