Hello all, and happy Memorial Day!

I have a 97 Accord with 203K miles on it. I bought the car at 140K miles and have done a lot of maintenance to keep it running well.

I did replace the coolant on a few occasions, but never replaced the hoses or thermostat. Are there any recommendations on replacing the thermostat or radiator/coolant hoses?

The engine temperature runs fine (about 50% of the range on the temperature gauge) in the summer, and the hoses don't feel to flimsy or soft.

Just want to get some opinions.

Thanks!

 

My "opinion" - keep driving.

Yes, t-stat's and hoses will "give up" at some point. Until then, enjoy the ride.

 

^+1

I've found the OEM hoses and vacuum lines to be far superior to any aftermarket product. When to replace? When ever the bulge or weep. If you have a failure OEM is way to go. I drove a 90 Accord w/ original hoses to 2005 when I sold w. 290K miles that was still on the original upper and lower radiator hoses.

Note, small hoses to throttle body and heater hoses are not as durable IMO, and preventive maintenance replacement is not a bad idea.

Thermostats fail usually by getting lazy and failing to come up to steady state setting rapidly. They also fail closed causing overheating. A good OEM thermostat will get to steady temp in < 5 mins of driving. This allows faster closed loop operation and fuel savings.

good luck

 

Thanks for the info guy's. I'll just keep an eye on them and continue to change the coolant every 30K or so. I did have one of the smaller heater hoses blow a few years ago, but so far so good. If I do end up having to replace the radiator hoses at some point, I'll go with OEM for sure.

God bless those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, military personnel, and veterans this Memorial Day!

 

The other guys got it right. Just a little input from my own car-

You'll find that the hoses and thermostat can last for almost forever on a Honda. At 210k I finally found a leak at my upper hose. I just cut the hose back a little and reclamped it. However I ended up changing the hoses a while later since I found blue silicone hoses for very cheap. I couldn't help myself.

But anyways- you can feel the hoses to see if they're getting worn. Cracks or bulges or just very soft, weak rubber indicates a hose that should be replaced. When replacing them, I recommend using the screw tightening hose clamps rather than the OEM spring clamps.

Thermostats are good preventative maintenance. When they fail your engine may overheat and cause a lot more issues. So for such a cheap and easy fix, it's worth it. Make sure you get a decent brand thermostat or OEM. 178˚ (or 176˚, I can't remember exactly) is OE spec, don't bother going any cooler or hotter for stock application.

One thing to remember when doing all this is to use Honda approved coolant and properly bleed the system. Since the FIT valve relies on coolant temp, you'll get an erratic idle if there are air bubbles in the system.

 

RR,

Good suggestions, as I too have never been a big fan of those spring clamps and prefer the ones you tighten with a nut driver or screwdriver. I am going to do a close inspection of the smaller hoses as mentioned.

Thanks!

 

x2 on OEM thermostat
I still have my original OEM thermostat on my 95 Accord.
450k and counting....

 

At less mileage than the previous poster, I am perplexed. My thermostat was already bad. Took a long time for the engine to reach op temp. When I finally got down to replacing a bunch of stuff on the wife-driven road warrior, I was pleased to find out the t-stat is definitely in need of replacing.


Getting to it is a pain in the ***, especially when the Haynes says simply to remove the two bolts for the t-stat housing when the whole air intake assembly is in the way.