Bypass coolant pipe replacement

How many 2nd Gen. Tacoma’s still have their original plastic bypass coolant pipe/heater hoses...??? The replacement from Toyota is stainless steal...! Purchased my bypass pipe last week from the local Toyota dealers and the parts person stated that they sale lots of these..service person quoted 10 hours to replace in their shop....! More time than money for me..pain in the a## to put in....5 hours of fun..!!! Plastic pipe next to the engine block...what was Toyota thinking

 

I replaced mine at 150k since the plastic pipe was leaking . I agree that it wasn't the easiest job removing the intake manifold, wire harneses and everything else in order to replace it.

 

They're metal on 3RZ, what a strange change.

 

I'm not sure what year they changed it back to steel. My 2012 came from the factory with a steel tube.

I agree the plastic was a horrible idea. Probably one of those amazing design engineers. It looked good on paper...

He probably saved 25 cents on every Tacoma sold with that crap.