When to replace radiator and heater hoses

The hoses on my 1993 Plymouth Grand Voyager are still the original.
There are no cracks, and don't feel *mushy.*

Should I replace them as a precaution? It has been 15 years / 99,000
miles on these hoses.

Thanks,

KM

 

Ozone will tear rubber up. If you got the time and extra money I would
replace them. If this vehicle has rear heat you may want to take a look see
at the auxiliary lines. They are steel and will break if they have alot of
rust on them.

My opinion

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

Glenn, thanks for the advice. I have been thinking about doing it as
*breakdown* prevention.

This van does not have rear heat, so that's one less thing to worry
about.

Is the dealer the only place to get the molded hoses?

Can the heater hoses be replaced at the firewall, or do they connect
to the heater core behind the dash?

Thanks,

KM

 

Glenn, thanks for the advice. I have been thinking about doing it as
*breakdown* prevention.

This van does not have rear heat, so that's one less thing to worry
about.

Is the dealer the only place to get the molded hoses?

Can the heater hoses be replaced at the firewall, or do they connect
to the heater core behind the dash?

Thanks,

KM

You should be able to get those hoses anywhere. Some of the hoses may be
preformed to fit. You don't specify engine size but if you have the 3.3/3.8,
don't forget to have the bypass hose replaced at the water pump.

Glenn

 

It's a 3.3. Do the heater hoses connect at the firewall, or behind the
dash?

Thanks,

Kirk

 

It's a 3.3. Do the heater hoses connect at the firewall, or behind the
dash?

Thanks,

Kirk

On my '95 GC SE the heater core metal lines protrude from the firewall and
the hoses are attached to them with clamps. My van does have the rear heat
and A/C though. I will second the thing about not forgetting to replace the
bypass hose as it was the first to go on our '92 Dynasty. To see it look
straight down between the thermostat housing and the A/C compressor. It is
a very short length of hose that runs from the thermostat housing portion of
the lower intake manifold to the water pump section of the timing cover.

 

It's a 3.3. Do the heater hoses connect at the firewall, or behind the
dash?

Thanks,

Kirk

The hoses connect at the firewall, easy to remove.

Glenn

 

I'll go ahead and do it then. I am hoping to squeeze another year or
two of service from the ole '93.

It's interesting how many old Chrysler mini-vans are still on the
road. I see many 1991 - 95 vintages, along with some 1987 -1990
flavors too. I have not seen a 1984 - 1986 for a long time.

When I was growing up in the 1960's, no one would have thought of
driving a 10 - 15 year old car at the time. When we traded in our 1955
Mercury, it was 8 years old, and "could not be trusted" for long trips
anymore. Things have change a lot since then.

A neighbor had 256,000 miles on his 1990 Dodge Dynasty before he
replaced it.

Thanks for reading,

-KM

 

the 92,93,94 and 95 were the best Mini Vans Chrysler had. When the new bod
style 96's came out they had problems.

Glenn Beasle

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Really? I have a '59 and a '65 that I drive on a regular basis.
Coming up on time for my trip to TN and the gas has me a little
worried but I won't do anything other than change the oil on the car
to get it ready...

Steve B.

 

Agreed. My '95 GC SE 3.3 is doing just fine with slightly over 225,000
miles now and my cousin's '96 GC (not sure about submodel or miles) 3.3 is
having lots of issues. As I said before the '92 Dynasty 3.3 made it to
252,000 before the spun bearing and it is now waiting to be crushed which is
kinda sad as it had the rare vinyl roof over the rear window area.

 

I have a 94 Caravan with about 220,000km and it has been the best vehicle I
have ever owned. It still has the original exhaust, rad, tranny, engine and
front end parts. I have had to replace the heater core, starter, rear shocks,
water pump and battery over the life of the van (brakes too, of course ;-).
Very minor oil pan and valve cover leaks.

It is just now starting to rust and the ball joints are starting to complain.

My wife won't part with it.

 

We have a 94 & 95 T&C, great vans.

Only problem is they suck gas like there's no tomorrow. 15-18Mpg is pretty
standard for mixed city/highway usage.

Ted

 

The Mini trip computer in mine is currently showing 22.1 MPG over the last
2070 miles (I never reset it). True it may not be completely accurate but
based on my fuel purchases it seems to be pretty close.

 

Yep, if your running 90-100% highway you probably will get that.

What's your 50-50 city/highway mix mpg? (this is a T&T right? Running
100% gasoline, not 10% ethanol mix? Many Caravans had the 3.3L which
is better mpg)

Ted

 

The number I posted is for a 2WD 3.3 GC SE on E10 89 octane gas. Today I
did some around town driving and it dropped back to 22.0. I calculated my
average speed via the trip miles and elapsed time displays and got about
33MPH. I normally still set the cruise for 54 on the highway for my 86.2
mile round trip that I take twice a week. The rest of my trips are so short
that the engine barely gets to operating temp before it is shut off again.
I plan to start using the non-ethanol 87 octane gas even though it is 10
cents more expensive here as it will take less than a 1 mpg improvement to
make up for the extra cost. The grades here are 87, 89, and 91 with 89 and
91 being E10. Currently 87 is $3.489/Gallon and 89 is $3.389/Gallon

 

Oregon has mandated E10 for all gasoline by end of year so we won't get a
choice. It's already mandated for winter months in metro areas due to smog
reduction. I just filled up my motorcycle today - the lowest price cheapest
lowest
octane fuel is $3.47/gallon. Count yourself lucky!

The T&C comes standard with the 3.8L It really makes a big difference in
the mpg. When you have the extra power on tap you tend to drive with a
heavier foot because you know you can pass the boneheads. When you
know you can't pass them, you tend to give up and just let it ride.
My wife's van generally runs 17mpg when she drives it but she is
usually exclusively city driving. When I drive my van - which is also an
AWD
- it's around 15mpg. It also doesen't help
that my daily commute includes a 3 mile 5% grade hill. Going up the hill in
the
morning your just burning the fuel, and coming back down it in the evening
you can't coast because the boneheads in front of you seem to feel it is a
requirement to ride the brakes the whole damn way down.

Ted

 

How does fuel system components on older vehicles hold up to E10?

-KM

 

How does fuel system components on older vehicles hold up to E10?


No problem. Oregon in the Portland area has mandated E10 for the
last decade during the winter. The reason is that during sunny cold
winter days in Portland there is this thing that happens where the early
is foggy, then as long as it's sunny there is this air inversion thing that
basically makes the air stop moving in and out of the city - it just
sits there stagnant. And then you can start smelling and seeing the
smog. They mandated E10 as so-called "oxygenated" fuel with the
hope that it would reduce HC's with a more complete burn and reduce
smog below the federal air quality requirements so the federal
government couldn't fine the state anymore.

Ted