Total Hose Replacement
This weekend I've started removing and replacing all the hoses on my 1991. It is quite a challenge, there is very little clearance, the hoses have become part of the car and refuse to come off.
The hose involved in the TSB was very soft compared to the other hoses. The next softest hoses were the top heater core one at the front and the main return hose from the radiator. I do recommend replacing the oil cooler hoses.
The small hoses in the engine compartment are easy. Recommend only taking one off at a time and replacing it. The nipples are so closely spaced in a couple of areas it would be very easy to mix them up.
The engine side of the all main larger hoses requires that you remove all of them and then put them back sequentially. They are buried under each other. Make sure you remove the air filter assembly, coolant tank and I strongly considered dismounting the fuse box (if you do: detatch the negative of the battery first!)
Don't even bother trying to take the hoses off without cutting them. I was able to repair an out of round heater core nipple with some close ID bar stock, after I bent it up trying to use a screwdriver to seperate the hose from nipple without cutting it properly (difficult access for a razor and I had not yet gotten the feel for a cut hose).
The amount of care required to do this job is pretty incredible. I would not recommend this for a dealer or mechanic. They'll just cut all the hoses and deeply score the nipples...later I can envision leaks occuring everywhere as the hoses age a bit. You'll have to replace all the aluminum to make it right.
Tools Required:
There are no special tools required a set of strong fingers, sharp razor, basic set of Craftsman pliers and assorted ViseGrips. If you remove the oil filter base you'll need a torque wrench that does 16 ft/lb. Need a light too. Lots of patience and strong fingers.
Extra parts that do not come with the Dali Kit, you should have:
1x, o-ring gasket, Oil filter base to block
3x, bolts, Oil filter base to engine block, 2 short, 1 long
2x crush washers, 8mm, for the drains located on the “rear water pipe complete” (10-2)
1x crush washer, for the bleed bolt also located on the rear water pipes (10-2)
1x bleed cap, located in front of the heater core on near the spare tire (10-7, upper left)
Hints:
Use a sharp razor to cut a long lengthwise slit in the hose. Lightly keep going over the score until you have cut all the fibers. It takes a very light touch and about 10-12 "strikes". When all the fibers are cut, the razor will travel smoothly along the score.
The trick is to stop just before the travel becomes smooth. If that happens you have about a 90% of scoring the aluminum (bad!). Have used fine grit sand paper to smooth it down, but the score in the metal is there.
To remove the hose use a screwdriver to seperate the score and open the hose up. Push on the hose flap that you have created and tear the hose away from the nipple. Do not touch the nipples with any thing metal, you'll gouge them. They are pretty fragile and soft.
Some of the clamps are very difficult to grab with pliers. I still need real wide set of pliers, but I don't know where to find them. I am currently using a method of grabbing some of the clips at a 30 degree angle to maximize the width, but if the clamp moves just a tiny bit it will spring across the floor or hide somewhere in the car.
Use mechanic gloves, Sears sells these too for $20. They'll keep your finger nails clean and prevent cuts that are going to otherwise occur doing this job.
More Hints:
Use liberal amounts of silicone spray, spray on the hose and its destination. I improperly used WD40, so don't make the same mistake as me. DanO's idea of a heat gun sounds good, but I don't have one. You have about 15 seconds before the hose sets and becomes difficult to turn or remove. Make sure the installed hose is relaxed in its position, you do not want any twisting
If possible stage the clamps on hose, not on the receiving end. Experience states that this is much easier to work with. Some clamps are easer to deal with if you can keep open in a Vise Grip, install the hose, place the clamp and then release.
The two piece clamps are rather difficult to deal with, very rigid and they have three "prongs" to grab at the same time. I don't know what Honda was thinking with these little buggers, but if you don't mind using your basic auto part screw clamp: you should strongly consider it. These are used on the heater hose connections.
I was forced to remove the right rear tire and the oil filter base. The clearance is very tight around the small hose and the rear clamp is extremely difficult to grab. So while I could remove (cut) the hose, it would be impossible to reinstall. The base is secured by three bolts and a double o-ring like gasket. It doesn't make much of a mess and it is easy to remove. The manual states to replace the three bolts and the gasket. So if you have them before you start, it won't be a problem and much faster.
Allocate 8-12 hours for this job, depending on how much care you take. You can speed it up significantly by dumping 90% of the sqeeze clamps and using screw clamps.