My truck likes to scare me every 5 or 6 years

[MastuhWaffles]

I know my truck is running on 19 years old so, shes getting a little old but I do maintain it and I dont usually have issues. Though things break and a long time ago my trucks thermostat housing exploded (literally) twice and after replacing that with a quality part I havent had issues since.

Well today I was out an about and saw the temp spike, pulled over and shut it down just as the red warning light was coming on. The thermostat housing wasnt leaking and I was really worried this might have been the headgasket going.

I carry a jug of coolant with my so I let it cool down, filled it up and limped it home. At home I filled the radiator completley with water started it up and sure enough I saw the leak.

Turns out one of the heater hoses had been punctured by a clamp and and was spewing water. So, truck is still fine and will live to see another day with a new oem 20 dollar hose. (gonna change clamps to keep that from happening again as well)

 

[bobbywalter]

clamps will always ruin the hose or fail clamping allowing the hose to pop off over a long enough timeline. faster in freeze thaw environments or extreme heat.

periodic replacement is a thing. pm.

2 years 5 years 25 years.....sometimes exceeding 30....

the newer the crappier though.

a hose made today wont be around in 70 years.....but i have seen detroit diesel hoses and flathead v8s that were still working.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I need to start looking for the leak on my '97, it's starting to drink coolant, probably half gallon in the last month at this point...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I was scheming for my EFI swap yesterday and noticed I have a heater hose puddling on my intake as well. I couldn't see where it was leaking but unless the intake is cracked it has to be related to the hose.

Luckily I will be replacing the barb anyway.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

clamps will always ruin the hose or fail clamping allowing the hose to pop off over a long enough timeline. faster in freeze thaw environments or extreme heat.
periodic replacement is a thing. pm.

Is there a better style of clamp for these trucks? Screw clamp? Spring clamp? I know my '08 is coming up on 20 years old, though it hurts to say it!

 

[racsan]

I personally like a spring clamp with a new hose, screw clamp with a old hose. new hoses are more fragile with a screw clamp & I tend to over tighten. A spring clamp usually doesnt work well with a old hose as some will harden & need more tension than a spring clamp can give. Sometimes it has to be a screw clamp either way if its in a hard to reach spot.
But thats my take on this subject.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I like the bolt style clamps if not using a spring clamp. At least they have a smooth surface the full 360°.

T-Bolt Hose Clamps

cruxprospecting.com

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yeah, there’s better clamp options, the problem is that most of them you won’t find for sale in a big box store. I’ve had a problem for years of my F-150 randomly blowing the lower rad hose off. Doesn’t damage the hose or rad, just blows it right off the rad. Even tried squeezing two clamps on and it still blew off. When I say it does it randomly, I mean like once every 2-4 years. Random. The last time around I bought a stainless steel T-bolt clamp with a nylock nut. Had to order it from McMaster.

 

[SenorNoob]

Doesn’t damage the hose or rad, just blows it right off the rad.

I had similar on my Ranger for awhile. I replaced the radiator for other reasons after the engine swap and noticed that lip on the lower hose barb didn't really have a barb. VERY smooth. Tho I'm sure the engine flopping like a fish out of water was a significant contributing factor. (Driver side mount was broken off the block.)

 

[MastuhWaffles]

Yeah, there’s better clamp options, the problem is that most of them you won’t find for sale in a big box store. I’ve had a problem for years of my F-150 randomly blowing the lower rad hose off. Doesn’t damage the hose or rad, just blows it right off the rad. Even tried squeezing two clamps on and it still blew off. When I say it does it randomly, I mean like once every 2-4 years. Random. The last time around I bought a stainless steel T-bolt clamp with a nylock nut. Had to order it from McMaster.

Im just going to change the one that punctured the hose to a basic clamp that you can tighten with a flathead or whatever, just so it doesnt puncture it again.

 

[Rick W]

You guys may not believe it, but I’ve worked on some junk over the years. When my battery goes dead, I always put in the biggest battery that will fit, because that will make up for a lot of sins with a weak starter or battery lead or whatever.

A couple thoughts on hose clams. The screw clamps that wind up the band tighter and tighter are obviously the most prevalent. But you can get them in different widths if you look around just a little bit. The wider the width, the better it is going to hold on whatever you’re clamping it to without over, tightening it.

Over tightening will obviously always present a problem because it actually damages the hose instead of simply holding it tight. That’s why you get the bubble by the clamp before it bursts.

It’s a pain in the butt, but if you have a smooth fitting without a nobby end or bars, if you clean the inside of the hose well with brake cleaner or such, and you wire brush and clean the metal fitting, you can smear a little Goop or E6000 (the same thing), and then tighten it down like usual. But you have to let it sit overnight for the glue to set BFORE putting antifreeze back in. It’s slippery when you put it on, but it will add a lot more adhesion once it sets

Another trick is to create bands where there are no barbs. I’m not sure if “bands” would be the right word, but I’m talking about making little grooves on the metal part. For small parts, I sometimes use a tubing pipe cutter and just spin it around one turn to just create the tiniest little groove. I’ll try to do that every eighth of an inch for a half an inch if I can get to it. On some of the really old junk where a fitting is sticking right out of the side of a piece of cast-iron or who knows what, you can carefully take a hacksaw or file corner and make concentric nicks in circles, offsetting the nicks.

Obviously, with both of these, I’m talking about an absolutely minimal deformation in the cylinder surface, nothing that would weaken the structure. Even the very small irregularities will give the hose something to hang on , bite on, other than the smooth surface. I learned this when I worked in the food plant and everything was covered with vegetable oil.

Just my Shadetree insanity, but someone might benefit…

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

It’s a pain in the butt, but if you have a smooth fitting without a nobby end or bars, if you clean the inside of the hose well with brake cleaner or such, and you wire brush and clean the metal fitting, you can smear a little Goop or E6000 (the same thing), and then tighten it down like usual. But you have to let it sit overnight for the glue to set BFORE putting antifreeze back in. It’s slippery when you put it on, but it will add a lot more adhesion once it sets

I've used this stuff to seal less than ideal hose fittings before. Usually like for pitted barbs or whatnot but it works great... is not fun to remove the hose afterwards though.

Permatex® Aviation Form-A-Gasket® No. 3 Sealant Liquid, 4 OZ | Permatex®

www.permatex.com

 

[MastuhWaffles]

Alright got it back together, that hose did not want to come off.

I replaced a couple with basic hose clamps, should keep it from puncturing again.

Maybe not the most ideal repair but being the way the hoses are I don't think I'll have an issue again. It's just a heater hose and the other looks like an air line.

Drained the radiator and got some fresh coolant in it too.