Rb26 Heater Hoses

[JD_R33]

Had just been for a drive and was standing in front of the car with the bonnet up, when suddenly coolant started spraying out from the back of the engine bay, between the intake plenum and firewall.

Too dark to see much, but i'm guessing a heater hose has burst, and was wondering if anyone had managed to replace the hoses on an RB26 without pulling off the plenum?

Apparently the plenum is a bastard of a job, and after doing the turbos i'm not really keen on having to go through another box of bandaids.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Duncan]

yeah its a prick of a job. give the car and $500 to a workshop and tell them to call when it's done

heater hose is not toooooo bad. but there are also 2 coolant lines under the plenum (1 heater, 1 turbo feed) that often die. its all pretty ugly, start with taking the starter motor out, grab the bandaids, and if its still warm grab the burn cream too

[JD_R33]

Thanks Duncan, I had a feeling that would be the case. I'll poke a snakescope under there later today to try and see where the leak is.

The taking it to a workshop plan is sounding good, just not sure if I can get it there without losing all the coolant yet.

The little fellas that designed the RB26 must still be laughing at us. Bastards!

[Duncan]

ahh yeah its all easy when the motor is out

and no you can't drive it to a workshop you will loose all the coolant in a matter of minutes, even before then it wont be circulating. I never think about that because I always kill the motor/headgasket at the same time because I don't notice the coolant leak....

[JD_R33]

Oh, ok I guess i'll be doing it myself then

Just a wild stab in the dark, but the starter motor will be a proper bastard to remove too, won't it?

[JD_R33]

Duncan,

If you have a minute, can you just confirm these are the 2 hoses I can replace after pulling the starter motor?

And these are the other 2 you mentioned, but they are a plenum off job?

Not likely to be the culprit in my case because they are further forward, but I guess these oil cooler lines could leak as well?

And if it's any of the hard pipes it's plenum off time?

I just ordered a full hose kit, so if I turns out to be one of the hoses in the first pic i'll at least be able to get it running so the workshop can do the rest.

Thanks for your help.

[Piggaz]

Yeah it aint esay... but it can be done.

Ive bent a spanner 90 degrees and that helps alot. Damn that top bolt!!!

[Duncan]

hmmm yeah depends what is farked. none of them are easy tho.

the heater hoses are do-able but starter motor out is required. Like Paul said the top bolt is tricky but a stubby 14mm spanner helps heaps. And the top hose in the second diagram is probably doable with the starter out too, we had to change it the other day. one end from below and the other end from above, if the hose clamps are in the right place you can get them.

the ones to and from the oil cooler are do-able to, and the one to the front of the block is pretty easy.

but it is hard to trace and spot what is going on with the plenum on, no doubt. I just bought the silicon hose kit from just jap to change all these myself but we are taking the motor out anyway.

bottom line, if its at the rear of the motor it is either the heater hose or the turbo water line (top one in the second pic). a pain but possible. you will make life easier if you put the rear of the gearbox on a jack and undo the gearbox cross member - creates a lot more space up there.

[JD_R33]

Thanks Duncan, that makes it all crystal clear.

I noticed that when I undo the radiator cap and break the vacuum seal I can still hear a bit of coolant trickling down somewhere toward the back of the plenum.

Hopefully once I get the starter out tomorrow i'll be able to see where it's coming from, without swallowing any of it.

Thanks again, and if you want some practice fitting a full sillicon kit before you do yours, i'm just down in Canberra.......

[mystery_kid]

i replaced all the coolant hoses below the plenum on my rb20det

yep it's a prick

didn't do the heater hoses though, but i could probably go them without taking the plenum off

[JD_R33]

Just an update for anyone with a similar problem who comes across this thread later.

Ended up pulling off the plenum and yes, it is every bit as bad as people say it is. Imagine putting your hands into a box full of feral cats for 5 minutes, same end result.

But on the up side, I was able to replace every single hose that lives under there, which would have been impossible to do from underneath even with the starter motor out. The hose that had actually split was the little bastard coolant line from the turbos, the top hose in the second picture from the previous post.

The JustJap sillicon engine hose kit ($299 + freight) contains 14 hoses, and 12 of them go under the plenum, a mixture of coolant and air hoses. The other 2 hoses go from the heater box on the passenger side of the firewall and back across behind the engine.

There is also a small plastic connector pipe that joins the top heater hoses between the back of the plenum and the firewall. Mine was very brittle and crumbled just from pulling the heater hose off, so definitely worth replacing that while the plenum is off.

[Duncan]

hmm I actually had to pull my plenum off the other day in the engine bay too....medalist tools make some wonderful ring/ring spanners in a C or S shape, they were perfect for undoing the bolts underneath the plenum from above....wonderful things.

[JD_R33]

I managed to get all of the bottom plenum bolts off with a 1/4" drive socket and a couple of wobble extension bars.

Getting the washers and nuts back onto the lower studs looked like it was going to really suck until I got the idea to temporarily glue each set of washers and nut together into a stack with a few drops of nail polish first. Just popped them nut first into a magnetised 12mm socket and carefully guided them onto the studs. Worked a treat.

[Swiper the Fox]

I managed to get all of the bottom plenum bolts off with a 1/4" drive socket and a couple of wobble extension bars.

Getting the washers and nuts back onto the lower studs looked like it was going to really suck until I got the idea to temporarily glue each set of washers and nut together into a stack with a few drops of nail polish first. Just popped them nut first into a magnetised 12mm socket and carefully guided them onto the studs. Worked a treat.

little smear of ARP moly lube works a treat to do the same thing....great thinking outside the square and using some of your nail polish though

[JD_R33]

little smear of ARP moly lube works a treat to do the same thing....great thinking outside the square and using some of your nail polish though

Hey, it was my daughters nail polish.

I wouldn't be seen dead in that shade of lilac

[ab20000]

Thread revival! I want to change all hoses while the engine is out - just looked on JustJap and can't see this engine hose kits - does anybody know of a kit that is the same? Seem to be a few on ebay just not sure if they are the right ones?

Something like this....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SILICONE-Radiator-Heater-HOSE-fit-for-Nissan-skyline-GTR-R33-R34-RB26DET-BL-/281111064023?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4173866dd7

The JustJap sillicon engine hose kit ($299 + freight) contains 14 hoses, and 12 of them go under the plenum, a mixture of coolant and air hoses. The other 2 hoses go from the heater box on the passenger side of the firewall and back across behind the engine.

Edited August 11, 2013 by ab20000

[Sinista32]

Something like THIS http://justjap.com/store/product.php?productid=17618&cat=&page=1

$150 plus postage

Edited August 11, 2013 by Sinista32