Dodged a bullet

[77newell]

Today I was messing around in the engine compartment trying to identify the source of a tiny but persistent engine oil leak. The lower left side of the engine to the rear of the tranny was gunky. While I was cleaning up the mess in hopes of finding the source of the oil I noticed one of my coolant hoses for the coach heating system had a serious soft spot right where it touched the engine dipstick tube. The hose was worn less than some other hoses I've found in the past but this one appeared to have coolant within the carcass of the hose, not a great sign of future reliability. I noticed that many of the hoses around the engine are just laying there so I will be going on a campaign of Tye-wrapping them with cushions and to each other. In my aircraft mechanic days this was standard to keep things from wearing through. BTW, I didn't locate the leak but will work more on that later.

I'm posting this as a reminder to watch those hoses. On an 8v92 the last thing you want to do is lose the coolant, a loss that is usually followed by a loss in your checking account.