Changed the two coolant overflow hoses today. Holy moleed. I discovered some very interesting facts. Maybe this will save you from the hell I experienced. Took me two hours to do what should have been a simple task.

There are two overflow hoses. On one end both connect to the coolant reservoir. On the other end, one of them connects to the engine block, the other to what I think is some sort of valve connected to the radiator. Three of the ends have these pressure clips, the one end connecting to the engine block has a quick disconnect. To remove that one it pull back gently on the ring and pull it out. To install, gently push in until it seats and clicks. The other three require you to press on the plastic clip arms to get it to release, then you pull it out.

Note: The easiest way to remove and install the hose end that connects to the radiator is to remove the two #10 bolts that secure the PASSENGER side headlight assembly, pull it out while pressing on the release tab at the top, disconnect the harness and set it aside.

Here's where the poop hits the fan. The hoses are made of a type of plastic (ABS?) that over time gets very brittle and breaks easily. So while you can remove the ends connected to the reservoir and the radiator, what you won't know is that the ends of those can break and the pieces stay INSIDE the connection point. You can't tell this has happened until you look inside with an inspection cam or your phone's camera. The symptom that tells you part of the connector is still inside is that you can't get the new hose to seat properly.




DON'T try to force it. After a lot of cursing and trial and error, I figured out the easiest way to remove the ring-shaped pieces of the connector is to use a 1/4 inch lag bolt, gently screw it into the center of the piece and pull it out (again, gently) with pliers.

Once the pieces come out (and in one case there were TWO, because the end of the hose at the plastic piece had broken into two ring-shaped pieces), then I realized how dirt simple it is to reconnect them. The ends are KEYED. Just gently push and twist until you feel a click and the end seats inside. The retaining clips will then easily click in place.

P,.S. Another symptom associated with this is "Low Coolant Level" error (or close to that) on the center dash status display and you can't figure out where the leak is after repeatedly filling it back up. In my case that means someone had previously tried to change one or both of the overflow hoses, there was a piece of it still inside and they forced the new hose to click. Because of the poor seating, when the coolant got hot it would start leaking out. When you stop the engine the leak stops. By removing the pieces and seating the connectors properly I no longer get the coolant level low message.