When to replace radiator and heater hoses

Ozone will tear rubber up. If you got the time and extra money I would replace them. If this vehicle has rear heat you may want to take a look see at the auxiliary lines. They are steel and will break if they have alot of rust on them.

My opinion

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

Glenn, thanks for the advice. I have been thinking about doing it as

*breakdown* prevention.

This van does not have rear heat, so that's one less thing to worry about.

Is the dealer the only place to get the molded hoses?

Can the heater hoses be replaced at the firewall, or do they connect to the heater core behind the dash?

Thanks,

KM

Glenn, thanks for the advice. I have been thinking about doing it as

*breakdown* prevention.

This van does not have rear heat, so that's one less thing to worry about.

Is the dealer the only place to get the molded hoses?

Can the heater hoses be replaced at the firewall, or do they connect to the heater core behind the dash?

Thanks,

KM

You should be able to get those hoses anywhere. Some of the hoses may be preformed to fit. You don't specify engine size but if you have the 3.3/3.8, don't forget to have the bypass hose replaced at the water pump.

Glenn

It's a 3.3. Do the heater hoses connect at the firewall, or behind the dash?

Thanks,

Kirk

It's a 3.3. Do the heater hoses connect at the firewall, or behind the dash?

Thanks,

Kirk

On my '95 GC SE the heater core metal lines protrude from the firewall and the hoses are attached to them with clamps. My van does have the rear heat and A/C though. I will second the thing about not forgetting to replace the bypass hose as it was the first to go on our '92 Dynasty. To see it look straight down between the thermostat housing and the A/C compressor. It is a very short length of hose that runs from the thermostat housing portion of the lower intake manifold to the water pump section of the timing cover.

It's a 3.3. Do the heater hoses connect at the firewall, or behind the dash?

Thanks,

Kirk

The hoses connect at the firewall, easy to remove.

Glenn

..

I'll go ahead and do it then. I am hoping to squeeze another year or two of service from the ole '93.

It's interesting how many old Chrysler mini-vans are still on the road. I see many 1991 - 95 vintages, along with some 1987 -1990 flavors too. I have not seen a 1984 - 1986 for a long time.

When I was growing up in the 1960's, no one would have thought of driving a 10 - 15 year old car at the time. When we traded in our 1955 Mercury, it was 8 years old, and "could not be trusted" for long trips anymore. Things have change a lot since then.

A neighbor had 256,000 miles on his 1990 Dodge Dynasty before he replaced it.

Thanks for reading,

-KM

the 92,93,94 and 95 were the best Mini Vans Chrysler had. When the new bod style 96's came out they had problems.

Glenn Beasle

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Really? I have a '59 and a '65 that I drive on a regular basis. Coming up on time for my trip to TN and the gas has me a little worried but I won't do anything other than change the oil on the car to get it ready...

Steve B.

Agreed. My '95 GC SE 3.3 is doing just fine with slightly over 225,000 miles now and my cousin's '96 GC (not sure about submodel or miles) 3.3 is having lots of issues. As I said before the '92 Dynasty 3.3 made it to

252,000 before the spun bearing and it is now waiting to be crushed which is kinda sad as it had the rare vinyl roof over the rear window area.

I have a 94 Caravan with about 220,000km and it has been the best vehicle I have ever owned. It still has the original exhaust, rad, tranny, engine and front end parts. I have had to replace the heater core, starter, rear shocks, water pump and battery over the life of the van (brakes too, of course ;-). Very minor oil pan and valve cover leaks.

It is just now starting to rust and the ball joints are starting to complain.

My wife won't part with it.

We have a 94 & 95 T&C, great vans.

Only problem is they suck gas like there's no tomorrow. 15-18Mpg is pretty standard for mixed city/highway usage.

Ted

The Mini trip computer in mine is currently showing 22.1 MPG over the last

2070 miles (I never reset it). True it may not be completely accurate but based on my fuel purchases it seems to be pretty close.

Yep, if your running 90-100% highway you probably will get that.

What's your 50-50 city/highway mix mpg? (this is a T&T right? Running

100% gasoline, not 10% ethanol mix? Many Caravans had the 3.3L which is better mpg)

Ted

The number I posted is for a 2WD 3.3 GC SE on E10 89 octane gas. Today I did some around town driving and it dropped back to 22.0. I calculated my average speed via the trip miles and elapsed time displays and got about

33MPH. I normally still set the cruise for 54 on the highway for my 86.2 mile round trip that I take twice a week. The rest of my trips are so short that the engine barely gets to operating temp before it is shut off again. I plan to start using the non-ethanol 87 octane gas even though it is 10 cents more expensive here as it will take less than a 1 mpg improvement to make up for the extra cost. The grades here are 87, 89, and 91 with 89 and 91 being E10. Currently 87 is $3.489/Gallon and 89 is $3.389/Gallon

in

Oregon has mandated E10 for all gasoline by end of year so we won't get a choice. It's already mandated for winter months in metro areas due to smog reduction. I just filled up my motorcycle today - the lowest price cheapest lowest octane fuel is $3.47/gallon. Count yourself lucky!

The T&C comes standard with the 3.8L It really makes a big difference in the mpg. When you have the extra power on tap you tend to drive with a heavier foot because you know you can pass the boneheads. When you know you can't pass them, you tend to give up and just let it ride. My wife's van generally runs 17mpg when she drives it but she is usually exclusively city driving. When I drive my van - which is also an AWD

- it's around 15mpg. It also doesen't help that my daily commute includes a 3 mile 5% grade hill. Going up the hill in the morning your just burning the fuel, and coming back down it in the evening you can't coast because the boneheads in front of you seem to feel it is a requirement to ride the brakes the whole damn way down.

Ted

How does fuel system components on older vehicles hold up to E10?

-KM

How does fuel system components on older vehicles hold up to E10?

No problem. Oregon in the Portland area has mandated E10 for the last decade during the winter. The reason is that during sunny cold winter days in Portland there is this thing that happens where the early is foggy, then as long as it's sunny there is this air inversion thing that basically makes the air stop moving in and out of the city - it just sits there stagnant. And then you can start smelling and seeing the smog. They mandated E10 as so-called "oxygenated" fuel with the hope that it would reduce HC's with a more complete burn and reduce smog below the federal air quality requirements so the federal government couldn't fine the state anymore.

Ted