I drive a 2002 Ford Ranger and am wondering at what mileage should I change the heater and radiator hoses. The truck lives in Phoenix, AZ and is driven almost daily.
Change the radiator when it stops working or starts leaking. It’s not something you normally change prophylactically.
Does your owner’s manual have a service interval for the hoses? If not, I would change them when they show visible signs of wear and/or deterioration, but before they leak. You could change them when you change your belts. How often do you change your belts?
I looked through the service manual and couldn’t find a schedule on changing hoses. I have had the vehicle since 13k miles, it now has 112k and I think the serpentine belt and all of the hoses are original.
How often do you change your coolant? I change hoses about every 10 years now, in conjunction with the coolant change. I do coolant changes about every 5-6 years now. So I change hoses on every other coolant change, though for some reason, I haven’t changed any of the hoses on my 97 Nissan PU.
With modern aluminum heads, you don’t want to overheat your engine. The worse thing is if you have an oil leak that is putting oil on a hose. That will ruin a hose in short order.
Check the condition of your hoses at least every oil change. Also check the seal between the tanks and the core of the radiator.
Check your belts and hoses, and if they look good, perhaps the 150,000 mile mark would be a good time to change them.
I like ever ones good advice. The only thing I would add is; in the past, I have changed hoses and belts long before 100 k, even when they looked good when I was refereeing. I traveled in the dead of winter, often 150 miles a night, sometimes 6 nights a week. If there was a problem, I had no time to fix it the entire winter. So my advice would be more for caution for trips and winter use as far as belts and hoses are concerned.