Coolant Hoses?

[NCGuy68]

Car is a 96 4-cyl. with 91K miles. Coolant has been changed every 2 years since new. The original hoses look and feel fine but the old school in me says replace them. However, why fix them if they ain't broke? How many miles/years are the original hoses good for?

Thanks for knowledgeable replys.

[Bluecam6]

I have a 89 v-6 with 301000 miles on it and I have only replaced the hoses 1 Time. So got
apox. 150000 on them right now and they are still ok. To be on the safe side though if
you travel out of town with the car much it would be a good Idea to replace them at 100000
miles with OE toyota hoses...............

[atobe]

i have an 88 I4 with original hoses with 134k miles... may be i should replace them but they still look good no cracks or anything..checked them out when i replaced the radiator a year ago so i just re-used em

[Hajoca]

There are several hoses that carry coolant
Your 4cyl is straight forward.

Rad to Water pump Engine to Rad are the big ones
Waterpump to throttle body and throttle body to engine
Engine to heater core and heater back to engine.
These hoses are reinforced with cord or nylon braid, and the rubber inside deteriorates.

un"stressed" hoses like the rad cap to coolant bottle are not much of a worry, and an inspection will do.

V6's have several other bypass hoses to be changed as well.

[marc780]

I Change them every 4 years. No matter how they look. They may look good on the outside, but take em off and look inside them and its often a different story. The often rot from the inside, also some hoses have metal springs in them that keep them from collapsing and these springs are invariably corroded and in pieces after a long time. Also if you squeeze a cool hose and hear a crackling sound, thats not a good thing because it is crud lining the inside of the hoses and restricting the coolant flow. If I wanted my hoses to go forever i'd bite the bullet and buy braided stainless.