[The Pieman]

It is your friend's car and your friends responsibility. He should maintain the car.

cheers
Simon

 

[silencewithin]

Temperature gauge or not those hoses split if they are too old. Whoever works on the car has to inspect them.
They come off if not put on properly due to working pressure - nothing to do with excessive temperatures.

The temp-guage issue only becomes relevant if damage was done after driving without coolant. It wouldn't indicate an approaching burst/split/blowout.
It sounds like the OP noticed it quickly and didn't drive after it.
Also I suspect that an old commodore can take a bit of punishment.

Your friend needs to take responsibility for letting someone else drive their car. You did nothing to contribute to this if you were being a responsible driver - the fact that the last x kms before the cut were done by you is irrelevant. If the condition of the hose was already set before you drove the car it is not your fault.
I hope your friend is a reasonable (logical... intelligent...) person.

I reckon that if you say you don't want to pay and they get angry it is game-over, pay them or not and they still don't like you as much as they previously did. So in that case don't cave in in that situation is my advice. Cut your losses.
Hopefully it doesn't come to that!

All the best.

edit: temp and pressure are correlated... but even at high temp/pressure the hose would sever only if in bad condition I reckon. Hoses is suitable condition should be rated well and above any possible working conditions... it was an old car though as you said, but still, it's a maintenance issue.

 

[silencewithin]

Oh and driving someone else's car always worries me.
what if you get pulled over by the police and it turns out that the car is stolen?
What if someone dings it in the carpark and drives off and the owner has no insurance?
It's potentially a big hassle and I'd do everything to avoid it myself.
Once money comes between two people...

 

[Troyhoot]

If it was me I would go buy a hose and help my friend replace it and let him buy the antifreeze and any other hoses that need replacing. Its prolly in the 10-20$ range and not a big deal. But I wouldnt feel responsible for it, I would just do it because that s what friends do. Next time I need a car for something important he wont hesitate to let me use it.

 

[ken36]

Good luck, my friend. I guess the lesson is not to borrow things.

 

[silencewithin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Troyhoot /img/forum/go_quote.gif If it was me I would go buy a hose and help my friend replace it and let him buy the antifreeze and any other hoses that need replacing. Its prolly in the 10-20$ range and not a big deal. But I wouldnt feel responsible for it, I would just do it because that s what friends do. Next time I need a car for something important he wont hesitate to let me use it.

That is good advice.