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Pre-emptive Rad. & Heater hose replacement Interval - miles or years ?

3K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  jolson 
#1 ·
Do you guys have any idea of how many years or miles to go on our ML Radiator or Heater hoses, before replacing them ?

I have found some date codes on my heater hoses, so I have a pretty accurate idea of how long they've been on our ML.

For example, one read 14.31 which means year: 2014, week 31. Fairly recent.

Another read: 10.45, meaning, year: 2010, week 45. Pretty old !

The radiator hoses, can't quite read the production dates.

When changing the coolant recently, I noted the Lower Radiator hose was so thin, like the rubber was wearing away, that I just replaced it.

The Upper still feels firm & 'all there' so it stays a bit longer.

I did replace the Lower coolant pump hose, no date could be read & it felt tired out, like the lower Rad hose.

So I was wanting to hear from others, on their standard or interval or how (or IF) they decide to pro-actively replace a hose.

Thanks for you ideas.

David in East Texas :confused:
 
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#3 ·
I did mine about 3 months ago. Not because they needed it just thought I should. As I think they were originals also. Yours would most likely be ok if they are around the age your saying. My old ones didn't feel much different to the new ones to be honest. I did get genuine Benz ones though.


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#7 ·
The plastic coolant tank is a weak link in the cooling system. They get hard and crack. My ML had a very slow leak that I couldn't track down until it became a very large leak. There was a crack at the back of the tank. You tend to look at the hoses when trying to find a leak and not at the tank. My local workshop had a spare in stock and said that this was a common problem.

I've had two instances of leaks with the radiator hoses. One was with the Y hose at the back of the engine and the other was a weep from one of the small hoses on the oil cooler. I've replaced all my hoses for peace of mind.
 
#9 ·
Raya....same thing on our ML....

Ok, that makes sense.

Same thing on our ML, small leak at the clear Coolant Tank, on the bottom brass connector to small hose, it just sprang a major gusher while engine was idling.

It looked like a minor drip & when I reached up to feel how tightly hose was attached, my finger pressure just popped the brass piece completely out.

Couldn't shut engine down fast enough, before estimated 2-3 quarts of coolant dumped over running engine ! Crazy, huh ?

Praise the Lord, this was in our driveway, not on the long road trip we had just completed a short while earlier.

FYI - We did pull a 2500# trailer over the Rocky Mountains and to So Cal & back - 7k miles, so that's quite a strain that causes the weak spots to manifest on this 15 year old truck.

But thanks, I will very shortly replace those very hoses, the funny shaped Y one behind the engine & the 2 small oil cooler / coolant hoses.

The date code on the Y one behind engine says it's from 2010 so 7 years old, and probably 50k miles.

I might let it go further, but it's so close to the engine heat that I suspect it ages quickly - so for 'Peace of Mind' as you say, I will change it out !

Cheers - David in East Texas :smile
 
#13 ·
The Vibration Damper (HD)/Harmonic Balancer on our ML is wobbling. It's most obvious looking at the belt tensioner pulley when running. So I'm planning on replacing the radiator, water pump, hoses, and coolant during the project to replace the VD.

I have the Remove and Install instructions for the Vibration Damper.

Does anyone have the instructions/procedure for removing and replacing the radiator and water pump? Any ideas how to identify the age of the radiator. It is from Valeo, and I assume it is original. I read about some problems with them. Ours seems fine right now. However we have 170k miles on our ML since purchasing it ten years ago. So the plan is to replace it as PM.

Thanks,

John
 
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