Blown Hose

[keirangrogan]

Anybody replaced the Top coolant hose ?

It's the one from the block, that goes over the Fan Belt and consequently getts a hole if the fan belt is not tight enough.

I can't be the first person, so come on start scratching those heads and remembering what car / van it is off.

[mowog]

Same thing happened to me recently. Couldn't get hold of an identical replacement hose so ended up using one of those universal hoses of the same diameter. Pretty straightforward job (only 2 jubilee clips IIRC).

Make sure you use some cable ties to keep the hose well away from the belt when you have replaced the hose.

Good luck
Darren

[John Mac]

Can't tell you where the original hose came from and I know its not on the Spares list as I have searched before.
ACT Products do replacement silicone hoses if you want to go in that direction - www actproducts.co.uk.
In an earlier thread someone mentioned that David Gerald supplied them.
Search on "Silicone Hoses" for more information on the S forum.
Cheers

[Rower]

Kieran , check your mail, all info will be revealed !

guy

keirangrogan said:

Anybody replaced the Top coolant hose ? It's the one from the block, that goes over the Fan Belt and consequently getts a hole if the fan belt is not tight enough. I can't be the first person, so come on start scratching those heads and remembering what car / van it is off.

[dern]

I ziptied a piece of plastic covered in duck tape over the pipe where the fan belt hit it. It seemed that no matter where I routed the pipe or tensioned the fan belt the belt would always give it a kick now and again especially when starting. The wear on the plastic showed when it needed replacing rather than wearing a groove in the pipe which would then burst.

Mark

[John Mac]

I know the point of the fan belt rubbing through the top hose has been raised several times, to avoid this problem occuring simply put a jubilee clip around the top hose where the point of contact was likely to be.

[dern]

John Mac said:

I know the point of the fan belt rubbing through the top hose has been raised several times, to avoid this problem occuring simply put a jubilee clip around the top hose where the point of contact was likely to be.

The only problem with doing that is that you don't want to be slowly wearing away the fanbelt on the slowly rusting jubilee clip. Breaking the fan belt stops the water pump which is almost as bad at high speed as blowing a hose.

Mark

[John Mac]

dern said:

[quote=John Mac]I know the point of the fan belt rubbing through the top hose has been raised several times, to avoid this problem occuring simply put a jubilee clip around the top hose where the point of contact was likely to be.

The only problem with doing that is that you don't want to be slowly wearing away the fanbelt on the slowly rusting jubilee clip. Breaking the fan belt stops the water pump which is almost as bad at high speed as blowing a hose.

Mark[/quote ]
In practice I don't think you would have that problem.
I did this 12 months ago using a new (shiney) jubilee clip and they are only about 1mm thick.
I painted the top of the clip with some Yellow (only because that was the colour I had) and when I periodically open the bonnet to check water etc. if the paint has been touched I know that I'm heading for trouble - 12 months on, still shiney, still painted.
John Mac

[keirangrogan]

I've effected a temporary fix until I can source the replacement hose.

I vulcanised a patch on to the hose covering the pin prick, then covered the hose with self amalgamating rubber tape, before covering the whole repair with fabric based renforcing tape.

I then set about adjusting the alternator position, and found that I had could move it around 1 inch before I got proper tension on the belt.

I then used cable ties to hold the hose away from the belt, there is now over an inch clearanse and the belt now flaps on the down ward travel i.e from the alternator towards the water pump, there is absolutly no movement under the hose.

I then refilled the system, the bleed valve on the radiator is a God send ! It makes refilling the system as easy as bleeding a domestic radiator.

[dern]

John Mac said:

In practice I don't think you would have that problem. I did this 12 months ago using a new (shiney) jubilee clip and they are only about 1mm thick. I painted the top of the clip with some Yellow (only because that was the colour I had) and when I periodically open the bonnet to check water etc. if the paint has been touched I know that I'm heading for trouble - 12 months on, still shiney, still painted. John Mac

Cool, good tip then. I bet it looks a lot better than my old bit of plastic

Mark

[Colin BlueS2]

On my S the tube is in three parts, two lengths of rubber hose either side of a metal tube that has a bend in it. This means I can use ordinary straight rubber tube and the narrower outside diameter of the metal tube gives me enough space for the fan belt to move without catching on the pipe. It was there when I got the car I just assumed that was how it was supposed to be.

That might be another option for you.

Colin

[keirangrogan]

Colin BlueS2 said:

On my S the tube is in three parts, two lengths of rubber hose either side of a metal tube that has a bend in it. This means I can use ordinary straight rubber tube and the narrower outside diameter of the metal tube gives me enough space for the fan belt to move without catching on the pipe. It was there when I got the car I just assumed that was how it was supposed to be. That might be another option for you. Colin

That actually sounds like a decent solution, I think I will go down that route as it will give at least an exta quarter inch clearance and should stop it happening again.