When the vehicle is running at normal operating temperature, should the radiator and heater hoses be firm or should I be able to squeeze them together? When my car is at normal operating temperature, I can pretty much squeeze my hoses together. Also, the radiator cap never gets hot until I turn the car off and even then it is luke warm. My car runs very cool granted it is about 40 degrees outside.

 

The cooling system should operate at 18psi, controlled by the radiator cap. That should make the hoses feel fairly firm when the engine is up to operating temperature.

When you say your car runs "very cool", what temp shows on the dash gauge?