when should hoses and belts be replaced? Is mileage or age the deciding factor.My 2001chevy S10 has 75000 miles.
Miles if before age, and age if before miles. Both are important, because number of miles correlates to wear by use, and age correlates to weakening due to time and environment. Both contribute to weakening of the belts and hoses.
People usually only replace accessory belts when cracks become visible. I’ve never seen anybody replace hoses before they start leaking. It would make some sense to replace every hose under the hood at maybe 150k miles or 10 years, but it would be an expensive undertaking which is probably why nobody does it.
Does your S10 have a timing belt? If so, I would change all of the belts when the timing belt gets changed.
If you don’t have a timing belt, I would regularly inspect the hoses and belts and replace them when they start showing signs of age.
The owner’s manual may have a recommendation about this.
Location, weather, and where the vehicle is parked will all affect how soon belts and hoses wear out. It’s not something you can generalize about.
How long do you want to gamble on 10-year-old rubber components?
Which ever comes first.
I replace the serpentine belt on my 2000 S-10 Blazer every 3 or 4 years. I use the Goodyear Poly-V, any other belt is too noisy.
I replaced the radiator in 1998. Since the truck was apart, I replaced the upper and lower radiator hoses and the thermostat. I didn’t replace the heater hoses (special fittings needed at the firewall). The original hoses were in decent shape, but at 8 years I didn’t want to take any chances.
If you replace the hoses now, the truck will be good for another 8 or 9 years.
Ed B.