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BH1400-BK - FK8 Type R Radiator Hoses

2018 - 2020 Honda Civic Type R

Congratulations on your purchase of the COBB Tuning Radiator Hoses! The following instructions will assist you through the installation process. Please read them BEFORE beginning the install to familiarize yourself with the steps and tools needed. If you feel you cannot properly perform this installation, we HIGHLY recommend you take the vehicle to a qualified and experienced automotive technician.

Stock Hose Removal

1. Park your car in a flat, level area and allow it to cool down completely. When in doubt, put gloves on and gently squeeze the radiator hoses to make sure the cooling system isn’t under pressure any longer.
   
   
   

2. Your car will need to be on jack stands or a lift to do this job as we’ll be going under the car to get to the drain and lower radiator hose. If you can't lift and support the car properly on jack stands or a lift, it’s a good time to take your car somewhere else to do this job safely.
   
   

3. Remove the trim clips holding the upper radiator panel in place. To do so, lift the center portion out using your trim tool, then lift the body of the clip out.
   
   

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4. Remove the two 10mm bolts holding the intake to the core support.
   
   

   
   
   

5. On the underside of the panel, gently undo the clips holding the intake snorkel to the panel. These can be gently squeezed and pushed outward to remove the weather stripping. Once removed you can lift the panel out of the engine bay and set it somewhere safe.
   
   

   
   
   

6. With that panel removed you can start working on the intake. You can either completely remove the intake, or just remove the connecting hose that goes over the radiator hoses. If you want to remove the intake there are two 10mm bolts down on the frame holding the airbox in place, unclip the MAF sensor, and then remove the accordion coupler from the engine side using a Phillips screwdriver.
   
   Otherwise you can just remove the accordion coupler using your Phillips screwdriver.
   
   

   
   
   

7. Moving under the car, all of the flat blade screwdriver hardware are simple quarter-turn fasteners. If you turn them about 90 degrees they should be freed from what they’re into.
   
   

   
   
   

8. You’ll need to use a Phillips for the front two bolts that hold the skid plate in place. Once all the hardware is removed, gently let the tray come down, giving you access to the radiator and lower radiator hose.
   
   
   

9. Move a drain pan to the hole underneath the drain petcock. Gently turn the petcock counter-clockwise, If you’re too aggressive with this drain it will snap off and you’ll be stuck in a bad place, so take your time. If it’s really tight you may want to spray it with wd40 to release some of the dirt and grit and allow you to loosen this off safely.
   
   

   
   
   

10. Once you’re sure you’ve got the drain pan in a good spot, you can pop off the radiator cap to increase the speed at which the coolant comes out.
    
    
    

11. You can walk away and take a break until the coolant stops, or you can make a larger mess and keep going at this point.
    
    
    

12. Using pliers or a fancy spring clamp tool like this guy: Fancy Spring Clamp Tool remove the lower radiator hose clamp and slide it back an inch or two on the hose.
    
    

    
    
    

13. You can try and wiggle this back and forth a little to release the hose from the radiator. Sometimes the hose bonds pretty strongly to the radiator and you’ll need to either cut it off, or carefully get a hose pick in between the hose and radiator and gently wiggle it around to release the hose from the radiator. Be careful as you can break the plastic radiator if you’re forcing things too much and replacing the radiator is a much bigger job.
    
    

14. Once the hose is off more coolant will probably come out of both the hose and radiator (especially if you weren’t patient)
    
    

15. Pop back up top and remove the hose clamp from both sides of the upper radiator hose. The radiator side one can be a pain if you don’t get it off far enough, so you may need to rotate it to get it past the core support.
    
    

     

    
    
    

16. Use the same wiggling method to remove the upper radiator hose.
    
    

17. Once the upper radiator hose is removed. You can remove the second hose clamp for the lower radiator hose and remove that hose the rest of the way from the car.
    
    

COBB Radiator Hose Installation

1. We’re going to install the lower hose first, If they’re in good shape you can keep using the stock spring clamps, if not swap them out for the provided worm clamps. Either way, slip a clamp over either end and leave it loose for now.
   
   

   
   
   

2. Slip the lower radiator hose over the barb on the engine first but don’t tighten the clamps yet. While you can attach it to the radiator first, that might let you attach it with a bit of tension on the hose twisting it left or right. Going to the engine first should prevent a lot of that from happening.
   
   

   
   
   

3. Now slip the bottom into place on the radiator. Poke the sides of the hose in a few spots to make sure there isn’t a bunch of tension or a twist on the hose, this can narrow the internal diameter and reduce the ability for it to flow.
   
   

4. The hose clamps can get popped over the barb fittings and tightened down. Make sure to clock things so they’re easy to remove next time!
   
   
   

5. Moving up top, add a clamp on either end of the upper hose.
   
   
   

6. While the upper hose looks symmetrical, it definitely isn’t, so double check which one is going where. It will somewhat obviously point away from where it’s going if it’s in the wrong direction.
   
   

7. Before installing, make sure to clock the radiator side hoseclamp to where you can get it. The stupid core support in this car is pretty close to where the clamp is, and if it’s not all in the right position it’s a big pain to try and move the clamp around.
   
   

8. Now that you’re perfectly prepared, go ahead and install the hose, then clamp both ends.
   
   

   
   
   

   
   
   

9. Reinstall the intake, but don’t reinstall the bottom tray yet.

Coolant Bleeding

1. Now that the hoses are in and the intake is back in one piece, make sure the bottom drain petcock of the radiator is closed back up, then refill the cooling system with fresh coolant and distilled water. (or the old stuff if it’s new and clean). I’d recommend adding a little at a time and checking for leaks as you go to make sure you don’t end up with a huge puddle to clean up.
   
   

2. We usually use a coolant bleeding funnel that seals to the radiator cap and has a lot of benefits to make the job easier.
   
   

3. Start the car up and run it until the fans come on with the heater full blast. While it’s cold feel free to gently (and carefully) squeeze some of the hoses to try and get some of the worst air bubbles out. Keep the system up to the full mark (if you can read the side with the marking, we turned a zip tie into a dipstick to keep track to make things easier)
   
   

4. Once the car has come up to temperature and the thermostat opened, get the coolant back up to the full mark and then install the radiator cap.
   
   

5. Done with the bleeding process, you can turn off the car and put the bottom skid tray back in place, before going out for your first drive!
   
   

6. After your first drive let it cool all the way down and check the coolant level again to make sure everything is good, then check for leaks.

CARB Sticker Application

(Where Applicable)

1. Apply the supplied CARB sticker in a clear, easy to find location.  Typically underhood, or on the radiator core support.