Which hoses can I remove?

Bit of a silly question maybe but I've been doing some of my hoses since receiving from Dusty, and I suddenly got all concerned about removing them!! Can I just replace ANY hoses in the engine bay?

I'm worried about getting air pockets in the coolant and stuff like that! Mainly concerned after the strong petrol smell when changing the charcoal canister hoses.

For example, where the pipe comes from the top of the radiator, goes round to the turbo side of the block and then goes back into a metal pipe that goes into the engine, there are 2 hoses quite short that go from that corner into (it seems) just under the exhaust manifold (via more metal pipes) - can I unplug them safely?

And why are there 2 (I guess) vacuum hoses going into the power steering pump (I think it's the power steering pump)? What use is air pressure to power steering!!

Am I being really dumb here or what! It was awfully hot!!

So does nobody know?

Bit of a silly question maybe but I've been doing some of my hoses since receiving from Dusty, and I suddenly got all concerned about removing them!! Can I just replace ANY hoses in the engine bay?

Remove whatever you like from the engine bay, it can have interesting effects though

Hoses are hoses, they are perishable and are replaceable. Not sure what your concern is.

I'm worried about getting air pockets in the coolant and stuff like that! Mainly concerned after the strong petrol smell when changing the charcoal canister hoses.

Well, if you take off a coolant hose you'll spill coolant everywhere, and lots of it. Best thing to do is drain the coolant first, well, at least as much as you need to in order to lower the coolant level to below where you are working. If you drain it into a clean container that can be sealed while you work, there is no reason why you can't re-use it (although I personally don't). Airlocks/bubbles will happen pretty much any time you do something like this, and can be bled out easily enough. There are a couple of things to do - one, with the rad cap off, squeeze the lower radiator hose gently and watch the rad opening to see air bubbling out. Do this until you stop getting air out and bung the rad cap back on. Then, fill your expansion tank up to pretty much full, set your heater to full hot, and go for a drive. This will open all parts of the cooling system to water flow, and as the coolant expands it drives air into the expansion tank. This will bubble up and out of the expansion tank along with some coolant (as it's almost full when cold) but after you park up, as the coolant cools it draws fluid back in from the expansion tank, and this replaces the air it's blown out. This effectively bleeds your cooling system automatically. (if you don't fill the expansion tank full you can blow all the coolant out and then it sucks air back in instead and simply makes things worse).

For example, where the pipe comes from the top of the radiator, goes round to the turbo side of the block and then goes back into a metal pipe that goes into the engine, there are 2 hoses quite short that go from that corner into (it seems) just under the exhaust manifold (via more metal pipes) - can I unplug them safely?

Those two hoses are coolant feeds to the stock turbos. I wouldn't advise swapping them with brightly coloured vacuum hoses. You have coolant, oil, fuel, and vacuum hoses in the bay and most coloured replacement kits are for vacuum hoses only, as they are the least harsh environment and therefore the cheapest to manufacture... unless the kit specifically says the hoses can run coolant/fuel/oil, leave well alone.

And why are there 2 (I guess) vacuum hoses going into the power steering pump (I think it's the power steering pump)? What use is air pressure to power steering!!

The power steering indirectly uses that air You have it the wrong way around, when the steering is turned, a valve on it opens and allows air flow from one of those hoses to the other. This bypasses the throttle plate, letting some additional air into the intake plenum. This in turn allows the engine to make a bit more power and stops the load of the power steering being used at idle from stalling the engine. Don't ask me why that bit is purely mechanical when every other idle-raising system is electronic...

Hope that helps

-Ian

You da man Mr C, cheers.