Silicone vs. rubber hose.

[Gingerbread Man]

I have half silicone and half rubber hoses on my Caterham. The silicone hoses do the radiator flow and return. The rubber hoses do the heater and odd connections to the expansion tank.

I have one rubber hose that keeps causing me problems with leaks. It's sited right above the exhaust primaries and gets uber hot because of this. I was wondering if a silicone version would fare better? I didn't know if the extra heat was too much for the rubber hose and might be causing me extra hassle.....or it's just by chance that the hose where I have issues is above the exhaust and I'm trying to tie to unrelated things together.

So can silicone take more heat than rubber?

[Defcon5]

What are the actual problems withthe rubber hose? Is it slipping off or cracking or what?

[Zoobeef]

Yeah, as above, a bit more info on whats happening with the pipe.

May be solved by putting some heat shielding round the pipe or just between the exhaust and the pipe

[Steve_D]

Gingerbread Man said:

.....So can silicone take more heat than rubber?

Yes but you would do well to also fit a heat shield or sleeve the pipe with heat shield material.

Steve

[Gingerbread Man]

Sorry chaps, more information. Umm I have found them to crack before and just start leaking after being fine for ages, so I'll nip it up, fine for ages and then it'll start leaking again. I didn't know if the heat expanding and contracting the pipe might cause issues?

[Defcon5]

Probably worth changing them then, and add a heatsheild of some description as already suggested