2003 Silverado 5.3 Engine - Radiator Hoses And Belts Replacement

[OchAyeZ71]

I decided to change the belts and hoses before we do a long summer drive in a few weeks. At 88000 miles they were definately due. Here is what I did.

 

Hoses

- Started draining the cooland (drain plug on radiator, hooked a hose up to it and drained it into a bucket)

- While it was draining I pulled the following items for better access

- cover that sits on top of the radiator, the intake tube at the TB only, and the plastic clamps on the top hose

- removed the top hose....very easy, cleaned the two hose clamp points.

- installed new hose, disgarded the factory clamps and used new hose clamps

- removed the lower hose. Had to access the radiator side from under the truck. The thermostat side required a bit more brute force for removal, ended up cutting this end.

- again cleaned both clamp points...the thermostat side had some residue I scraped off with a plastic squeegy

- installed hose...pretty easy, used two new hose clamps and disgarded the factory clamps.

About 2 gallons of coolant came out which is about what I put back in.

Belts

- removed main belt first, very easy access to tensioner

- removed AC belt, not as good access to tensioner but still pretty easy

- installed AC belt, pretty easy

- installed main belt, struggled since it seemed a little snug, and getting the belt on all the pullys correctly was more of a challenge.

 

I used Goodyear Gatorback belts, and Goodyear hoses (hoses were a very good fit). All parts were purchased online through Amazon. As a bonus I also cleaned the TB with some Seafoam since I had the instake off. The event took about 2hrs. The old AC belt had significant cracking in it. The main belt was in better shape, but it also had a couple of larger cracks with visible dry rotting. THe hoses looked ok but you never know. Glad I did.