Hose and belt age- preventive maint. question

[Americanrascal]

2016 F53 26000 lb chassis. Have 46,000 miles and have been pondering when to pull the trigger on hose and belt changes. Leaks obviously- but what about age and engine time/mileage ?????

Any advice or thoughts out there in thread land on when to pull the trigger? I know I am due for a coolant change, but logically would time that for when I do the hoses if I need to be thinking about changing hoses sooner?

Also on the WBGO Adventurer 38Q they run a heater hose to the rear of the rig (about 35ft) to provide coach heat and hot water heater heat while in travel. Anyone had any experience with changing those lines? I've looked on line at the WBGO schematics and they are somewhat fuzzy on the routing of that long hose.

[twinboat]

Service manual says somewhere around 100,000 miles for the belt.

Probably mentions the hoses too, just haven't looked.

[ga traveler]

My Pace Arrow is way overdue. I am in the process of doing that just now. I am changing the water pump, fan clutch, thermostat, and all hoses. The new hoses are much, much better than the old days. I went 22 years with no problem, but I think ten years or 100,000 miles would be O.K. ( the coolant has been changed, but not all the other things.)

[Nickd]

Pretty sure the coolant in a 2016 is lifetime (100k + miles) rated. Not sure I would touch it unless it says to do so in your manual. The new stuff is Ph balanced and very advanced. Just use distilled water or Ford pre mixed coolant when you fill the overflow bottle from evaporation loss from time to time.

That long heater hose always worried me in our 99 Brave. It does run through a steel pipe along the frame though. I disconnected the rear heater after the front heater core leaked at 17 years old. Never used the rear heater anyway.

The only other leak we had in 19 years was a cracked overflow bottle. the plastic gets hard and yellow. everything else is Built Ford tough I would say.

Inspect the belt and if its in good shape, drive on. What usually kills the belts is trying to charge a dead battery after the rig sits. You will hear it squeal as the alternator loads up (ask me how I know).
With good coach battery maintenance they seem to last just fine.

On our 2019, the solar charger tops the engine battery after the house batteries are in float mode. Learned a few lessons in the last 15 years driving an older rig.

[Americanrascal]

Good info. Will try to confirm the coolant.

I am a bit skeptical about hoses when they get 5+ years.

[SteveJ.]

I would suggest buying a belt and keep either the new one or the used one as a spare.

[Americanrascal]

Found in manual (I'm a bit slow on some of these searches) says replace belt at 150,000 miles if not replaced within last 100,000 miles resulting from inspections. Coolant change 105,000 miles then every 3yrs or 45,000 miles. Both seem long to me but I'm a bit old school- will carry some spares.

Can't find anything else on hoses other than regular inspection. Probably will do them over 60,000 miles? That long hose heater to the rear already failed once when the factory punched a hole in it with a screw through the dog house. Managed to splice it OK but I know at some point I'll want that replaced.

All in brief service bullets on pages 131- 132 owners manual

Thanks for all the input.

Joe

[House Husband]

I believe you'll find those coolant lines running to the water heater are pipe with hoses on both ends. So very little extra hose.

Richard

[TonyDi]

On my old Dutch Star my belt self-destructed at about 5 years with 23,000 miles. There were no malfunctions. Maybe a bad belt who knows. Now I always carry a spare.