I'm having a lot of maintenance work done to the MINI and I asked for the radiator hoses to be checked. The mechanic said they are soft and recommend replacing. I don't have any cooling issues, just trying to be proactive. What is the typical lifespan of radiator hoses?

My experience with maintenance is to replace all, but this is not a cheap service. I did not realize there are so many hoses. Do I need to replace all?

I'm at 80k miles. Thanks in advance.

 

My '94 Dodge diesel with several thousand miles still has the original hoses and I've never given a thought about replacing them.

 

Once he's got it in service mode you might as well take care of it and maybe a few other 'pro-active' things while he's in there. When was the serpentine belt last replaced? PS hoses? A few bucks and peace of mind.

 

In my experience - which is admittedly limited - the ones to worry about are the ones on either side of the upper bleed screw, that feed into the upper radiator inlet.

 

It will only matter when one bursts on you. They aren't lifetime parts. Ten years is long service life for high temperature rubber hose.

I've done late night hose rescue for people in the past, not fun.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'm very proactive about maintenance. Nothing goes for more than a year without being addressed. The main reason why I posted the question is because the cost to replace all the radiator hoses is about $850. Which to me is ridiculous, but that's replacing everything. I bought the car new and have always maintained and exceeded the normal service intervals. I'm having a hard time justifying the cost on a vehicle that has 80k miles, but I realize the radiator hoses don't last forever.

 

I vote no.

You can go crazy replacing every part on the car just because it's old.

Also a radiator hose will always be easy enough to replace if it goes bad.

If $850 isn't a lot of money to you I guess it can't hurt to do it, but I'm sure the hoses are perfectly fine.

 

Thanks for the honest insight. $850 is a lot no matter who you are. I just want to be maintenance free for at least a year (which never happens). I have never spent so much money maintaining a car before, but this MINI is so much fun to drive that I can't help myself. Could have bought two more MINI's for the price I've paid in maintenance, but nothing beats knowing I can have fun without being worried about breaking down!

 

Shawnnn above writes not to worry, that a burst radiator hose is 'easy enough to replace.' Not true. Some of the ancilliary hoses are extremely difficult to reach without a major disassembly.

 

What does everyone think about replacing the hoses on the link below? I am assuming the labor is much less with this option. Or should I just bite the bullet and replace all?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=17_0233

 

My car has over 100k miles and still on stock hoses. The coolant tank is what usually needs to be replaced before the hoses since they tend to crack.

 

'Soft' hoses are usually a good sign, hard brittle hoses, panic!

 

05 MCS with 144k miles... Still on original hoses. Was on original water pump as well until I decided to pull the supercharger and refill with oil. Only things replaced on the cooling system were the pump, block flange, and the hose from the water pipe to the pump. All the other hoses appeared to be ok. The only reason I replaced the hose was due to the location of the hose and ease of replacement at that point in time. In general, I dont think a radiator hose has a life expectancy. So many factors determine the longevity of an auto part.

I'd vote to skip on the hose replacement. Maybe consider it later down the line when its time to replace the water pump. But at 80k miles, I'm not sure I could justify replacing hoses for preventative measure. Maybe if the hoses looked swollen near the clamp or felt crunchy when squeezing them, I'd lean towards replacement.

 

Thanks for the detailed response Charlie. I will check hoses with the mechanic today and see how they feel. Based on all the feedback, sounds like this is not a typical failure item.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

 

Decided to rebuild the super charger with Stiegemeier and also opted for the porting. Since I was in there, I decided to go ahead and replace the water pump and all the coolant hoses. It's a costly maintenance decision, but the insurance of knowing that I will not have to worry about this for many miles to come is worth it. Looking forward to getting DIET SUV back soon. Thanks again for all the input!

 

If you can DIY, the water pump super kit from pelican parts is just a little over $250, which includes many of those hoses if not all of them AND the water pump. There is some work involved, these little things are easy to work on, they take LOTS of patience.