She's gonna blow, Captain...!

[Driver+Passengers]

I believe this is what you might call a coolant hose that is "on it's way out".



And I'm 135 miles from home. Our good friend Murphy may have let me get away with it, had I not noticed it. Now, however...

[lazyb5]

Do you have a low coolant alarm if so I'd risk it. If not maybe phone recovery.

[Driver+Passengers]

Do you have a low coolant alarm if so I'd risk it. If not maybe phone recovery.

I don't (yet) have an LCA.

My plan is to get some silicone tape tomorrow and wrap it. I'm also wondering whether to knock up a simple coolant indicator for the journey... like soldering a couple of wires to a torch or something - ie light goes out, I stop rolling.

Edit: (PS. The photo shown above was taken when the engine was cold and header tank cap had been removed already)

[Diplomat]

Nothing that some fabric tape to contain it and some self amalgamating tape over the top of that won't fix.

I take it that the title quote should be spoken in the style of the late Gordon Jackson playing a Scots engineer shouting up from the engine room?


Frank

[Driver+Passengers]

Nothing that some fabric tape to contain it and some self amalgamating tape over the top of that won't fix.

Reassuring - thank you.

I take it that the title quote should be spoken in the style of the late Gordon Jackson playing a Scots engineer shouting up from the engine room?

Aye, but wikipedia says James Doohan...

[lazyb5]

Without doubt James doohan, coz ye canna change the laws of physics

[Diplomat]

On reflection, I'm sure that, when I used that method on my Space Cruiser, I put self amalg on first then a layer or two of fabric tape with more self amalg on top. In that instance the hose had already split, though. The repair lasted well and although I bought a new hose (top one) I never changed it.

The fabric tape is essential to give strength to the repair.

I use self almagamating tape in all sorts of applications especially as a precaution, such as where the bleed hose can rub on the alternator. There I also have a layer of spiral cable wrap for extra armour.

Not tried it but self almalg might well be tougher, once set, than the 'rubber' on the droplinks. It certainly fixed a tear in a shock absorber boot. As long as it's not in sunlight it ages well.


Frank

[Diplomat]

Without doubt James doohan, coz ye canna change the laws of physics

Obviously we are moving in different cultures here!

I'm thinking of the stereotypical Second World War naval film, intergalactic dramas are alien to me!


Frank

[mountainmummy]

Hi Matt

Looks painful

Hope you get home safely.

Sara

[Driver+Passengers]

Hope you get home safely.

Yes, thanks!

[Driver+Passengers]

All other hoses inspected - look fine to me. S09G61214 ordered from AJS.

Plan to drop coolant, inspect underside of header tank, replace hose, vacuum refill with carplan red and give the bleeding process a go. Possibly bypass the rear heater matrix at the same time - unit housing is cracked after my bollard incident and need to get aircon emptied at a later date to remove/repair the unit.

Vehicle seems to run very cool - my 99p LCD temp sensor on the hose stub (front off-side) reads avg of 79-80, rising to 82 - never seen it higher other than after stopping. Bottom hose is still cold when up to temp to assuming the thermostat is there. However, I'm not planning to replace water pump or thermostat this time round.

[Driver+Passengers]

Dash temperature gauge modified in preparation...
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=56259

[Diplomat]

Plan to drop coolant

Reading this phrase has given me an idea.

Could one change the coolant by releasing it slowly from the lowest accessible point via a hose with its end submerged in a collecting vessel whilst topping up the header tank?

Once the specified quantity has been collected it would have been replaced by new coolant. Or would it? Without airlocks?

I Know we are talking totally different beasts but most of my early cars had a drain at the bottom of the rad. We could perhaps tap off the feed to the rear heater which would appear to be furthest and lowest from the header tank.

Caveat: Don't blame me if you try it before me and it doesn't work, just an idea!


Frank

[Driver+Passengers]

As this is my first time and I'm planning to use dave_aber's vac fill whotsit, I've been wondering if I should to empty and fill with water and then again with coolant as a kind of "rinse cycle" to minimise the risk of mixing issues.

Presumably as there are multiple paths from header to heater hose for the air to flow and the fact that the stat will be closed, by dropping the coolant from the lowest point you will always have as least a bottom hose still filled with coolant?

Looking forward to understanding the existing collective wisdom re cooling system in due course, but for now just happy to still have my head intact come the bash next week. With Dave and Bill on hand on Monday I hope I have done enough already to ensure success, this time at least...

Edit: will get back to the long threads on the cooling system shortly, and out to the van when it stops raining. But where are the "local maxima" in the system? Front/rear heaters and head? How high is the bleed hose in that?

[Driver+Passengers]

I believe this is what you might call a coolant hose that is "on it's way out".

Thanks to Peter and Dave for helping me out today!

After taking (cutting) this hose off, it was quite clear that the reenforcing string was absent from the ballooned section - suspect that once liquid penetrates the wall it rots away and the hose then balloons. ?

Anyway, dropped stat (marked 82 degC, Dave reckons Blueprint) and drained the coolant. Also took off the header tank - 5 minorish cracks in the bottom of it and the state of it inside was pretty poor. Used some engine cleaner and sloshed around which dropped a fair bit of sediment and then rinsed thoroughly. Hosed through the system and refitted the same stat fitted the new hose. We did a vac fill but after idling for a few minutes, the rad fans came on. My front stub temperature sensor was still reading 20-30 degC!! We determined that there was still air in the head and reverted to a cold see-saw before doing an idle see-saw and progressing from there. Fitted a temperature sensor to the funnel for Dave - he was reading >50degC while the hose stub was only in the mid 30s. Then I realised I was reading the wrong gauge (engine bay), checked the other which was around 60.

We carried on from there and quickly got the stat open, rad fans on, etc... Every cycle was producing air, and it kept doing so. We totted up how much coolant we'd mixed, and how much was still outside of the van. Started worrying about a leaky head/gasket pushing stuff out. I popped the header tank cap off again and the tank was empty.

Topped it up (2-3 litres), popped a 12V spot light in the space behind the tank which showed the level nicely, left cap off and watched level like a hawk while we revved and bled some more - stat was already open at this point. Shortly thereafter we were satisfied and after 5 or 6 miles, checking every mile, we drove up the longest, steepest hill locally that I knew of and went for chips in the village down the other side.

Seems to be reliably 2-5 degrees higher than it's ever ran before - suspect different coolant (or minor air lock?). Now waiting for it to cool, check level, etc...

Moral of the story - vac fill may not be perfect, but more importantly.... RTFM!!! RTFM!!! RTFM!!! RTFM!!! RTFM!!!

(PS. kept the story of the bleed in this thread because I cannot be 100% certain she is not still "gonna blow". Given that we're preparing for a 1200 mile round trip.