paulyg Posted September 2, 2022 Share Posted September 2, 2022 Hello All, I've been sojourning through the expensive and frustrating territory of trying to refresh 3 different cooling systems at once: 1) Stock early 2002 cooling system (18mm heater hoses, thermostat to divider hose) 2) Early E21 radiator hoses (upper, lower) *Not sure if this is an early E21 radiator. It has large barbs, and the lower barb aims right towards the frame rail. 3) Late 2002 (water pump to intake manifold) Long story short, there are a whole bunch of these hoses that are either backordered or NLA. I've managed to cobble together about half of the hoses I need for a cooling system refresh. Does anyone know why these hoses are so hard to come by? Is this a recent thing, or should I dip into some of the older, unused hoses that came with the car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Self Posted September 2, 2022 Share Posted September 2, 2022 8 hours ago, paulyg said: Does anyone know why these hoses are so hard to come by? Supply chain problems--same that's affecting most everything--and that's exacerbated by the call for near-50 year old parts. By all means use the NOS hoses to get your car on the road and then look for replacements. If those old hoses were kept away from sunlight and engine-level heat, they should be OK for use--at least in my experience of pulling similar ones out of my basement where they had resided for many years. mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John76 Posted September 2, 2022 Share Posted September 2, 2022 11 hours ago, paulyg said: Does anyone know why these hoses are so hard to come by? Only the hose knows. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TobyB Posted September 2, 2022 Share Posted September 2, 2022 No demand. Oh, wait, does that make me a hoser? t 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzei Posted September 2, 2022 Share Posted September 2, 2022 Yeah if the old ones haven’t become rock solid/has crack then use ’em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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