Pics of replacing heater hoses on 02 Silverado

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I know you guys love pics of boring maintenance stuff as much as I do but I add fun commentary to it for a bit of excitement.

Christmas is when I unload new parts and place it on the bench. Branched heater/coolant tank hose, 5/8 std heater hose, plastic quick disconnects, tank to rad hose.
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The Achilles Heel of 99-07 GM cooling systems. As bad as a BMW E46 cooling system, this white fitting becomes brittle due to the dexcool. I easily broke off the nipple trying to get this quick disconnect off and it would be a nightmare if it happened on the freeway.
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Everything removed. The smell and feeling of dexcool all around the engine bay is *OMG! so totally gross* so I rise down the affected areas with water.
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Installed a new puke tank along with the heater core return/puke tank branch hose.
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New fittings. One thing that seperates a pro job vs. a ghetto job is lining the hose clamps One Direction *omgz hot boy band*.
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Same for the WP
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All Done.
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Not gross engine bay vs. other trucks I've worked on. I pressure wash engine bays on vehicles I work on unless it's a bum rush job then idk...
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Thanks so much for postings these....you inspire me to do some hose swapping on my Honda, might as well, she's due some new coolant! Great pictures!!
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I haven't as of yet had the pleasure of replacing the heater hoses on my Silverado. I did the upper and lower rad hoses last summer. Maybe this summer I will do the heater hoses.
 
Originally Posted By: xxch4osxx
I haven't as of yet had the pleasure of replacing the heater hoses on my Silverado. I did the upper and lower rad hoses last summer. Maybe this summer I will do the heater hoses.


It's usually not the hoses that will get you on these, it's the plastic fittings at the heater core. I think the OP did hoses too because he already had it apart for those fittings.

If you own a GMT800, odds are you will replace those fittings at some point. The good news is, any Chevy/GMC dealer will have those in stock. SUVs (Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon, etc.) with 3 way fittings for rear heat seem WAY more prone to failure than the pickups, but it's a pretty regular thing on the pickups too. Not a huge deal though.

Nice pics OP. Engine bay looks very clean.
 
I have not done mine yet, after this trip. They still look good, no leaks but they are last ones I need to change.
 
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I haven't as of yet had the pleasure of replacing the heater hoses on my Silverado. I did the upper and lower rad hoses last summer. Maybe this summer I will do the heater hoses.

The "quick-disconnects" were a PITA as you need a disconnect tool for it.

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Did you use the original hose clamps?

Yeah. They still had a bunch of tension due to them flying around after them slipping from the needle nose pliers used to grip them. I need to buy the special tool next time I do this.

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You're the kind of guy that knows how to have a good time.

I'm weird. You probably don't want to hang out with me.

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What is the plastic fitting? Is it where the coolant enters and exits theheater core OR what?

It's the heater core inlet quick disconnect fitting. Coolant enters the heater core through that white fitting. Once that breaks then coolant goes gushing around, along with that nasty dexcool smell *shudders*.
 
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: xxch4osxx
I haven't as of yet had the pleasure of replacing the heater hoses on my Silverado. I did the upper and lower rad hoses last summer. Maybe this summer I will do the heater hoses.


It's usually not the hoses that will get you on these, it's the plastic fittings at the heater core. I think the OP did hoses too because he already had it apart for those fittings.

If you own a GMT800, odds are you will replace those fittings at some point. The good news is, any Chevy/GMC dealer will have those in stock. SUVs (Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon, etc.) with 3 way fittings for rear heat seem WAY more prone to failure than the pickups, but it's a pretty regular thing on the pickups too. Not a huge deal though.

Nice pics OP. Engine bay looks very clean.


The outlet quick disconnect fitting uses a black colored fitting while the inlet side uses a white QD fitting prone to dexcool weakening the fitting. The GM replacement version is the white fitting, the Dorman version is black. I got the black one thinking that it's similar to the outlet QD fitting. If your heater hoses look good, I'd replace the fitting as a precaution. I initially wanted to just replace the fitting but with the unknown coolant history of this truck and that the truck is 10+ years old I replaced the heater hoses as a precaution.
 
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I was going for the tween girl thing since they think everything is gross. I dread doing cooling system work but it's better do it where there's a shower within eyesight then being stuck on the side of the road and smelling dexcool being evaporated into the air.
 
Yours went a lot more smoothly than mine.

One of the new Dorman fittings went right on, but I think I bruised my ribs trying to jam the other on. I finally just re-used the original white fitting. That's written up in more detail somewhere on here.
 
Originally Posted By: Rhymingmechanic
Yours went a lot more smoothly than mine.

One of the new Dorman fittings went right on, but I think I bruised my ribs trying to jam the other on. I finally just re-used the original white fitting. That's written up in more detail somewhere on here.


I used water to lube the heater core nipples and the QD's. I went in dry wondering why it won't go in further but was still able to pull it out trying to insure a proper connect since it does not "click" into place.

The more I look at the Silverado's cooling system they make it efficient to drain, fill and bleed the system. Rad has a drain valve with a swivel stow-away hose for easier draining, radiator and engine block has "air-vent" nipples at the high points with rubber hoses that go to the surge tank to purge the rad and engine block of air. This type of cooling system plus the LS engine design makes coolant service a no-brainer but gets way neglected on these trucks.
 
Originally Posted By: wirelessF
Rad has a drain valve with a swivel stow-away hose for easier draining....


My 2000 Sierra has this... but it disappeared by the time my 2004 Silverado was built.

I just pull the lower hose on the '04. It drains a lot faster.
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