6 replies to this topic

[Bah]

So...as if things didn't suck enough for me already, my heater core decided to blow last night.
After not being able to find anyone to do it for me today or get the core for me quick with o-rings etc, i said poke it, unplugged the hoses from the radiator, trying my best not to break anything. Top one was so reluctant to come out, but with two screwdrivers it'll come. Hopefully i didn't break any of the actual coupler, as i am trying to avoid replacing that lol...
Bought pre-molded U-pipe and clamps, and i honestly don't see how it could pop off. Everyone gives warnings about it, and says go at the engine side and cap there. Unfortunately i have a bunch of crap to remove, and while yes it probably would have taken 30 minutes, i don't want to take the risk of breaking something while i only have 1 car running. Regardless, the U-pipe fits cozily after i trimmed it some, and i took the collars off the hose lines and clamped the hell out of it. Fits snug, took it for a ride, ragged on the car some, and no leaks at all. Alot more pressure then i apparently had before for cooling, since the fan didn't even come on like it normally used to? Unless the fan broke and that's why the heater core popped...but lets hope that is not the case, since the temp gauge hasn't gone shooting up

Enough backstory:

9186847/ Heater Hose (lower/outlet)
9186849/ Heater Hose (upper/inlet)

Tasca wants ~100$ for these hoses!!!! Ridiculous! I redid most of the cars coolant lines 2 years ago, with stylins beefy ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD uppers and lowers. Held great! I would have replaced these as well at the time, but i think i was too lazy.
For now i'm running bypass till i get the new core and o-rings etc, but, does anyone sell this in silicone? Can i make it silicone? Or if someone sells SS braided?

http://volvospeed.co...ter-core-hoses/


Courtesy of JDLC.

Is this a safe method as to what he did? I would probably double clamp if possible.

Where can i order silicone hoses appropriate for this job? I can buy URO hoses for this at ~$40, but i have yet to hear good about URO, and my own experience showed their other hoses to be cheaply made. If anyone thinks i should just go with URO, let me know and i'll hop on that. Otherwise, i'd like to upgrade/improve these if possible. Trying to build reliability with performance

If someone sells premade silicone of these hoses, i would be interested as well. Also is dealer the best place to get O-rings for the heatercore + the collars + O-rings ?

Thanks!

P.S. i recommend everyone gets a piece of this heater core hose and keeps it with some clamps in their trunk. Luckily i was close to home, but if i was on the side of the road, there's no way i could get under the engine or remove all that crap to bypass, and other then tieing a loop or something with vices, which you wont have on the side of the road, you can do this . Pull the hoses out on the side of the road, check. Put hose on, check. Clamp, check. If your not gonna use it as a longer temp bypass like i am, you could use it to get home and do it all in ~10 minutes. Just a thought, since i used stop leak in the 93 and refuse to use it in this car to fix the heater core lol..

[850maybe]

I don't know about any silicone hoses but can tell you from experience that the URO hoses do in fact suck. The hoses are soft and the couplings leak.

[Oreo931]

I'm not sure whether this will be helpful or not, but my 850 n/a came with URO heater core hoses installed. They look old but they haven't started leaking yet. I replaced the heater core coupler and the hoses didn't feel that cheap when I removed/installed them into the coupler.

[850maybe]

Oreo931, on 28 January 2012 - 05:40 AM, said:

I'm not sure whether this will be helpful or not, but my 850 n/a came with URO heater core hoses installed. They look old but they haven't started leaking yet. I replaced the heater core coupler and the hoses didn't feel that cheap when I removed/installed them into the coupler.

First set of URO installed with new heater core split. Same shop replaced them and the new set leaked on one coupler adn blew out on the other. Replaced with VOLVO hoses and have been solid. YMMV
Could have been a bad run like the heater cores a year or so back but I'm not going to chance it again to save a few $$ up front.

[Oreo931]

850maybe, on 28 January 2012 - 06:58 AM, said:

First set of URO installed with new heater core split. Same shop replaced them and the new set leaked on one coupler adn blew out on the other. Replaced with VOLVO hoses and have been solid. YMMV
Could have been a bad run like the heater cores a year or so back but I'm not going to chance it again to save a few $$ up front.

Crap. I should probably buy oem replacement hoses in advance then. I refuse to buy any URO rubber parts, including hoses, but I try not to spend money replacing things that arent broken on my 850 n/a.

[Bah]

Ugh i had a feeling the URO hoses suck...i did a review/comparison of OEM vs one they offered on a different hose, and it was pretty clear URO hoses suck.
Even moreso, this would be for the 850R, so i'm dealing with higher temps then my NA potentially, which means i really am concerned.

I hate the idea of dropping 100$+ on rubber hoses, so since my current ones aren't leaking (i don't believe) i'll replace everything from the coupler to the core, and find a way to do what was done above, but in silicone. In the thread i posted alongside, they used Gates greenstripe?, which i should probably go with, but if anyone knows a reputable company that sells silicone heater hose appropriate for this job, please let me know! I would order from Stylin and go this route....but we all know why that is not an option anymore lol.

Soooo any chance Snabb wants to make these in silicone? Or the guys who make stainless braided oil cooler lines for us want to take a shot at this? Just saying...there is a good market here for someone to take advantage for those of us who don't want to drop $100 for 2 rubber hoses That being said, i would pay $100 for a better then dealership quality.

[erikv11]

FWIW:

On my NA, I took the guts out of the coupler and ran Gates green stripe straight to the heater core pipes. I cut the pipes shorter to make room for the hose clamps in the cabin, and it is pretty tight space working in there with a thick walled heater hose, but it has been working great and total cost was about $20. The coupler used to leak in the winter, probably an o-ring issue.I got tired of messing with the coupler just got rid of it. Hasn't leaked a drop, I did this back in the early fall. The greenstripe is cut long enough to make short loops in the engine bay, and attach to the block without kinking the hose.