Coolant Hoses Availability - Be Aware

[Brillot2000]

While replacing the radiator due to a leak in one its bars, I decided to replace all the 8-year-old coolant hoses.

There appears to be a shortage of the 2 cylinder top hoses, 19504-MEW-920 & 19505-MEW-920. 2010 Honda NT700VA AC RADIATOR. All the other hoses are readily available, go figure.

What makes these hoses very special that there are not any anywhere in North America? They mentioned that they are coming directly from Japan.

My dealer told me that the ETA for these being due is by 12/10/18, which is less than a week away. At the time I ordered them it was much longer.

NaTalie has been out of service over a month and all apart in my garage waiting on this hoses to continue with the reassembly. NaTalie has been a lady in waiting for some time now.

 

[seagrass]

Thanks for the info.

Was there something wrong with the hoses that you decided to replace them?

I am guessing they stock the lower hoses as they are subject to damage due to their location, close to the road.

Seagrass

 

[Brillot2000]

They were weeping coolant at the joints and were getting hard.

I replaced all the lower hoses and those were readily available. Another thing is that one of the coolant lines going to the oil filter has to be trimmed to be installed.

What prompted this was the radiator was leaking and spraying in the engine bay. A new radiator was $145 USD and another $50 for all the hoses.

Getting to all the top hoses is a lot of work. The throttle bodies have to be removed to gain access to the cylinder hoses.

 

[DirtFlier]

Honda parts having to come from Japan isn't so unusual. It's happened to me several times in the past and I did get the parts but you can't be in a hurry and that's when having a 2nd bike really helps.

It seems that old hoses often leak when all the "cushion" in the rubber (due to hose clamp pinching) has long since disappeared.

 

[Brillot2000]

Honda parts having to come from Japan isn't so unusual. It's happened to me several times in the past and I did get the parts but you can't be in a hurry and that's when having a 2nd bike really helps.

It has been a long time that I had to wait for dealer parts in the past few years. I could get parts for my 31-year-old XL600R in a couple of days, believe it or not. I had to order a replacement headlight assembly for NaTalie and it arrived in a fraction of the time. Waiting a month for a couple of hoses is killing me.

I happen to have 2 other bikes. NaNCy has been getting a lot more time on the road since NaTalie has been down.

I miss the fairing on NaTalie on these cooler mornings riding into work and the cooler evenings back home.

 

[Brillot2000]

I'm surprised the hoses needed to be replaced. When I was growing up, you replaced the hoses on your cars every couple of years. Whatever they were made of, just deteriorated over time. But I haven't replaced a hose on anything in 30 plus years. When you get the new hoses, I wonder how "hard" they will be too?

Chris

This is most likely due to people do not keep a vehicle long enough nowadays requiring this type of maintenance. The average person changes cars or any other vehicles every 3 years. It is not common anymore to buy a single vehicle and own it for a lifetime.

My granddad bought his new Ford F250 back in 1964 and keep it until his death in 2012 in usable condition all those years. This is not a common practice these days.

The longest I ever owned a single motorcycle was almost 10 years. I owned an ST1300 for 8 years before trading it in for a Zero SR. The Zero only lasted 2 years and it was a complete "LEMON".

 

[ARKNT]

The Zero only lasted 2 years

I would guess you didn't need to change the coolant hoses on the zero. See, always a silver lining.

Brad

 

[Brillot2000]

I actually don't even think of coolant hoses anymore. I check the radiator fluid level, but the hoses just seem to last forever.

Different strokes for different folks as the saying goes.

I was raised by 2 old school mechanics, my father, and grandfather. They both taught me to go through anything that you can while in there doing a job. Replacement of all the hoses is a preventive measure on my part. I may never have to replace them again and I will have that piece of mind of knowing so. Many of these hoses were either hard or swollen. As per my previous training stated to replace them before they fail and not to mention the many weeping joints that I found during this process.

The leaking radiator needed to be taken care of. I choose to go this route and it will bring me comfort knowing that I replaced all these hoses.

 

[Brillot2000]

The Zero only lasted 2 years

I would guess you didn't need to change the coolant hoses on the zero. See, always a silver lining.

Brad

I was beginning to worry if the "Blinker Fluid" was getting low... :rolleyes1:

 

[Brillot2000]

Progress Update: The dealer is still showing the 2 top hoses are on Back Order. I cannot wait any longer for these hoses, so I decided to reuse those same hoses and take the risk. I cleaned the joints on both the Thermostat housing and the hose ends the best I could to get the all the coolant scale off of the mating surfaces last night. I installed all the other cooling components and tightened all the clamps. Then I filled up the bike with glycol (a.k.a. Antifreeze) and ran the bike until the thermostat opened up and then continued to run the bike until the fan came on. All looked good last night.

Later on tonight, I will top off both the radiator and reservoir bottle. Then will start putting on all the Tupperware back onto the bike. Then NaTalie will be back in service. I was beginning to miss her and I cannot wait to start riding her once again.

The new hoses will show up when they show up at this point.

I will have them in my stash of parts just in case they are needed at a later time.

 

[mikesim]

If it's any comfort, modern cooling system hoses have a much longer life than what you may have been used to years ago. I wouldn't worry about the longevity.

Mike

 

[Brillot2000]

If it's any comfort, modern cooling system hoses have a much longer life than what you may have been used to years ago. I wouldn't worry about the longevity.

Mike

Thanks for the reassurance.

FYI... The hose between the filler and reservoir bottle was toast. It almost turned to crumbs then I handled it. It looks like the standard hose Honda uses for either fuel or vacuum lines. If any of you get a leak, it could most likely be from here.

 

[Shadowjack]

Progress Update: The dealer is still showing the 2 top hoses are on Back Order.

Honda's practice used to be to schedule a new production run after they got a certain number of back orders. But not until there was enough demand.

 

[RedLdr1]

Check on the UK eBay website...they have some listed on it.

 

[Brillot2000]

Check on the UK eBay website...they have some listed on it.

I already ordered these and paid for them. I am currently waiting for them to arrive. Thanks for the offer though.

I put NaTalie back together before the weekend using the old hoses. I rode her into work after 6 weeks of being in waiting. The engine temperatures were within normal levels on the way in. I will be keeping an eye out for leaks in the area of the reused hoses and the coolant levels in the reservoir tank for the next couple of days.

I used a high-quality silicate free prediluted coolant readily available from anywhere, not the blue Honda stuff.

 

[Nick Wilkinson]

‘Rubber’ can be something of a lottery. In Britain, we have mandatory annual safety checks. On my car, the rubbers holding an anti-roll bar had perished. I replaced them with factory parts fresh out of the sealed bags. The following year it failed again on the same components. I suppose that the replacements were made at the same time as the ones originally fitted.
Unless it has to look in showroom condition, consider going for the cheapest option.

 

[RedLdr1]

‘Rubber’ can be something of a lottery.

Very true... I've opened some very expensive New Old Stock (NOS) classic Corvette part packages only to have little pieces fall out in to my hand... On the car, or on the shelf, some components just don't age well...

 

[Brillot2000]

I have two sets of these hoses now since they came in from both dealers that I ordered them from. The OEM hoses are still holding. I will not change these for some time to come or until they start leaking. If someone needs these hoses, I'd be willing to parts with one set of them.

Let me know if anyone is interested in a set.