Coolant hoses - ever had one fail?

[L DC]

Dave C wrote:

> Has anyone ever seen an Audi cooling hose on one of
> these cars fail from old age?

Absolutely!!!!

One of the heater core hoses, the one from engine
block to heater core, in one of my VW Quantum Syncros
QSW (same engine/tranny as Audi 4KQ) busted while
cruising at 85MPH on a very hot and humid day here in
south Fl. Cooling system bled to death and the head
gasket went south.

Took head to the machine shop and I was told the head
was warped, maybe not but it was already out and I
decided to have it milled to flatness as I did not
want to gamble.

Following the incident, the car would start and run,
but about 10 minutes into it, pressure in the hoses
built up quite a bit so I would turn engine off. Oil
also mixed with water.

IMHO, I think heater core hoses tend to be the most
prone to failure because are the ones most neglected,
given they're either out of site or who really wants
to mess with them given their location. Maintenance on
them it's important and should be replaced when ever
you replace the other radiator/cooling hoses.

My other QSW appears to have the original heater core
hoses, with one of them showing swelling where it
hooks up to the water neck on the engine block, so
they're getting done before I drive the car out of
town or for extended period of time.

It happened to me once, it won't happen a second time
as it's better to invest about $16 bucks in the hoses
and 7 hours time than more then $700 in parts and
machining and many hours putting everything back
together.

So don't wait any longer to replace those hoses in
your car, especially if you're taking long trips.
You'll have peace of mind knowing they won't bust on
you for a few thousand miles. 

  
-Regards,

-Louis


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