jessiewonka
Passed Driver's Ed
- Location
- Berkeley, CA
- Car(s)
- 2016 Golf
A while back a rodent of some sort chewed through my upper coolant hose. I didn't realize this was going on until out on a drive and suddenly getting the "check coolant" warning. A local shop made the repair.
Literally the day after getting the car home, I popped the hood and found the chewing had returned! The second photo shows the superficial bite marks, and note that the liquid isn't coolant but peppermint which I tried dousing all over the hose after reading this in a few places, which obviously didn't work.
Next I tried adding this ultrasonic device under the hood which has managed to avoid any further damage.
My questions: despite the new chew marks being very minor, would it be in my best interest to just replace that coolant hose again? I'm taking a road trip in the coming months and don't want to end up stranded. And if I do replace it, since it's the upper coolant hose, can this be done without draining the coolant first? I assume just a small amount will come out, and that it's not cycling through unless the car's turned on. I would've made this fix myself the first time, but I didn't want to break anything and have little to no experience making car repairs.
Literally the day after getting the car home, I popped the hood and found the chewing had returned! The second photo shows the superficial bite marks, and note that the liquid isn't coolant but peppermint which I tried dousing all over the hose after reading this in a few places, which obviously didn't work.
Next I tried adding this ultrasonic device under the hood which has managed to avoid any further damage.
My questions: despite the new chew marks being very minor, would it be in my best interest to just replace that coolant hose again? I'm taking a road trip in the coming months and don't want to end up stranded. And if I do replace it, since it's the upper coolant hose, can this be done without draining the coolant first? I assume just a small amount will come out, and that it's not cycling through unless the car's turned on. I would've made this fix myself the first time, but I didn't want to break anything and have little to no experience making car repairs.