today i found a leak in one of the hoses from behind the throttle to somewhere underneath my manifold (around the tranny area) can someone tell me if it's hard to get to the end back there or will i have to remove my manifold? ive got an 87 s4, thanks!

 

You'll need to remove the upper intake manifold. That hose is actually a huge pain. It's known as the "90 degree coolant hose" and no one has any idea why Mazda would design something so stupid. You'll probably find it easiest to use a generic hose from the parts store, keep it nice and long, and just reroute it into a location that isn't insane.

 

mm i saw that its leaking from near the upper part of the hose, would it be possible for me to just cut off the upper portion and put a little metal fixture and replace just the upper hose or is it recommended to change out the whole thing? as u said it IS a pain in the ***. i could have probably done it without removing the manifold but the stupid screwing part of the metal ties are facing towards the manifold instead of out towards the firewall...

 

The proper way to do it is to remove the throttle body.

How I did it? Removed my hood (4 bolts and some clips) and used some clamp pliers and it came right off. One of the VERY FEW times trying to take the lazy route actually was faster and easier. Because normally I have this idea of how I can just "get it from back here without removing such and such" and it ends up taking me longer than if I had just done it right the first time.

 

after some time and depending on the climate is better to change all hoses periodically and empty refrigerant gas you avoid many problems in the long term