brmurph Posted December 26, 2004 Report Share Posted December 26, 2004 At 85,000 miles on my Northstar I have developed a small leak somewhere around the water pump. Warranty will cover the leak but the dealer said that all the hoses really need to be replaced at a cost of $800.00. Any one having trouble with heater hoses leaking? I did not see much in the archives which leads me to believe this must not be too big a problem. Any comments? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted December 26, 2004 Report Share Posted December 26, 2004 There are a few hoses around the water pump that can loosen and just need tightening. $800 sounds pretty steep however if you ask me, to replace the hoses. Early on sailors navigated by the stars at night and the North star became the symbol for finding ones way home. Once you know where the Northstar is you can point your ship in the right direction to get home. So the star became a symbol for finding ones way home or more symbolically even finding ones path in life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted December 26, 2004 Report Share Posted December 26, 2004 Perhaps, all you need is just taking a screwdriver and tightening clamps a little bit, do not overreact over a small leak. Your car is just six-years-old and the hoses may be good for another ten years. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjtjwdad Posted December 26, 2004 Report Share Posted December 26, 2004 I agree with Scotty. $800.00 is darn steep! Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brmurph Posted December 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2004 Thanks for the responses. I agree the price might be a little high, I guess I am more concerned if all the hoses really need to be replaced or not as I have never replaced all the hoses on any car In the past and have not had much problem. Any more thoughts? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted December 26, 2004 Report Share Posted December 26, 2004 Thanks for the responses. I agree the price might be a little high, I guess I am more concerned if all the hoses really need to be replaced or not as I have never replaced all the hoses on any car In the past and have not had much problem. Any more thoughts? Thanks. I agree with you with regard to the hoses. All I do when I do work is inspect them for dry rot and friction caused physical wear marks and replace them. I will scan the page for you when I get a chance and post it but there are two pipes that wrap around the firewall side of the engine that have small hoses. If you look below the throttle body with a flashlight you should see them, there at at least four clamps that could need tightening on those pipes but I will look at the manual and post the pic. There is also the large radiator hose around there. I will post something later I need to drive to Brooklyn. Mike Early on sailors navigated by the stars at night and the North star became the symbol for finding ones way home. Once you know where the Northstar is you can point your ship in the right direction to get home. So the star became a symbol for finding ones way home or more symbolically even finding ones path in life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jschunke Posted December 26, 2004 Report Share Posted December 26, 2004 There's a picture of those water hoses by the firewall somewhere in the archives. They're green. Someone shot the pics for me when mine were leaking. Just tightened them and all was fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted December 26, 2004 Report Share Posted December 26, 2004 At 85,000 miles on my Northstar I have developed a small leak somewhere around the water pump. Warranty will cover the leak but the dealer said that all the hoses really need to be replaced at a cost of $800.00. Sounds like another "fishing expidition" to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acklac7 Posted December 26, 2004 Report Share Posted December 26, 2004 Hopefully the clamps will have the screw bit facing right side up, your in for some trouble if either of the clamps has worked its way up-side down. This happened to me (I had a leak from the same area,which was not evident unless I pressurized the system). I spent nearly an hour trying to get it right side up. Its very tricky to work on those hoses without removing something. And If the clamp is upside down its darn near impossible to get it facing right side up again....Also I think your being taken for a ride, $800? I used to get outrageous quotes from my old "stealership" and to top it off they never could fix my car, you might want to take your car elsewhere. A.J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted December 26, 2004 Report Share Posted December 26, 2004 Pressurizing the system by increasing RPMs up to some 2000 may help to locate the leak. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted December 27, 2004 Report Share Posted December 27, 2004 I hope you can see this scan clearly, the pipes that travel on the firewall side are for the heater core it looks like, Mike Early on sailors navigated by the stars at night and the North star became the symbol for finding ones way home. Once you know where the Northstar is you can point your ship in the right direction to get home. So the star became a symbol for finding ones way home or more symbolically even finding ones path in life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted December 27, 2004 Report Share Posted December 27, 2004 Also here is the link that jschunke spoke of above showing a picture of the hoses, hope this helps, buy or borrow a cooling system pressurizer and that should help you find the leak if it gets too difficult, Mike http://caddyinfo.ipbhost.com/index.php?sho...ic=3714&hl=hose Early on sailors navigated by the stars at night and the North star became the symbol for finding ones way home. Once you know where the Northstar is you can point your ship in the right direction to get home. So the star became a symbol for finding ones way home or more symbolically even finding ones path in life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navion Posted December 27, 2004 Report Share Posted December 27, 2004 brmurph, If you have a small inspection mirrow, you can look at the backside of the waterpump, just below the pulley. There is a "weep" hole there. If the weep hole is wet, then the waterpump needs to be replaced. (Under warranty in your case.) The small hoses that go from the water pump area around the rear of the block can be checked by using a small shop towel and wiping the lower side of each connection. (You can also use the mirror.) There should be NO evidence of antifreeze anywhere. As others have said, tightening these clamps will usually stop a hose joint leak. A FEW WORDS OF CAUTION: The hose clamps can be overtightened very easily. Hand tight with a standard (#2) screwdriver is usually sufficient to stop any leaks. More that that can actually cause the clamp to cut into the hose and ruin it. Also, be VERY careful about the firewall connections to the heater core. Cadillac (and others) in thier desire to maximize their profits have seen fit to use plastic header tanks on not only the radiators, but the heater core as well. These plastic connections get VERY BRITTLE with age. Just trying to snug them up can break them! Then you WILL have a leak! My advice is to leave the connections to the heater core ALONE! If they are leaking there, and you are still under warranty, Let the dealer break---I mean fix it. That way, if the connection breaks off the heater core, he will have to replace it. Anyway, the dealer is trying to stiff you for the hoses. Tell him, "If you really think that they sould be changed @ 80,000 miles on a car that has "bumper to bumper" coverage, why won't the warranty cover it? I have twice that mileage on my heater hoses and they are still in good shape. Good Luck and have a Happy New Year!! Britt Britt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill A Posted December 27, 2004 Report Share Posted December 27, 2004 $800 - Seems like someone will be having a Happy New Year at your expense. I hope your dealer is not mine. Did you check out the hose prices at the dealer, local parts store or at an online source just to see how they match up to dealer total estimate. Sounds the like the labor rate the dealer gets will be eating up a large part of the $800. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonA Posted December 27, 2004 Report Share Posted December 27, 2004 I would let the dealer fix the leak under warranty, and then ask him to have the technician SHOW you, if you desire, the hoses that supposedly need replacing. If you can see that they're frayed or starting to look deteriorated, then there might be something there. If he tells you, "it's just good practice due to age", forget it. Most of the hoses are silicone and should last the life of the car. Having said that, there's a section of rubber hose just aft of the water pump that has begun to leak on mine. It leaked a few months ago, and I tightened the clamps and fixed it. But it's started to leak again, and I can see visual deterioration on the end of the hose where it's clamped to the pump housing, so I know it's starting to break down. I plan to change that hose next weekend before it blows on me. I'm going to put a silicone hose on there if I can find the right I.D. Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond) "When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brmurph Posted December 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2004 Thanks for all the great post, based on what I have learned I will hold off on having all the hoses replaced for now. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted December 27, 2004 Report Share Posted December 27, 2004 Let us know if we can help further, Mike Early on sailors navigated by the stars at night and the North star became the symbol for finding ones way home. Once you know where the Northstar is you can point your ship in the right direction to get home. So the star became a symbol for finding ones way home or more symbolically even finding ones path in life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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