Coolant pipe replacement every 5 years on V8?

[ttforcefed]

Had a conversation with someone who works extensively on the V8s. his view is whether you use plastic or aluminum pipes you shld replace them every 5 years on the v8 and his view is the aluminum don't offer any real benefit.

thoughts?

 

[txfromwi]

On the V8, my issue was the gasket/o-ring on the oil cooler pipe, it shrank and the tolerances no longer worked - that issue has been solved with the re-design and should be much more robust.
That re-design encompasses the oil cooler pipe and water pump and the gasket that makes that seal.
If your water pump is from Rover it's the re-design, if it still says FOMOCO then it's the Ford design and it needs to be replaced.

On the V6, my issue, as with many, was with the front crossover cracking and failing where it inserts into the block at a location interior to the attachment bolts.

My rear crossovers were good, but I did note that the o-rings were pretty much at end of life.

I had planned on revisiting the issue every 40-50K miles, not so much based on time.

But there are others here with much more experience than I, it's a good question.

 

[ttforcefed]

any thoughts on

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[ugmw177]

Probably a good idea to replace every 5 years or about 60k miles but it is a fair amount of labor to do. Our LR4 5.0NA had the originals at about 11 years and 100k miles. It didnt leak and looked solid but when removing the front crossovers, they broke where they enter the block and left the flanges/orings there. They were obviously brittle and on the verge of failure. With that said, i replaced front pipes, water pump and oil cooler to water pump pipe, also thermostat and housing and rear heat manifold at one go. Been about 35k miles since then and 2 years or so. I doubt i will replace them again before the car is either sold or scrapped.

 

[M32H32IS]

I replaced mine in 2022. About 30k miles ago. Something’s leaking again so I’ll be replacing everything again.

All genuine rover parts fyi

 

[Mozambique]

I replaced mine on my V8 around 40k km ago at 170k km. The plastic seemed fine, but the rubber o ring on the front pipe had lost its elasticity and was leaking down on to the water pump. Not sure when / if they had been replaced previously. Every 5yrs seems a bit too frequent to me as PM. Doubt the plastic would be fragile within 5yrs, and a slow leak from the o rings provides advance warning.

 

[MellonRover]

How often is the coolant being tested or replaced? I've wondered if acidic coolant is partly to blame?

 

[BBLR3]

We arent replacing the aluminum engine block and heads every 5 years. I imagine if I had aluminum pipes, they probably wouldnt get replaced again unless its a bad porous casting.

With OEM plastic pipes, I've done the front twice, rear once. First time it started leaking where the O-rings/pipes go into the intake. Pretty much broke apart upon removal. Second time I did it proactively when my rear coolant pipe broke last year. The pipes were already broken, just not leaking yet.

 

[Quijote]

We've had our since new at 12.5 years and 63k miles. I've had the parts for the job for two years now but keep being too busy to get around to doing it. That said, the car is always garaged and for the last several years it has seen less than 5k miles/year. I really mean to do it this year (along with belt, pump, spark plugs, etc.).

With the use it gets, I expect it to be the only time I do this, since it will be 20 years old before it sees 100k.