I set out with the best of intentions and as prepared as I could be to change my PHH. It still wasn't enough.
Here is my experience and problems I ran into, and perhaps it will help anyone that hasn't done theirs yet.
I decided to do a cooling system flush (per e9999), PHH, and radiator hoses (all 3). I started by jacking up the front drivers side wheel, and removing it and the mudflap.The cooling system flush was fairly straight forward. Even the actual PHH didn't seem like it was going to be a huge problem. It had been changed once before, and had the worn gear clamps on it. I could get a 1/4" drive ratchet in there pretty easily (after removing the transmission dipstick tube). I loosened both clamps on the PHH, moved them up the metal tube, and cut out the old hose. Turns out there is only about 1/2" of gap between the metal tube end and the engine block nipple, clearly not enough to slide the new hose through. OK, just loosen the metal tube and I'm good. Not so easy. The hardest part IMO about this whole job is accessing the lower of two bolts (12mm) holding the metal tube to the engine. After a few hours of struggling with obviously the wrong tools, I decided just to bend the lower bracket holding the tube in place.
If you can't get that bolt out, you can try what I did:
Start by removing the top bolt holding the tube, as well as the heater hose connecting the top of the tube to the heater valve. You want to make sure the only thing holding the tube in place is the lower braket. Using a pry bar from inside the wheel well, bend the tube out slightly (so the bracket bends, not the tube itself). Slide the new PHH on the engine nipple, and attach the clamp. Lube up the other end of the PHH with a little soap and water to make it slippery. Using the prybar, carefully guide the tube back into place and into the PHH. If slippery enough, The tube should go right in. It helps to have two people for this step. My helper was able to get a better angle to bend the tube back from the engine bay. Once we figured out how to do it this way, it didn't take very long at all to get the hose on.
So when you do this job, my advice is to strategize ahead of time the process, and how to remove that lower bracket bolt. Identify which specific tools you will use, and quite possibly specialty tools, BEFORE you start. My mistake was that I thought since I have a few toolboxes full of various tools, I have it covered.
If you can remove that lower bracket bolt, there is a good chance that the rest of the job will be comparitively painless.
If I knew then what I know now, I probably would have taken it to a shop in the first place and paid the hundred something bucks...
Here is my experience and problems I ran into, and perhaps it will help anyone that hasn't done theirs yet.
I decided to do a cooling system flush (per e9999), PHH, and radiator hoses (all 3). I started by jacking up the front drivers side wheel, and removing it and the mudflap.The cooling system flush was fairly straight forward. Even the actual PHH didn't seem like it was going to be a huge problem. It had been changed once before, and had the worn gear clamps on it. I could get a 1/4" drive ratchet in there pretty easily (after removing the transmission dipstick tube). I loosened both clamps on the PHH, moved them up the metal tube, and cut out the old hose. Turns out there is only about 1/2" of gap between the metal tube end and the engine block nipple, clearly not enough to slide the new hose through. OK, just loosen the metal tube and I'm good. Not so easy. The hardest part IMO about this whole job is accessing the lower of two bolts (12mm) holding the metal tube to the engine. After a few hours of struggling with obviously the wrong tools, I decided just to bend the lower bracket holding the tube in place.
If you can't get that bolt out, you can try what I did:
Start by removing the top bolt holding the tube, as well as the heater hose connecting the top of the tube to the heater valve. You want to make sure the only thing holding the tube in place is the lower braket. Using a pry bar from inside the wheel well, bend the tube out slightly (so the bracket bends, not the tube itself). Slide the new PHH on the engine nipple, and attach the clamp. Lube up the other end of the PHH with a little soap and water to make it slippery. Using the prybar, carefully guide the tube back into place and into the PHH. If slippery enough, The tube should go right in. It helps to have two people for this step. My helper was able to get a better angle to bend the tube back from the engine bay. Once we figured out how to do it this way, it didn't take very long at all to get the hose on.
So when you do this job, my advice is to strategize ahead of time the process, and how to remove that lower bracket bolt. Identify which specific tools you will use, and quite possibly specialty tools, BEFORE you start. My mistake was that I thought since I have a few toolboxes full of various tools, I have it covered.
If you can remove that lower bracket bolt, there is a good chance that the rest of the job will be comparitively painless.
If I knew then what I know now, I probably would have taken it to a shop in the first place and paid the hundred something bucks...
I struggled for I'm not sure how long without taking the transmission dip stick out of the way until 
