Alright, finally swapped out my bulging stock water hoses (top & bottom) with my replacement Samco Sport hoses. I apologize for the lack of pictures as my batteries are low on my camera. However, I will snap a few pics a few days from now to help out with the DIY writeup. Please note that this writeup is what I did and should only be used as an aide when doing your own project. I do not take any responsibility for anything bad that may happen to you, your car, or your beloved motor. Alright, now that that's out of the way, on with the writeup! The first RULE of THUMB is to always remember that the safety of you and others around you is paramount. So, with that in mind, please take every safety precaution necessary to make this install a fun and educational one. You don't need anyone going to the hospital because of carelessness. If you do not feel confident in your abilities to perform work on your own car, then either: A) find a competent buddy to assist you...or B) have a professional take care of the install. Tools you will need for this install: jack and jackstands (2) drip pan rags pliers box cutter work light(s) gloves eye protection (if it makes you feel safer/better) Chilton Manual (for your make/model/year car) ratchet and socket (10mm) 2 jugs of coolant funnel Now, let's begin: 1) first thing you wanna do is make sure that your car has cooled off, place it in park for AT...in gear for MT and set the parking brake, use a chock if necessary. make sure that you are on a level surface. 2) next, grab your jackstand, and jack the car up. place jackstands underneath the jack points for your car, on each side. 3) remove the rad cap, then crawl under the front bumper of your car and unscrew the draincock on the bottom of the radiator. also, disconnect the hose that connects the overflow tank to the rad. have your drip pan ready to catch all the coolant that's gonna pour out. 4) wait for the coolant to drain fully...go throw some clothes in the wash, smoke a couple blunts...err, i mean cigarrettes...it'll take a few minutes for the radiator to drain. 5) when the rad is done draining, it is finally time to take off those bulging, crappy water hoses. in this install i'm only replacing the top and bottom radiator hose on my D16Y7. take your pliers and grab onto the stock hose clamp, pulling it back so it isn't making the hose tight on either end. if you aren't using stock hose clamps, then do what you gotta do. 6)alright, now grab your boxcutter and make slits on the upper hose. slice only the end of the hose that connects to the waterneck on the head, and the end that is on the neck on the radiator. i just made a small slit down the middle of the hose. 7) now, grab your needlenose pliers and slide the nose of the pliers under the hose to where it can grip the inside of the hose. once you do that, pull the end of the hose with the pliers till it splits where you made your slit. do this for both sides...then pull the top hose off. 8) pulling off the bottom hose is pretty much the same concept as the top. make slits in the hose on both ends and yank it off. for the bottom hose, you may want to crawl under the car to get to the lower hose clamp. this is where the 10mm socket comes into play. there are 10mm bolts holding on the splashguard under the car. unscrew those, and pull the splashguard outta the way to get to the lower clamp. 9) alrighty! now you have both hoses off. look at them and see how ugly they are. hey that one was about to explode...hehehe. anyway, now comes the fun part, reinstalling the new hoses. installation is pretty much the reverse of removal. you can reuse your stock hose clamps, unless the new hoses are thinner in diameter than the old ones. in that case, grab some of those clamps that screw tight. 10) once you have both hoses on, you can crawl back under the car, and screw in the draincock for the rad. also reinstall the 10mm bolts that hold the splashguard to the chassis. 11) once that's done, raise the car up with your floorjack high enough to pull the 2 jackstands. remove the jackstands, and lower the car back to the ground. 12) okay, now grab a jug of coolant and a funnel and start pouring coolant into the rad. my coolant looked clean, so i didn't need to do a full flush out of my cooling system. flush accordingly. you wanna fill the rad up to the top, pouring a little in at a time and letting it settle into the car. watch the level and fill as needed. 13) while waiting for the coolant to level in the rad, in between checks i decided to pull the overflow tank off and dump it out. it had a bunch of crap settled into the bottom of it. go to a water spicket and rinse it out...pour the old coolant into a container, don't pour it into the ground or a drain!! 14) alright, now the overflow tank is clean...fill it up to the full mark (it says max on Honda vehicles) also check your rad and see if it still needs to be filled more. 15) now, open the bleed screw near the thermostat 16) start the car and watch the coolant levels, fill with coolant as necessary. be sure that your heater temperature is placed in the full hot position on the climate control. 17) let the fan cycle twice. 18) after the fan has cycled twice, fill as necesary and then reinstall the rad cap. 19) check for any leaks and repair as necessary. 20) you're done!:woot: be sure to dispose of your old coolant properly. i took mine to a local garage on the military base i work at and they disposed of it for me for free. there may be a small fee, but it's worth the price...i don't wanna be surfing in coolant the next time i paddle out. thanks for reading along, and i hope that this writeup can assist someone in doing a similar project on their own car. i'll try and get some pics posted up to make understanding the install a little easier. now, go out and change your own rad hoses!:woot: :thumbup:
I seen his DIY in person, and his hoses look great! Stylish blue Samco hoses neatly and flawlessly installed! He knows what he is doing! +1 rep to Mark! Woot!
thanks for the rep points guys, i promise i'll get some reference pics posted up on here my next day off. i had to dig the old hoses outta the trash cause i'm gonna use 'em for the pics. and by the way, after installing the new hoses my heater works a lot better and my car definitely runs better.:thumbup:
hey sorry i haven't posted up pics yet guys. been busy working...and catching up on sleep on my days off.:coffee: i'll be installing my SiR headlights this weekend, so i'll take pictures during my headlight install for this writeup. also look for a DIY on city light wiring and headlight installation. :lightsabre:
