Exhaust Hose

[tonyiiiafl]

1994 390 CPMY with 454’s. How do you know when to replace the exhaust hose? Mine is still pliable, but a lot of cracks on the outer part of the hose. Do you replace when it is hard? Mine is not leaking or noises. What guidance can I get? I am sure it is original hose, but as you know virtually no pressure in it, and no CO leaking. What criteria do you all use for replacement, where we are talking $55.00/ft for hose.

Thanks!

Tony

[bud37]

Tony, here is my opinion.....if those hoses are original and cracked, it is long past time, before anything happens, change em out....I think you are in salt and mentioned steam before so while they are off maybe check out the risers.

My criteria has always been to buy the best product with in reason......good luck man...

[Alaska 530 Voyager]

I agree. Hoses can be in much worse shape than they appear. I pulled a hose off last night that was original from 99. It looked ok but had minor cracking on the outer coating. It was in bad shape on closer inspection. It actually cracked ant tore as I pullet it off the nipple. Age was the factor here.

[bud37]

Going to add this since we are talking about exhaust hoses.....what I do is check them in different areas especially near the risers and just down with an IR temp gun when running to make sure they are running in spec and no odd hot spots due to poor cooling water flow or distribution.

[tonyiiiafl]

An inclined to replace s to age. The risers on both closed cooled engines were new last year.

[Viper]

Glad this was brought up. The motto should be to err on the side of being proactive rather than reactive lest ye spend thy time on a planned outing reacting to a disaster rather than enjoying the trip. When it comes to exhaust hoses, always assume that a previous owner had to deal with an engine overheat as the odds of that are pretty good. When remedying an overheat, the exhaust hoses are often overlooked even though they can be the first things damaged long before you notice there is an overheat condition. Restricted water flow and lack of volume can also damage inner walls even when engine temps seem fine. The hose may look fine on the outside with minimal cracking due to age but that's only half the picture. The condition of the inner wall must be assessed, and then a decision is made on whether replacement is required based on observations.

If they're original equipment from 1994 and you're going through the trouble of removing them to inspect internally, it's smarter to just replace them. Then you'll have a benchmark date and know that for the next several years barring any overheats or cooling issues, that you won't have to worry about reacting to an exhaust hose failure when you least expect it, at least due to operational influences. We can't guaranty something else won't cause a failure such as critters getting in there but we can take preventive measures to minimize that. That's being proactive.

[tonyiiiafl]

I feel the same way. Thank you.

[tonyiiiafl]

SInce I have replaced the heat exchangers and risers in the previous two years, I will replace the exhaust hose as a matter of maintenance. I hate it when a season is interrupted due to missed items during winter layup. I think I got a GREAT estimate of 8 hours total labor for the following (Labor at $109.00/hour):
Replace hose clamps on stuffing box
Replace heat exchanger on Kohler genset
Replace intake water hose on port engine
Replace exhaust hose.

Total was $1592.00 which includes all parts except the exhaust hose. That should be approx. 28' but we will see when it is out.

More soon!

Tony

[mjk1040]

Tony; No body said this and there may not be an improvement in this type of hose after all these years. But I would do a little research on exhaust hoses to see if maybe there were better grades of exhaust hose today that were not available back when the boat was built? Maybe a silicone type rubber or Kevlar type hoses? Better grade may only be a few $$'s more a foot and then again the OEM hoses lasted this long so maybe it's not worth the expense? Just a thought to consider!