[V6-12v] Car repair by braille (changing hoses)

[Tom Christiansen]

Folks,

Changing hoses on a 1994 90S (AAH) is not exactly rocket science. But 
I do wish to share a few tips & tricks.

All the original hose clamps have 7 mm hex drives on them. Attach 
your trusty 7 mm socket to a suitable handle and go to work.

Make sure you get all the hoses!! My car takes nine (9) hoses total:

1) Bottom of radiator to thermostat and water pipe (3-way hose).
2) Top of radiator to manifold.
3 + 4) Heater core.
5) Oil cooler to front water pipe.
6) Front water pipe to pipe that goes under the battery (on the way 
to the expansion tank).
7) Bottom of expansion tank to pipe that goes under battery.
8) Top of expansion tank to radiator.
9) Oil cooler to manifold.

I actually didn't replace 8) as Autohaus AZ didn't have it in stock. 
I think that would also require the radiator to be unmounted, which 
would be a pain... Should that hose rupture, it's readily accessible 
and can be wrapped in duct tape until a suitable replacement can be found.

Now for the tricks:

1) It is possible to remove the heater core hoses without having to 
remove the throttle body. It involves a fair amount of "car repair by 
braille" but it can be done. You will need to remove the intake 
plenum (big plastic ductwork), though. Take care not to loose the two 
plastic guide pieces holding the plenum onto the throttle body.
2) The short hose with the bleed screw in it was the biggest pain. 
The connection between the hose and the water pipe on the engine can 
barely be seen from the top while looking past the cruise control 
servo on the driver's side.
3) The lower connection for the longer heater core hose (the one 
without the bleed) can be reached from underneath the car. Follow the 
exhaust pipe and you'll find it. I used a utility knife to make a 
slit in the hose end and just pulled the hose out.
4) You will need to remove the oil cooler to replace its hoses. You 
can remove the oil filter without having to drain the engine oil. 
You'll loose about a quart of oil when you remove the oil filter, but 
that's about it. The 27 mm nut on the oil cooler is to be torqued to 
30 Nm (22 ft-lb). If you haven't already replaced the rubber gasket 
on the oil cooler, now would be a good time to do so.
5) You can probably help yourself out by removing the driver's side 
radiator hose (the upper hose) first, then remove the oil cooler 
hose. It'll make life easier to have the bigger hose out of the way. 
I didn't do this, and had to attack the oil cooler hoses from below, 
which is a pain but can be done.

The remaining hoses are pretty easy. Just take care not to get dirt 
and coolant in you eyes when you are working under the car. Wear eye 
protection.

I used a few short (4") extensions on my 7 mm socket. A longer 
extension is also handy. At one point I used a total of about 12-14" 
of extension to get to some of the hose clamps. A universal joint 
(U-joint) is also mighty handy... Nothing out of the ordinary.


Tom