

The first and most common cause for radiator hose failure is overheating.
COOLANT HOSE REPLACEMENT CRACK
Overheating that causes the hoses to dry out and crack Here are the most common causes of radiator hose failure:ġ. Over time, the hose will become brittle and thin until it eventually breaks or separates where it is connected to another piece in the cooling system. When made of rubber, they are especially vulnerable to damage from heat. The radiator hose is not designed to last forever. The common causes of radiator hose failure This means checking other hoses and cooling parts that were damaged by heat from a broken radiator hose, which can turn into a costly situation. For example, if your car overheats and the mechanic finds that the hose is broken, they must also check the other parts near it for damage. However, if additional work is needed because of an issue that causes your radiator hose to break, you may have to pay more. The radiator hose replacement cost usually ranges between $30 and $60. If there is no additional damage or cracks in the hose when it breaks or comes loose from what it was attached to, then the only cost would be replacing the old one with a new one. However, if something has gone wrong with the hose in addition to needing replacement, this price will increase significantly depending on the damage done. When you look at your car's manual, you can see how inexpensive they are compared to other car parts. The actual price of the hose itself is very low. If there were no hoses to help control liquid flow from one location to another, overheating would be common even under normal driving conditions. The hoses connect these two components without fail because they are specifically designed for this purpose. This liquid disperses heat into the air passing through these hollow tubes. After doing its job, this liquid then travels to the radiator, made up of thin metal fins on the inside with tubes running through them.

The car's cooling system works, so hotly liquid coolant runs through the engine block, where it heats up as the engine operates. If the plastic discolors, just change the whole tank ($60 Behr) and cap ($15 Rein).What is a radiator hose, and what does it do?Ī radiator hose is a rubber tube that carries coolant between your car's engine block and the radiator. The plastic coolant reservoir tank fails much sooner on the turbo engines. There are aftermarket Elring and Uro ones made with Viton as well.

And also replace the Oil Filter Housing Gasket (OFHG) with BMW Viton rubber one made in Japan. There are aftermarket hoses that come with it. Replace the cheap plastic with an aluminum one. The plastic simply turned soggy cardboard and crumble away. I Dremel cut it so I can crack-loosen the connector from the bibb.Īnd there is the "Mickey Mouse" flange from the thermostat to the cylinder head near the oil filter housing. Be careful not to crack the radiator bibb when removing the upper hose connector. When you see discoloration of the connector (turning brown), just replace it. BMW must have picked some cheap plastic material there. The plastic bibb on the radiator would be fine while the plastic connector of the hose just rots away. The upper radiator hose is another failure spot. It would have been more reliable to run a rubber hose straight through. I am not sure why BMW wanted to put a plastic segment between two rubber end hoses. The coolant vent hose above the radiator is a common failure part. My older revision with the plastic housing was $100 cheaper at $250. I am not sure how reliable the latest revision water pump with the metal pump housing is. Since the thermostat and pump will need to be removed to get at the hoses in that area, might as well replace these more often failed parts. The electric water pump and thermostat are another $400 in addition to the hoses and pipes above ($350 for the pump and $50 for the thermostat). If you DIY these I think it cost me around $400-500 in parts for the following, not including the expansion tank and cap.
COOLANT HOSE REPLACEMENT PLUS
With those two, you are going to looking at about $550-600 worth of hoses and plastic pipes plus labor, maybe 4-5 hours? (I think the standard shop rate for pump and thermostat replacement is 3 hours).īelow are some of the commonly failed cooling system parts. There are two plastic pipes (3-way and 4-way) that will run about $300.
