Stubborn heater hoses on '94 855T

HMS Surprise1 · Post by **HMS Surprise1** » 23 May 2010, 08:25

Tried posting this earlier and I think I lost my text in the submission process. My apologies if this is a duplicate.

I am replacing the heater hoses in my '94 855T. Disassembly has been straightforward right up to the point of removing the hoses from the coupler on the firewall. I read elsewhere on the forum to depress the tabs on the locking clips, push in towards the firewall until a "click" is heard and while keeping the tabs depressed, pull backwards on the hose and it should release from its captive coupler. I tried this procedure numerous times and not only am I not hearing a click, but the hose is still secured to the coupler. It appears as though depressing the tabs is not resulting in any appreciable relaxing of the clip. Anyone have any suggestions/options?

I am treading lightly in this process as I do not want to break the coupler and have a bigger issue to deal with. I do need to do my A/C evaporator and plan to replace the heater core and coupler while I am in there, but now is not the time.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 23 May 2010, 15:03

Do your locking tabs have both of the ears? I had one that the ear was broken off of and it took me a solid hour with a screwdriver to finally get it to release.

The ears need to be depressed on both sides to get the coupler to disconnect. Otherwise it should work as you originally described.

...Lee

HMS Surprise1 · Post by **HMS Surprise1** » 23 May 2010, 21:00

Thanks for your reply. It took me closer to two hours but I finally got them both removed. I used my set of picks, steak knives and screwdrivers. Both tabs were there but they were very soft and were starting to tear. I think they refused to budge because they appeared to be the original hoses and were gunked in place. I used a little more muscle, too than I had been using when I posted earlier today. The FWD packaging makes this a little tighter to work on than say my 944 track car. The only thing that steams me about that car is the non-service friendly clutch!

Again, many thanks for the help!