My buddy has an '03 LB7. He called me the other day and told me that his radiator hose collapsed. Stumped me, but does anybody have any ideas?

Thermostat's

Low on coolant Rad cap failing.

X2 on the coolant resevoir cap. I think its only about $15. If you loosen the cap you should see the hose recover.

Radiator cap, about 11 bucks at the nearest Auto-Zombie

There is a thread about this problem. In a nutshell, remove radiator cap. Rinse it in clean water. Put your lips to the smallest round part and suck. You should hear and feel the valve release with a minimum of sucking. If you have to suck hard or do not feel the release, replace the cap. The thread says don't buy one from the dealer or a NAPA store as they all get them from Stant who makes them for GM and most are defective by design. I got mine from Auto Zone for about 5 bucks. It seemed to cure the problem.

I actually noticed mine doing this the other day as well.

Just replace the radiator cap and you're good to go for another 70K miles.

Just replace the radiator cap and you're good to go for another 70K miles.
x2

I noticed my upper hose doing that the other day as well....
Some people are saying the radiator cap while others say the coolant recovery tank cap. Are there two different caps or are people using two different names for the same cap?
BTW, when i took off my coolant recovery tank cap. I noticed it does have a relief valve, but sucking on it to check it out (as someone has suggested) won't work as it appears to be an overboard coolant relief which vents the tank to atmosphere (behind the battery) should the tank pressure exceed 15 psi....

You only have one cap on the coolant resovoir.

There is a thread about this problem. In a nutshell, remove radiator cap. Rinse it in clean water. Put your lips to the smallest round part and suck. You should hear and feel the valve release with a minimum of sucking. If you have to suck hard or do not feel the release, replace the cap. The thread says don't buy one from the dealer or a NAPA store as they all get them from Stant who makes them for GM and most are defective by design. I got mine from Auto Zone for about 5 bucks. It seemed to cure the problem.Just clean it and remove the residue and rinse it with clean water and reinstall.....works great
:)

I noticed mine doing the same thing the other day and was going to ask what the problem was. Thanks for all the info guys. This is a great site.


2004 chev LB7 lt sc long bed

And watch your tank level after you clean/replace the cap. Level may drop.
Fill tank to plastic tab, which is above mid-seam of tank.

Here's some good reading explaining entire cooling system, and why a flat hose is not good.
Open up the "Canoworms" article, post #1.
http://dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49060&highlight=canoworms