My first memory of my Zed, after picking her up, was the drive on a 36 degree day. I remember bringing her to my parents place after owning it 2hrs, hearing a hissing sound and then seeing the contents of the radiator being released onto the driveway through the passenger side turbo coolant hose. AMEC later replaced both hoses with great difficulty. Anyway, the time has finally come for the drivers side hoses to leak, almost exactly two years later. (Note for the people at home: If one hose breaks, replace all four!) Anyway, I've done a fair amount of research on replacing the hose (its the inner hose btw) and people basically recommend EFI hose and not normal silicon hoses, unless its a specific brand. Does anyone have any opinion or experience with the ones on CZP? Clickity Click Considering it's going to be a good weekend or two before I can do this, I don't mind the delay in receiving them. I've ordered the vacuum hose kit and lower rad hose from Caz last week, and i'm waiting on new intake hoses from eBay and those pliers 16" Zed4life bought on eBay as well.
Personally when these little puppies leaked, I just went and picked up a meter of 8mm EFI hose and replaced as I went. The bend on that little hose is not sharp enough to cramp the hose. Tip - remove the brake master cylinder, makes it very easy to reach both hoses. That little bent one is a real mission without removing the MC.
Hey mate, i removed the clutter of vacuum hoses around the area, got the cruise control out of the way and with a pair of big-ass needle nose pliers got the sucker off. I used some silicone heater hose from www.engineprotectionequipment.com.au and some constant torque clamps and haven't had a problem with the cooling system since. I used the moulded CZP heater hoses and brake booster hoses and they were a perfect fit and also have been entirely unproblematic. Good luck! (and be ready to lose a bit of skin and blood) Edit: to be a little more specific http://www.engineprotectionequipment.com.au/public/catalogue/product_info.php?id=130 and taking off the brake master cylinder is not essential, if you want to avoid bleeding the brakes try some big-ass tools instead.
That hose should last more than 2 years as the original probably lasted some 15+ years. Perhaps your cooling system needs a good flush if the contents are corrosive enough to destroy a new hose inside 2 years... I personally have gone back to using the factory hose for that one instead of just straight hose. That way you have absolutely no kinks. If there is now a silicone version, then that's probably worth doing. If you are going to this trouble on the drivers side, worth at least investigating the passenger turbo hoses. With these new 'viagra' pliers, it should be an easy job to replace the 'bastard' hose also.:zlove: PS: You have the correct part numbers.
Different hose Mark, he replaced the passenger side 2 years back, now the drivers side is going/gone.
Sorry, the passenger side story was a rather long way of me telling other newbies to replace all four at the same time to avoid this happening when it's least convenient :zlove: The new hoses on the passenger side will last a while, but I'll probably replace it with silicone with the engine comes out....one day in the (hopefully) distant future. BTW, thanks for that eBay reference in another thread to those pliers, I received them today!
Anyway, I've done a fair amount of research on replacing the hose (its the inner hose btw) and people basically recommend EFI hose and not normal silicon hoses, unless its a specific brand. DON'T USE EFI HOSE I'm rebuilding a 2J because of this exact problem - it hardens from the heat and the coolant affects the rubber - The factory ones lasted SOOOO long - Nissan got the materials right
You seem pretty switched on skyline stu, mind giving us a rundown on who you are and what shop you're from?
It's been a kind of doctrine to use EFI hose due to the pressure rating that they come with, and in general it's a much more reenforced hose than heater hose. Whats the actual difference between standard heater and standard EFI hose as far as material goes? Personally I use one hose from Earls for the lot and it's some teflon coated, twin braid, rubber hose rated at 250psi and 250deg and alcohol tolerant. Supposed to be fine for fuels and water. I just went and checked them, seeing as replaced them about 2 years ago, and they were still soft, but these are a far cry from standard efi hose as I always planned to use E85.
I run my own performance engineering company in Hervey Bay. I've tuned 10's of thousands of vehicles over 25 years in the industry (i've a cabinet with over 5000 chassis dyno graphs here) . I've a B Elec Eng and B Mech Eng, member of the SAE and MIAME. I still own the FIRST import HR30 in Queensland (1990) and have set many record with my diverse range of clients. I'm also closely tied in with the Nistune developers - I decoded the N15GA pulsar firmware and wrote the ADR files for it (go check the ADR file!). I also tune almost every EFI system (even some you'd never have heard of)... I'll offer advice based on SOUND ENGINEERING principles, not flashy sales brochures or 15yo kids. That help ya out ??? Stu
It's a little more more than pressure ratings !! Typically EFI hoses use a differing type of synthetic rubbers. Some, but not all hoses use a nylon barrier between the layers(ever wondered why the hose costs more-it's harder to manufacture). It's to prevent migration of fuel molecules between the interstisial spaces inside the rubber. Also reduces incidence of hydrocarbon emmissions from the vehicle. Using earls or teflon is ok as long as its 1) Protected from abrasion from/of surrounding components 2) Earls hose is protected from HEAT - This hardens the rubber and makes it less tollerant to expansion from temperature cycling - seen how it goes 'hard and holds its shape when removed??' 3) Nissan (and all OEM's) spend huge wads of money endurance testing the OEM products Think of how long things would last near an electric bar heater - you've an enormous one fitted, called a Turbo! Think of the cost involved with a cheap bit of hose and the damage it could cause when it fails. Stu
