How often should hoses be replaced?

Most manufacturers will recommend having your hoses replaced once every four years. Obviously this time period can be increase/decreased depending on different factors such as mileage, weather condition, etc.. A Car that is used and driven a lot more than a car that isn't, will need the hoses replacing much sooner.

How Can I Tell If My Hoses Need Replacing?

There are 4 common indicators that a hose needs replacing, these can be found easily on a quick inspection of the vehicle:

• Kinks
• Stiff / Brittle Texture
• Surface Cracks
• Bulges/Bubbles

Kinked Hose

Hoses usually kink because they've been rolled, looped up or bent at angles that they shouldn't have bent to. Rigid hoses also kink more readily if they are old. Kinks can lead to cracks and leaks as well as impeding the flow of liquid and occasionally causing the hose to blow apart from the fitting or cause swelling and then eventually bursting.

A kinked hose can be fixed on some occasions depending on how bad it is kinked, we always recommend taking the hose off and inspecting this once found to check if any additional damage such as cracking has been caused, then re apply hose for the application. Sometimes the damage has already occurred and the hose will need replacing.

Brittle Hose

The main cause of a hose becoming stiff and brittle is due to overheating, overtime the heat will cause the material of the hose to breakdown and in turn loose its "flexibility". You will be able to feel a hose hardening from the outside and then becoming brittle, this then causes the hose to crack which will weaken the walls of the hose leading to potential leaking/bursting.

Once a hose has become hard and brittle there is no way of saving the hose at this stage, we always recommend replacing the hose as leaving it will only cause further damage.

Surfaced Cracks

All hoses are susceptible to wear and tear, mainly due to heat exposure. As the hose is heated and cooled over and over again, it loses its elasticity and becomes brittle which then leads to cracking.

They can be temporarily reinforced with duct tape or something similar to allow you to reach a mechanic for a professional replacement. Driving with cracked hoses is an invitation to disaster – a blown radiator hose can leave you stranded on the side of the road. A cracked hose can also cause the temperature in your engine to rise so much that it actually damages the engine.

Bulged Hose

There are four main causes for a hose to become swollen. The first is putting too much pressure through the hose, doing this will cause the pressure to build up inside the hose and created a bulge.
Second, hoses are subject to wear from the inside out. If the interior of the hose has been worn away, it may look fine to a casual observation, but the wall thickness has become very thin which can cause bubbles or blisters.
Third, hoses can become swollen when exposed to very high heats. If your engine has overheated (due to a stuck thermostat, low coolant or for some other reason), it’s possible for superheated coolant to swell the hose.
Finally, hoses can kink and when they do they are not allowing everything to flow freely through the hose causing a backup, which this backed up pressure will swell the hose.

A blown hose can't be saved as this runs a high risk of bursting (if it hasn't already), this needs replacing as soon as possible.

Hoses can last a long time (long than recommended by the manufacturer), however it always best practise to spot these issues early on before they can get considerably worse and potentially cause damaged to your engine. At a point like this, you may want to consider replacing the standard rubber hoses for silicone ones. For more information in regards to this please our What difference do silicone hoses make blog post.