Crossfire Radiator Hoses
OK, I did a trip last summer in my then new-to-me Crossfire, and put on about 10K miles over the summer.
Prior to the trip, in fact as soon as I got the car home, I did a complete change of all the fluids, the belts, filters, etc. The radiator fluid looked good, so I let that go. Did the trans filter and fluid flush per Car D.Ologist.
I am now facing another summer trip, which will also be about 10K miles, between May and August.
I have had oil and filter change intervals in the meantime, and did those. Just did a news trans filter and fluid flush (14 quarts, per the "Car D. Ologist" Youtube video, which is EXTREMELY good, by the way!)
I expect to reach another 5K miles before my trip, which will mean another oil change prior to leaving. No problem there.
My BIG problem is I want to change the radiator hoses and do a coolant flush, and put in new coolant.
In checking with all the local auto parts stores, and then on-line, I am coming up with "Out of Stock" or "No Longer Available" on the UPPER radiator hose. I kind of expected this with Autozone and O'Reilly's, since they only handle common cars, and the Crossfire is definitely a niche automobile. But I am having the same answer at our local NAPA store, and also a place called Merles, which in Tucson is where all the professional garages go to get parts and tools. I was surprised at NAPA, but only mildly, but when Merles didn't have it, I started to get alarmed. Merles typically has EVERYTHING, and it's in stock all the time. The most I ever have to wait there is 3 hours for a delivery. I've even gotten Jaguar XK-8 parts there! That tells you something about their range.
When I check online, the situation is the same. NO ONE has an upper radiator hose for a Crossfire N/A.
I REALLY want to change all my hoses before this trip. The car has 50K miles on it now, and I am putting new brakes on it this week, and new tires on it next week.
So, what can I do now? Does anyone have a source or a spare new hose they will part with? All the rest of the hoses are available, so that one hose is the big stumbling block to changing my coolant before my trip.
Ideas? Suggestions? The hoses on the car now look nice, but it has only had easy use up until I bought it. It had 28K on it when I bought it last year, and that was just 1500 miles per year. It was some lady's pet car that she only drove a few times each summer. But last year I was blasting across Wyoming at 90-100 mph for hours, and I am nervous about the trip this year with such old (19 years old!!) hoses on the car.
Has anyone bought other hoses and cut them to fit and then spliced them with a piece of metal tubing to make a complete hose assembly? That is one thing I am looking at right now, but I don't want to reinvent the wheel if someone already has done it, and can give info about what specific hoses to use for this.