Product to turn heater hoses black again?

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ron350

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Product to turn heater hoses black again?



Is there a product that will turn radiator and heater hoses black again. I have heater hoses that have become lighter with age that I would like to turn black again if possible.
 
Have you tried a tire dressing? That's what I use on my street rod when I put on new hoses and they went from a chalky dark grey to a rich dark black.



The dressings I have used are Poorboy's Bold N Bright and Zaino Z-16, but I suspect any dressing will make them black again. I would stay with a water based dressing, especially on your hoses.
 
John, do you notice any splotchiness from (I assume) heat after applying? I generally don't do much but QD dusting and spot-cleaning underhood, but I experimented on a truck a while back that was being photographed for a magazine. Granted, the heat (twin turbo V8) was pretty extreme, but I ended up using APC to remove the Z16 from the hoses and textured plastic because it looked horrible after the engine ran for a bit. Sorry for the tangent...
 
VroomVroom said:
John, do you notice any splotchiness from (I assume) heat after applying?.............
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I noticed that I had to wipe/buff the Z-16 off more than the Poorboy's to get a uniform appearance. A lot of that could be the fact that the Poorboy's dressing is also a light cleaner. Anyway, after I got any of the dressings to where they looked good they stayed that way w/o getting splotchy. I guess the key might be a good cleaning before applying any of the dressings...... hoses would tend to pick up a lot of gunk that can be hard to see on their dark color.
 
Maybe its time to replace them?



I usually like to replace radiator hoses and heater hoses every 60k with a good anti-freeze change. Make sure you use the proper anti-freeze depending on the make of your car. :)



Other than that, I use Megs Hyper dressing on all my hoses on the engine.
 
BlueLibby04 said:
Maybe its time to replace them?



I usually like to replace radiator hoses and heater hoses every 60k with a good anti-freeze change. Make sure you use the proper anti-freeze depending on the make of your car. :)



Other than that, I use Megs Hyper dressing on all my hoses on the engine.
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we have a winner

replace the hoses before you get stuck somewhere with a

blown out black and shinny hose
 
If the hoses are in good condition and don't need to be replaced, CD2 works well.
 
Seems to me that if they are in good condition, any vinyl/rubber dressing would be just fine.

I think some of the tire dressings might be messy, so use whatever you use for dash and door gaskets. (my choice is 303)
 
abbeysdad said:
..........I think some of the tire dressings might be messy, so use whatever you use for dash and door gaskets. (my choice is 303)
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I haven't found the good water based dressings to be messy at all, I just apply it with a small cloth or a 4 x4 gauze pad and buff off the excess...... the same thing I'd have to do with 303. The hoses when dressed with something like Z-16 look good for about 2 years before I touch them again with dressing. Not sure if 303 would hold up that long, but it'd be worth a try..... my Poorboy's and Z-16 just happened to be a lot closer than my 303 when I was cleaning up the hoses.
 
I've read many good reports and seen many good pictures of engine bays done with CD2 Engine Detailer. I haven't tried it yet, but just picked some up at Auto Zone and will try it soon.
 
Eliot Ness said:
I haven't found the good water based dressings to be messy at all, I just apply it with a small cloth or a 4 x4 gauze pad and buff off the excess...... the same thing I'd have to do with 303. The hoses when dressed with something like Z-16 look good for about 2 years before I touch them again with dressing. Not sure if 303 would hold up that long, but it'd be worth a try..... my Poorboy's and Z-16 just happened to be a lot closer than my 303 when I was cleaning up the hoses.
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I did say some - tire dressings come in many different 'flavors', like the silicones....and I've used Megs Endurance, a sticky gel concoction that I don't think I'd put on hoses under the hood.

Now that I think of it, hoses and under the hood 'stuff' might be a use for that 1970's Armor ALL on the shelf [hehe]
 
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