Do radiator hoses last forever , until they break? Is 14 years pushing things?

I replaced them 14 years ago because the coolant hose under the beehive oil cooler broke thanks to the supposedly professional mechanics that let the oil drip on the hose during oil filter changes.

Does anyone have an answer or does everyone here constantly change the hoses because they are always upgrading to turbo and dual turbo , steet ported, race ported 12 a engines?

 

Radiator hoses do not have a "Factory" service interval for our cars.

However they are subject to the standard inspection process. If they are hard, excessively soft or swollen then they should be replaced.

When in doubt replace them. Some hoses such as the one under the beehive and the T/body ones on Se's are more subject to wear.

14 years is a long time for a rubber part also.

At a shop that I was a service manager our recommendation for hose replacement was 5 yrs or 60k.

 

thx doc !!

what kind of shop (dealer, indy , shade tree , ...corrupt sleazy etc. ) were you a svc mgr at ?

The ones that I replaced 14 years ago were at least 6 years old, they may have been replaced sometime before I bought the car.

 

Doc has never worked at a sleazy or non-reputable place. I have a reputation to uphold!

It was a Elite German repair facility and Authorized Bosch Service Center.

We serviced and repaired Porsche, BMW, Mercedes amongst others.

 

what is the coolant capacity for an '83 rx-7 12a?

When I drain and refill, drain and refill....it takes 4 liters of water...........how many times do I have to drain and refill to get the radiator flush out?

and if I refill with 50:50 mixture, it won't be 50:50 due to the residual water in the engine.

this was a high school algebra problem

 

Simple answer is to also remove the block drain along with the radiator drain plug. Then pre-mix your coolant before filling.

 

I once removed what Clymers or Chiltons (?) said was the block coolant drain. I swore oil came out. Engine ran fine before and after. So please post a picture of block drain.

 

the MAZDA hoses last for a pretty good bit, they are made of a rubber that gets hard over time, the aftermarket hoses get soft.

examples?

my 90,000mile 5/78 SA made it to 2007 on the original hoses, i changed em, and upon inspection of the old hoses, it really didn't need em yet.

my current GXL, just turned 75k, i just changed the 2 radiator hoses, old ones were so/so

the best deal in the world are the mazda OEM radiator hoses, they last 15 years instead of 15 months...

i also agree with rx7 doctor, ditch the cylmers, its not even good for a doorstop.

you DO need to change the entire cooling system on a german car every 60k. they actually make the whole car out of recycled plastic, but its not very long lived in the cooling system.

 

I never knew there was a drain plug on the 12A for the coolant until a few months ago. I always though the radiator drain plug was the only one. And here all those times I was removing the intake manifold, I could have drained the coolant out first. Oh well, now I know.