Top Cooling Hose Permanent Fix 3.0TDV6

[Willi]

Well, I got visited by the ghost of the top coolant shred: Engine cover was rubbing it hard and was about to slice it open. I checked how much a new hose would set me back and decided that I could do one better with some stainless scrap I had laying around.

So decided to get my hands dirty and see if I can get this over and done with.

Removed the hose, which was fairly easy, only two pressure clips holding it in place:

Also the engine bay was surprisingly clean for a 10 year old car. Only the expected ammount of dust and diesel grime, nothing out of the ordinary, but I've seen newer cars with FILTHY engine bays.

The damage to the hose:



Yeah, it was VERY close to rupturing.

Cut it off, comparing with the steel bend:


I will enlongate this bend by welding some stainless tubing. Got two different sizes. One slightly smaller and a thicker one. I'll test the hose fitment on both once I eat my lunch.
The tubing:

The smaller one has a much thicker wall, which I think I'll have to thin out on the lathe. The thicker one got the ideal wall thickness IMO, but if the hose doesn't fit around it, at least I can go with the smaller one.

Used the thinner, thick-walled piping, welded the bend together and machined some grooves to make sure no hose would even dream about slipping off.

 

[Willi]

Here is the bend section after the welds and machining:



End result after cutting the hose and connecting everything:


And the bad boy installed in the car:


Decided against cutting the engine cover since the bend made it all pretty safe. The plastic can rub against the steel all it wants now:


Tested everything, ran the engine until it reached working temp, then went out for a spin. No signs of leaks or anything of the sort.
Seems like a success.

 

[mbw]

Nice work. We need more metal parts in the cooling systems of these things... I'm still waiting for metal coolant crossover pipes.