Hey guys,
On the left side of the engine, I believe there are two heater hoses going through the fire wall. On my car, one is a ninety-degree short segment (or it looks like a question mark), but the other is a long hose segment that comes out of the fire wall sits on the valve cover, wraps around the EGR valve and then loops back down to somewhere by the fire wall. Is this what you guys have, or did some twit use this long piece of hose instead of a ninety-degree?

 

Sounds like some twit made their own hose. Both should be those damn question mark shaped hoses, which are a complete bitch to change. I got rid of them completely. I ditched the steel tubes running from the back of the engine to the water pump, and ran heater hose all the way from the firewall to the water pump. MUCH easier to change. One fitting is 5/8", the other is 3/4". I had the one closest to the motor blow out on me in the cold of January, 1995, and caught a hell of a cold trying to replace it. Had to boil water and pour it over the hose so the hose would widen up enough to slip over the heater core fitting. Never again.

 

Wow... I thought I had bad luck. Yes, the "question mark" hoses are a huge pain to change. When I did my TPI swap in my firebird, I had to change those hoses as well. I ended up getting a utility knife and putting a slit in the hose near where it mounted, then it just peeled off. I've never tried the boiling water trick. Both hoses should route down to two metal tubes that are bolted farther down on the passenger side.

 

Thanks guys. I was pretty sure it was wrong but I never bothered with it. It makes tune-ups really difficult. I had to replace one of the question marks ones one time. First I tried just a regular piece of hose. That just ended up in disaster with my heating system and carpet full of anti-freeze (it leaked around the fitting that goes throught the fire wall). But then I couldn't find a question mark hose, so I had to make do with a 90° angle. It worked alright.

 

I've only replaced the ones on the engine.
From the pump to the metal hoses. Those are dealer only items.
I usualy slip a finger full of oil in the inside of a hose & along the part where hose goes. That works quite well for reattachemnt.
Removal, I get out a knife & be done with it.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't suggest trying to make a regular piece of heater hose try to make that crazy question-mark-shaped formed bend. For really easy tuneups, just ditch the whole metal tube assembly. I haven't missed it yet. Even slid some of that fake-stainless-steel-braid covers over the hoses, with blue anodized fittings... kit was by Russell.