E36 M52 Throttle Body Coolant Lines

[bababa]

Hi all,

Diagnosing a very slow coolant loss with my car has led me to suspect the pipes which deliver coolant to the throttle body to prevent it icing in winter - there is a very damp, crispy green residue all round the connections on the TB which certainly seems like evidence of a leak to me.

Might also explain the slight antifreeze smell I occasionally get through the vents - which I desperately want to believe isn't the heater core!

So I set about reseating and tightening the jubilee clips, but the rubber is so decayed the jubilee clip is literally slicing through it.

I'm generally a big fan of OEM parts which would appear to come to £15-20 including new jubilee clips, but was wondering if there's any value in getting silicone pipes instead? I don't want to take any risks where the cooling system in concerned so am eager to hear peoples recommendations!

Cheers
T.

[kev b]

The original pipes lasted for 12+ years, so no reason not to use oem, with the money you save you could replace the rest of the 12+ year old piping at the same time.

[TheEnd]

Silicone pipes are usually swapped for looks unless it is something custom.

If you start with a couple of fancy blue ones in there, you might not be able to stop!