Coolant hoses,what sort of life can we expect ?

[Ringsby4]

The hoses on my Dec 2006 build car with 100,000 miles seem okay,I've felt softer spongier ones on other rides.Seeing as I'm pulling my intake manifold off,I'm considering replacing the myriad of small hoses-five for a start which are all reasonable in price.Then we get to the heater box hoses which would be also easier to replace whilst I have stuff removed-more expensive,then there's the main radiator inlet/outlet,waay expensive ,all in all over a couple of hundred of your $$'s (I'm in Australia so add 30% plus freight)
Also it is a wait for parts wheras you guy's can get them quickly if you have a failure.
I have new coolant flange/thermostat/senders sitting here,ready to go in.
Just in how many miles/Kms have you seen failures in a similar year car ? Am I getting carried away ?

[Okedokey]

They're probably fine, but I am a bit OCD, whenever I reveal parts that can fail during other maintenance I replace them.

[Low and Behold]

Agreed. I don't think you're getting carried away, just thinking ahead. If you're planning on keeping the car for a long time I say change the hoses - especially if it's going to give you peace of mind


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[Ringsby4]

Yea,OCD Moi as well....but there is a thing called a Budget (which luckily my wife is not too involved with as far as Wolfie go's ! )
But I would still like to know for my year,just when do the hoses start failing ??
Presumably Audi sourced the same hose manufacturer for around that time.
i'd just like to know and of course it means hearing from owners with a lot more than my mileage,thanks

[mtroxel]

For what its worth, I had 261,000 miles on my first B5 and 222,000 on my dearly departed 2nd B5, never had a coolant hose go bad on either one of them.

[pezgoon]

Yea,OCD Moi as well....but there is a thing called a Budget (which luckily my wife is not too involved with as far as Wolfie go's ! )
But I would still like to know for my year,just when do the hoses start failing ??
Presumably Audi sourced the same hose manufacturer for around that time.
i'd just like to know and of course it means hearing from owners with a lot more than my mileage,thanks

Off thread, just out of curiosity why do you refer to it as wolfie? I ask because when I was probably 12 (I'm 25 if your wondering, I know I'm young lol) I traveled through europe with my dad and we visited the VW plant, I was going through things I have stored the other day and found like 15 wolf stickers that I had gotten from the plant that I completely forgot about and have never figured out how they are associated to VW, so I'm curious if you may know since that's what you call it!

Is it because of Wolfsburg, Germany?

[Ringsby4]

Off thread, just out of curiosity why do you refer to it as wolfie? I ask because when I was probably 12 (I'm 25 if your wondering, I know I'm young lol) I traveled through europe with my dad and we visited the VW plant, I was going through things I have stored the other day and found like 15 wolf stickers that I had gotten from the plant that I completely forgot about and have never figured out how they are associated to VW, so I'm curious if you may know since that's what you call it!

Is it because of Wolfsburg, Germany?

Nein, haha actually the previous owner named him Wolfgang and its just stuck,its one of those monikers that really associate with Germany and he's also a very male car ! auf wiedersehen

[Chris@EPL]

I have 259k on my B7 and have not replaced a coolant hose yet.

[Ringsby4]

"For what its worth, I had 261,000 miles on my first B5 and 222,000 on my dearly departed 2nd B5, never had a coolant hose go bad on either one of them."Mtroxel,thats a lot of miles for sure.....I'd like to think as well that if a hose did blow,that the CEL and audible warning would leave enough time to save the head etc-anyone with thoughts about that aspect ??
Just would there be enough reaction time before things got really HOT ?

[mtroxel]

Just would there be enough reaction time before things got really HOT ?

If a hose blew:

1. You would have lots of steam
2. You'd smell coolant
3. You'd have a low coolant light
4. Soon you'd get an overheat light

[Ringsby4]

If a hose blew:

1. You would have lots of steam
2. You'd smell coolant
3. You'd have a low coolant light
4. Soon you'd get an overheat light

Thanks for the reminder,its been decades since Ive blown one and with the cars of that era,only 1 and 2 would have been the warnings ( and maybe a working temp gauge if I was lucky,lol )
There's a sender on the base of the coolant expansion tank IIRC ? so there's one signal source for a warning......

[Ringsby4]

I have 259k on my B7 and have not replaced a coolant hose yet.

Gee,thats a lot of Mls as well ! I see you're from the state of my best USA parts supplier,FCP Euro,free plug but they are fantastic to deal with ! ( They don't stock many coolant hoses for A4's unfortunately,but maybe I'm getting talked out of spending those $$'s anyway )

[Okedokey]

Ebay will be the best bet for us Ringer

[Ringsby4]

Ebay will be the best bet for us Ringer

for sure OD,off topic but what do you know about old A3's ? I started a thread over on the A3 sub forum,could you kindly have a look ?