Changing heater hose no.1 (Mk1 1.8)

[mycool]

How difficult a job is this?

I have a manual that makes it sound easy but the location of one end of the hose and corresponding clip is behind the engine and tricky to get into, let alone remove & refit the clip!

Also do I need to drain the whole system or just top it up after the change and will a standard glycol based antifreeze mix suffice?

Any heklp / advice much appreciated.

Thanks

[bluetone]

I had to do this and because the hose is at the top of engine, you don't lose much coolant. Afterward however you should top-up and run the engine with the radiator cap off gently squeezing the various pipes to remove any air bubbles. Bit of a pig of a job access-wise as you say but do-able once you have the coil-pack off the back of the head. Assuming you are replacing the No.1 heater hose; if so you should check under the rear of the right hand (passenger) side of the camcover for oil and if present, replace your leaking Crank Angle Sensor 'O' ring. If this is old and leaking oil, it drips onto the No.1 heater hose and degrades it, eventually resulting in a leak.

http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/forums/p/308/494.aspx...
http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/forums/p/214/375.aspx...

HTH

[Jonny671]

You didn't just buy the hoses today did you?

[bluetone]

Oh and to add; be really careful when removing the old hose (I used a stanley knife) because the copper pipes it fits over are quite delicate..

[mycool]

Thanks for the replies - i'll have a look for the oil - i fear the CAS o-ring may be leaking!