Hi All, Water pump was changed today; too early to say if leak has been fixed yet.
Thanks for all the advice/help.

Jim

 

So, I vote to shoot the engineers who designed the upper hose assembly. Holy cats, what a p.i.t.a. to get up to them, get the right angle towards the front of the car to get a deep dish 13mm socket on the nuts on the studs, then even more profanity was heard trying to hold it in place while turning it out. THEN, the lower one turned the entire stud out even though I PB Blasted it twice yesterday and again before starting. Reinstalled with blue locktite but getting that stud in was an ordeal.

Iownme, the guidance of leaving the top hose towards the battery was probably prudent but, as you will see with the pics, I wanted the new hoses on. That clamp up under the hose, next to the other small hose and battery blocking the way to get to the spring hose clamp had all wildlife within several miles running from the swearing I was doing.

Btw, the tool suggested would probably work for some difficult areas but, for this job it was more of a nuisance than a help. The two parts of the "handle" that pivot were not stable enough to get it on the nut, and with NO room to get your hand up there from any angle to steady it was not helpful. The extensions with universals are the way to go as you stated. Oh yeah and the gasket on the thermostat housing was crumbling when I removed it.

All done, little over a gallon refill with cap off and burping the hose to the left that fits on the silver metal connection. BTW, when you start the car to get it up to temperature, the fans do all kinds of weird things (a/c on full) = both half running, one at full speed one slower, both fans full speed. Thought wth? Got in car, MIL on. Pulled codes. OH YEAH, you idiot, you forgot to plug the MAF sensor back in. Plugged it back in, it gave a cough and purred like normal with both fans on high.

Notice the vast difference in hose diameter on right side (towards battery). The one going left off plastic circlip was the same. I checked the hose part numbers when I seen it and they all matched. Just the difference in expansion over 12 years (probably = doubt they've been changed from the looks of them).

 

Here's the "fix" of 2 part Gorilla plastic epoxy that did not hold. Pretty sure the next layer held so well because I sanded the Gorilla epoxy then applied the JB Waterweld. It's ugly but on there like concrete. Not a leak since putting it on there as a stop gap.

 

 

 

 

Will do. There are two drips of coolant under the car but these may just be residual fluid from the tray plus rain. No where near as bad as it was.

 

Just to close this out. I have driven the car for a few hundred miles and just under a month with no significant change in coolant level. Thus seems like it has been fixed. Thanks very much for all the help and advice.