Club 80-90 Forums

I have just found a hairline split in one of the main coolant pipes. When the system is under pressure there is a considerable leak and the coolent temperature light is flashing.

We're due away in a few days and I wanted to check views on a temporary fix for a few weeks before replacing it.

The split is right at the point where the pipe enters the engine bay and joins the flexible hose.

I think it might be possible to push the hose beyond the split and re tighten the clamp over the pipe. Do people think this would be likely to hold or would it just extend the split further up the pipe?

Secondly (and probably combined with the first option), I wondered whether attempting to seal the split up with waterprrof plastic epoxy would seal up the system at least temporarily.

Any thoughts gratefully received!

Cheers

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Epoxy almost certainly won’t work, but moving the pipe past the split will

You can get decent results with chemical metal - I have repaired a cylinder head on a compressor this way, so let's call that 7+ bar, compared to a max 1.5 bar in a coolant system.

As the temperature you are dealing with is low, the fast setting variety should be up to the job - I suggest that you build it up around the whole diameter of the pipe

An AA chappie did mine with epoxy which got me home & then on to France & Belgium for a week without any problem. He would not guarantee how long it would last but said he had seen repairs like that last for years.

davidoft1 wrote:Epoxy almost certainly won’t work, but moving the pipe past the split will

You are quite right. Epoxy bubbled and split when the van made it up to temperature. I can't seem to move the pipe far enough in to cover the split.

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937carrera wrote:You can get decent results with chemical metal - I have repaired a cylinder head on a compressor this way, so let's call that 7+ bar, compared to a max 1.5 bar in a coolant system.

As the temperature you are dealing with is low, the fast setting variety should be up to the job - I suggest that you build it up around the whole diameter of the pipe

I should have said in the OP I have plastic pipes. Would the chemical metal still work?

I also wondered about high temperature silicone, any thoughts?

Much appreciated!

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RTV silicone is a gasket / sealant, not a material.

It might still work, especially if you are ensuring the chemical metal is around the full circumference. Roughen the outer surface to give it the best chance to bond. THE 24hr set stuff is good to about 450 F, fast setting about 300 IIRC

Can you cut the pipe back and replace the damaged bit, all you need is a short length of metal pipe the same diameter as the existing plastic, a short piece of rubber pipe and 4 hose clips.

I did this on mine for years until I swapped them out for stainless.

shepster wrote:Can you cut the pipe back and replace the damaged bit, all you need is a short length of metal pipe the same diameter as the existing plastic, a short piece of rubber pipe and 4 hose clips.

I did this on mine for years until I swapped them out for stainless.

I've bitten the bullet in the end and just gone for the stainless. Seems to have gone smoothly until attempting to bleed. Have a considerable leak at the point where the feeder pipe meets the rubber hoses in the engine bay.

Is it me or do the stainless pipes seem a lot smaller diameter than the plastic ones?

I guess I just need to get the stainless pipe a bit further in and clamp better....

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You've bought the correct ones I hope?

I'm pretty sure there are 2 different diameters, early metal are smaller than later plastic if I recall.

shepster wrote:You've bought the correct ones I hope?

I'm pretty sure there are 2 different diameters, early metal are smaller than later plastic if I recall.

Sorry just made it back up to the van after a couple of weeks. Yes I believe so but with it being an '85 van occasionally there appear to be late parts. I'm getting a good seal on the LH pipe but not the RH. The RH hose (shorter turn at the bottom) doesn't appear to have an internal lip whereas the LH one does. Does it sound like I have a mixture of hoses. Do the early hoses have the internal lip?

Thanks again

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This is the hose that doesn't appear to have the lip inside prevent a good seal:

https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/t3-parts/e ... right.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Have asked Brickwerks if this version does or not

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