Yea - I know this is a BUICK tech forum... Cadillac!!

[SuperSix]

So - I tore down basically the front of the Cadillac 4.9 today - to get to a 3" heater pipe junction hose that comes off of the back of of the water pump. It's right beneath the front exhaust manifold, so that came off too. At first, I thought the car must have been owned by a maroon in Dunbar, as the section of hose that was leaking looked like a chink of garden hose. Now, I see that it is 3/4" silicone, I assume because of the close proximity to the exhaust manifold. I put some regular heater hose in it's place - should I worry about it being cooked? Will it last for a few years? Should I either fashion some sort of a heat shield or find a piece of silicone hose? Some jackass had tried to seal a previous leak in the same hose with silicone. Lovely.

Of course the exhaust > manifold bolts snapped off - they are soaking in PB Blaster right now.

I also have near complete unfettered access to the starter - I am thinking I should toss a new one in while I have the access.

Car has 107k on it.

Added pics

Hose in question, and proximity to exhaust manifold:


Mmmm... Starter.


Pile o' parts


Overall engine shot:

[Jordan_J]

Would you have to remove a whole lot to get to the starter if you did need to change it a 2nd time around? If so I'd for sure seriously consider changing it just to be safe.

[$1987 GN$]

Replace it with the sillycone hose it stands up to the heat.

The rubber hose gets hard and cracks fast when exposed to heat.

The cost of the sillycone hose is cheap when you consider the time it takes . . .

AJ___

[SuperSix]

Replace it with the sillycone hose it stands up to the heat.

The rubber hose gets hard and cracks fast when exposed to heat.

The cost of the sillycone hose is cheap when you consider the time it takes . . .

AJ___

You're right. I found the hose at my local NAPA. Glad I did, otherwise it would have bugged me. I sure as hell don't want to ear this thing down again just to get to that hose.

It's done now, and double-clamped.

Here's a list of what I got done:
Replaced 2 sections of damn near inaccessible heater hose (Fuck you, Cadillac engineer) and there STILL 2 more that I will have to basically reverse engineer the car to get to.
Replaced all 3 engine/transmission mounts. The front mount has been broken since I bought the car (~5years or so) but you have to pull apart everything in the front of the motor to get to it. (A/C compressor, Radiator, fans, exhaust manifold, a bajillion brackets) If I let off the gas while there was torque on the motor, I could feel the motor flop back forward. Due to the complexity, I let it go this long. The other 2 looked fine, but the are 17 years old.
Replaced the thermostat and tstat housing Oring (pre-emptive repair)
Replaced both o2 sensors (Not coding, (pre-emptive repair)
Replaced idler pulley (SLIGHT squeak)
Replaced lower radiator hose (pre-emptive repair)
Snugged WP bolts AGAIN, the fucking thing is still weeping - I think I got it this time.

As I said before - of course the manifold> exhaust studs broke. After soaking in PB Blaster for 2 days, and using a propane torch, I still managed to break off 2 extractors in them (Fuck you, Irwin). That lead to a good 2 hours of drilling (broke a lot of drill bits), grinding and cursing, but I finally got a hole cleared.
 
I could only not get one bolt back in, 1 of 5 that secure the A/C compressor - at that point, I didn't give a shit.

My goal in the repair was to get that hidden silicone heater hose repaired, and toss in a bunch of parts I have been accumulating - so overall it was a success. It's back together now, and running good.

I need to flush the radiator, do an oil change, etc.

Next up is deleting the cat - the substrate seems to have broken down and is rattling around inside.

I just keep reminding myself:
No car payments
No car payments
No car payments

:supz:
Pic of new, correct silicone hose snuggled in it's burrow. (double-clamped)


All back together!