How hard should top rad hose get? After running for about 20 minutes at highway speed i stopped to check under hood because I could smell antifreeze. It was coming from heater hose going into firewall. I had replaced all hoses awhile back but used original squeeze clamps. I tried squezzing top rad hose and it was rock solid hard. Should there be that much pressure in system. I am going to change hose clamps tommorrow with screw style clamps. Temperature is running in center of gauge 90C.

 

The pressure is dependent on the tenperature and yours sounds about right. The pressure cap relieves at about 16 psi if I recall correctly. That would feel pretty hard.

Is there achance you bent the heater core tube? If not, you may have cracked the core.

 

I hope its not cracked. I am thinking the original clamps are not holding.

 

Mine did the same thing when I replaced the heater hoses. The original clamps wouldn't seal it...put on the screw style and no leaks since then.
If you cracked the heater core, you'd know it for sure. The floor in the cab would be getting soaked, and the smell of coolant would be overpowering when you're riding around.

 

I removed old clamp, sure seemed soft to squeeze, installed new screw clamp and no more leak, Guess i will be changing them all.