radiator overflow hose clogged... how important to fix?

[Corollarry]

This is my first post to the forum. I have a 93 Corolla DX with about 172,000 miles. I just had the timing belt and other belts replaced, new water pump, cam and crank seals replaced, fuel and air filters, and new battery terminals. Last year I replaced the plugs, plug cables, and distributor assembly. The starter and alternator have both been replaced in the last 50,000 miles or so. Last summer a friend and I replace the radiator, hoses, and thermostat. Fwiw the mechanic checked the alternator and said it should last 'a few more years.' I thought about replacing it before it started showing problems, to avoid breaking down on the side of the road, but he said that would be unnecessary at this time, given its apparent condition. Just today I replaced a bent rim, and that seemed to help with a bit of vibration. I've had to replace both ball joints in the front, front struts, and of course axles. Overall - compared to my old 88 Celica GT-S - it's been a 'low maintenance' car. It was leaking some oil - quart every 1500 miles or so - but the leaking seals were fixed, and it's not burning much oil if at all. Last year my transmission was shifting oddly and that seemed to be helped by changing the fluid and adding Lucas's Transmission Treatment (it's been working fine since.)

Anyway, I am going to be taking a short 4-5 hour road trip (each way) and I don't want anything to go wrong. I have been putting off fixing the clogged overflow hose, leading from the radiator to the overflow reservoir. Right now it doesn't work at all. The coolant just stays in the radiator and has no way out. Worst case scenario, what could happen if you have no working overflow because the hose is completely clogged with dried/hardened gunk? I can probably get around to fixing it before my little trip, but I'm wondering if I really need to bother since I have other things to worry about.

Thanks for any input. I expect mild (neither hot nor very cold) weather during my 9-10 hour drive. If I am overlooking anything obvious that should be 'maintained' (something completely different) please feel free to point that out also.

[Rip The E Brake]

f you have no working over flow, you could flood out the engine with coolant.... oil and coolant might begin to mix, although un likely, it could happen.

You can get new hose, at autozone or something for like $3.00.

It will take you 5 minutes to take the old one off, and put a new one on.

Just take off the hose, bring it in with you. Any standard hose will due, when I needed a longer one, I just used fuel line to replace my stock one.

[Corollarry]

Yeah, there's really no excuse not to fix it considering everything else I've done recently. There's a NAPA auto parts closeby... I'll take off the old hose and bring it down there tomorrow. It would be a shame to mess up my engine over something so simple and cheap to fix (even if it's a 1 in 1,000 chance of messing it up.)

[ehoff]

If you cant get the hose replaced before your trip, try running a wire hanger or something the radius of the hole thru it, should be something minor thats clogging it. If anything pull the hose off before your trip so you dont get any type of backup.

[Corollarry]

I feel kinda dumb, but I removed the hose a little while ago, intending to ride my bike up to NAPA with it, and - lo and behold - it's already fixed. I guess they fixed it while doing the water pump, timing belt, etc., and just didn't mention it.

As a side note, the rear brakes were making a lot of noise, sorta like scuffing, and I suggested they loosen the adjustment some. One mechanic (a helper) acted like sort of a jackass, loosening them too much while telling me I didn't know what I was talking about. Eventually I pumped the ebrake enough times - following the head mechanic's instructions - and now I have rear brakes and an ebrake again. It was raining, and the scuffing sound wasn't as obvious, which is why the guy said I didn't know what I was talking about (even though the car was on a lift yesterday and the friction while the wheel was spinning was pointed out to me while getting my rim replaced.) Would being all wet, from being driven in the pouring-down rain, makes the rear brakes seem quieter, if they are normally rubbing/scuffing? It's all fixed now, I would just like to be able to tell the mechanic's helper not to jump to conclusions when test driving vehicles in the rain (if being wet from the rain will quiet drum brakes and possibly make the wheel spin more freely compared to when dry.)