Coolant hose advice for PD (BEW) owners

[Scotti2Hotti]

I have an '04 PD(BEW) TDI. I recently found a weak spot for coolant hose failure on this engine.It's the rubber RETURN line that goes to the metal line to the reserve tank.The rubber portion runs from the metal line to the underneath of the intake (on the driver's side of the head).The weak spot is where the rubber line rests against the cylinder head,underneath the secondary injection pump.This portion of hose is only covered in a chafe resistant mesh and offers no heat protection.Mine swelled up like a python after it fed and blew a hole in it.Luckily I only lost some coolant and didn't overheat the engine. I replaced and re-routed the hose away from the head with approx 30" of 5/16 I.D. coolant hose and worm drive hose clamps.$80 tow,$10 fix ! Hope this helps somebody out there!

[cdetdi]

Good call on the hose fix. Its especially hard with the BEW engines since there isn't much available in the aftermarket. VW hoses aren't cheap....