I keep seeing people say that they bought their replacement heater hoses from the dealership... Is there anything wrong with the molded replacement Dayco ones? I know cut to fit doesn't work, but advance, rockauto, etc, all have the Dayco molded ones and they're way cheaper.

 

Didn't know you could get molded replacements anywhere but the dealer. Try them, I might if you don't.

 

i had a molded lower Goodyear one on the new car. I'm using an upper now that's not oem, smoother in texture.

 

I'd go for it. Just remember to heat shield it from the turbo.
What's the price on the Dayco hoses?

 

It's about 24 shipped at rockauto, and 26 for both at Advance/Schucks/Kragen. I'll go put in an order this week and we'll see what they look like. One is listed as "heater to pipe 1" and the other as "heater to pipe 2". Part numbers from Advance are 303728 and 303730. I'm gonna be making ghetto heat shields this week from header wrap and aluminum duct tape, and my hoses are dry rotted because the car came from Arizona. The upper radiator hose literally broke in half when I took it off, and the radiator endtank shattered. I'll take dry rotted hoses over rust any day, though.

Edit: Rockauto's shipping was $7 or so, so the hoses themselves are really cheap. If you're already ordering crap from there, you might as well throw them in.

 

meh, I use the cheaper ones and swap them out everytime I have to pull one end loose. I've had those ******* burst/leak too many times.

 

+1 for aftermarket hoses!

 

My lower radiator hose is from a mid-80's VW Fox I found in a junkyard. There were several others I tried and that fit, but the one from the Fox was at perfect angles to replace the 3-piece lower hose (the one with the metal part and 2 rubber hoses). This isn't an option for you if you've got PS or AC though. It was in great shape, no cracking, and nothing gunked up on the inside.

Go to a junkyard and find something with the proper bends in it for $1. My 2 heater hoses have 150k on them and are still perfect.