Coming home from the Zoo i smelled something burning in my 95 4runner. I traced it to a leak at the back of engine(antifreeze burning on exaust). There is a small hose that does an upside down U from the block to something else. It has those blasted hose clamps where you are supposed to be able to push it together...you need to have skinny hands or something. any quick ideas on how to do this ....truck has 157k miles and they are stuck on tight..

 

You usually have to pull the plenum to get those off. That or pull off the hood & give it a stab. It's a royal PITA.

 

that hose is a bitch but i found out how to do it nice and easy go buy a long niddle nose pilers they are 14" ones they work great i did it the hard way on my truck and my wifes blow the same hose so i bought the 14" ones and it took me 5 mins i used the 6" pilers on mine and it took me 5 hours to get the old hose off plus i broke the vac switch off but any who get the hose from the dealer its 13.97 good luck

 

In my haste to post I forgot to add V6engine....

 

thanks guys..i wish i had a dremel...put it down there and just cut the clamp off...would be much easier if it was the screw type clamps....

 

oh and make sure u put those shtty claps back on there because you have no room to put scew type on and it makes it easier to move that coolant hose out of the way dont take it off the figer wall you will break it and were are you located ????

 

It is bypass hose number three just FYI

 

I would have to second the long needle nose pliers, thats how I did mine. Also I just got some hich temp hose from napa and actually made the loop a little longer. That way if leaks again it will be easier to grab once the hose clamps are loose.

 

update...got one side off...might have screwed up the clamp....can you buy them from the dealer...argh...i might be able to get a screw type to work on one side. I was looking online for pliers that you suggested and only could find 11 inch ones any idea where to get the 14inch pliers or will the 11inch ones work..btw doug iam in denver colorado now, moved from las cruces nm

 

Update..got the pliers worked great. went to autozone to get hose they gave me some goodyear hose same size. i do have a question it seem a little kinked at the bend does it expand once some coolant has passed through or is there a special hose i need to buy

 

Mine is kinked now too and my heat hasn't worked all winter. I don't know if its related or not.

 

Hey Doug, with the 14" pliers, can you do it without removing the hood?

Also, where'd you find the 14" needle nose pliers?

Thx!

 

Just remove the plenum. Once you do it a couple of times it'll be a piece of cake and it will save you time. Once you don't dread having to remove the plenum, you won't put off doing other repairs underneath there.

 

NM - where'd you find those 14" pliers? Did you have to move the nest of heater hose to get the long pliers to work? Remove the hood? Thx!

To answer your question about the kink: generally no.

Especially with smaller hoses, coolant hose that makes tight corners (or U's) needs to be pre-formed hose. Otherwise it will heat up and relax even more, and sort of "memorize" the kink.

Blockages in or near that u-shaped hose have been associated with overdrive problems caused by a lack of effective circulation passing through the temperature sensor block it attaches to, and also to poor heater performance. You should shop for a pre-formed U-shaped hose that has the same radius of curvature (therefore no kink), or just buy the $14 OEM piece from a Yo dealer. At least they don't want $50 for it!

 

Hmm. After some careful consideration, a cold beer, and a close look at the retarded monkey emoticon, I am going to reject this notion of becoming proficient at plenum removal via iteration, outright.

 

Have you ever noticd that the chainsaw-to-the-head smiley thing has the chain going in the wrong direction?

A real stickler for detail would insist that the blood splatter back on the saw operator, not away from him.

Anyway - where'd y'all find those pliers; and whats the quickest dirtiest route to getting that hose off!?!

Thx!

 

I remember doing that to my 3.0 at about 160k miles. I just took the hood off, got on top of th engine and busted my knuckles until they were bloody stumps (this was before I realized that those $20 gloves from Auto Zone are LIFESAVERS!!!!!). Total pain in the butt but there aren't any real tricks.

 

DCS picked them up from checker for 5 bucks they were great and i didnt have to remove the hood. I did bloody a knuckle or two. I will have to check the dealer for the hose. I dont think stores like autozone,checker carry those preformed hoses that small.

 

Oh for god's sake; how long can a thread go on about taking off a freakin' 6" coolant hose!!

 

on and on and on