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Replace The Upper Radiator Hose

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Old 03-03-2003, 12:27 PM
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I have a hole in my upper Radiator Hose and all of my coolant has leaked out into my garage. I ordered the Hose from mazda, and I was wondering if I could have some help on how to replace it, and what I needed to do and check, and how do I "burb" the system when I am done. Will there be anything else i need to do?



thanks for any help.

-Noah
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Old 03-11-2003, 09:15 AM
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Check the radiator as well they tend to brake around the upper neck. You need to remove the air box first . You will see the clamps it's prity simple. Make sure you fill the engine not the ast

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Old 08-04-2003, 12:25 AM
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First you need to drain the radiator. Take off the coolant filler neck cap first to release any vacuum. Put the front of the car up on jack stands and remove the under tray. It is secured by a bunch of 10mm bolts and some wierd screw things towards the rear. When that is done, there should be a nut or screw of some kind on the radiator that you can twist to get the fluid to come out. Make sure you have a large container, as aprox 2 gallons will come out. When that is done, screw whatever it was back in, and put the under tray back on.



Now for the fun part. Remove the air intake tubing. Just get some big pliers and undo the clamps on each hose. After that is done, remove the 3 or 4 10mm sockets holding the airbox in place. There are four holding the top of the airbox to the bottom, and another 3 or 4 holding the base down. You can just remove the whole unit.



When that is done you are presented with the radiator hose. With the coolant drained just move the clamps down the tube until they are no longer clamping the tube over the radiator and thermostat. You may need to stick a flat head screw driver down along the side in order to get the tubes off. The stock ones will have semi-glued themselves on. When that is done put everything back together.



You have drained about 2 gallons, but you won't get two gallons back in at first. I usually poor in 1 gallon of water and a half gallon of coolant. After that point you will be near or at the top of the filler neck. If you are not start pooring in coolant until you reach the top. Use your own judgement and your desired coolant/water ratio as a guide here. Put the coolant cap back on. Now start the car.. Let it warm up until the first line at the C on the temp guage. Your coolant buzzer will go off. Now shut it down and let it cool a bit. Go back to fill it up once again. You should not see any coolant in the neck at all. You will have to repeat the process several times to get the majority of the air out of the system. You will know when to stop when you allow the car to reach normal operating temps and the buzzer has not gone off. Now let it cool down completely and undo the cap again. The coolant will probably be a little low. Fill it up until the very top of the filler neck, and you should be ready to go.
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Old 08-04-2003, 12:36 AM
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Originally Posted by DaedelGT' date='Aug 4 2003, 12:25 AM
...Now start the car.. Let it warm up until the first line at the C on the temp guage. Your coolant buzzer will go off. Now shut it down and let it cool a bit. Go back to fill it up once again. You should not see any coolant in the neck at all. You will have to repeat the process several times to get the majority of the air out of the system. ...
ive burped by fillin in intervals and pump squeezin the lower rad hose...

needed very little refill after the warmup..

dont forget to have the overflow tank at level...
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Old 08-04-2003, 12:38 AM
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Oh yeah, I forgot about doing that. I also banged the engine a bit to get as many bubbles out as possible.
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Old 08-04-2003, 12:43 AM
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Originally Posted by DaedelGT' date='Aug 4 2003, 12:25 AM
...Fill it up until the very top of the filler neck, and you should be ready to go.
popular misconception..

need not fill all the way to the rim

actual coolant level is the same height as the hose that leads to the ast...
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Old 08-04-2003, 12:49 AM
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There is also nothing at all wrong with filling through both the filler neck and the AST. But filling through the filler neck is not optional where as the AST is.

I usuallly just leave the cap off and run the car and watch the fluid work its way down and keep adding until it takes no more. It usually will take maybe one more time to top it off after shutting off then restarting the car.



Its pretty straight forward.
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Old 08-04-2003, 12:51 AM
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Ahh, good to know. That makes sense, but can 20 mL of coolant really hurt anything?
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Old 08-04-2003, 12:52 AM
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We should probably take the time to go through the FAQ section and start answering some of these questions that never got answered.
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Old 08-04-2003, 01:00 AM
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Originally Posted by DaedelGT' date='Aug 3 2003, 09:52 PM
We should probably take the time to go through the FAQ section and start answering some of these questions that never got answered.


You know that there are not many questions here that go unanswered.
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