Just after Christmas, I received a late gift from Santa. The recent weather is so hot that my car engine went on riot – it almost gone over-heated! My wife was driving to work yesterday when she noticed the temperature meter jumped well over the average mark – pretty much on the red line. She pulled by the roadside and called me. Suspecting it was a radiator leak, I grabbed a couple bottles of water and walked 15 minutes to where she is – just in case it’s all empty already.

Inspection

Leaked radiator hose
The radiator hose on the engine end has a leak and it’s spewing the coolants all over the place. Obviously, the engine has responded to the freaking hot weather of late.

Acquiring the Replacement Part

Initially, we were thinking about getting it fixed in a workshop nearby, but hey, why not do it ourselves and save on those labor charges? which might cost up to 100% more than the replacement part itself!
Toyota Parts outlet in outer Melbourne CBD
So, we went to a Toyota parts and accessories outlet just outside of Melbourne CBD to grab a new radiator hose.

The new radiator hose
The new radiator hose. This is an original part, so it’s exactly the same as the old one. While I was working in a spare parts supply store back in Malaysia, as long as we find a hose that fits the opening size, and looks similar, regardless of the what manufacturers it belongs to, we’ll sell and the workshop mechanics would still accept it – cause they know it works as long as it gets the coolant to where it needs to go. Neat eh?

Invoice
Total cost is $27.30, including two hose clamps to lock both ends. That wasn’t so bad, the counterfeit one might cost $4-5 cheaper but I won’t spare that amount for reliability.

Operation

The faulty one has to go, so…
Removed radiator end.
Losen the clip on the radiator end, pop it out.

Removed the Engine end.
Removed the hose on the engine end. Some remaining coolants splashed out during the removal due to heat-pressure. I didn’t empty the radiator tank because I’ve no time to buy a new coolant just yet.

Pop in the new hose and screw it tight.
Pop in the new radiator hose and screw it tight. Make sure everything is tight and tidy.

A new radiator hose installed.
Whooosahhh! A new radiator hose and the engine gets cooled again.

Before it was fixed this afternoon, I had to drive extra cautiosly to the city to get the replacement hose, monitoring the temperature meter constantly just to prevent it from going overboard. Cause you know, once the engine goes Kaboom! I’ll be wishing for a new car for this coming New Year.