L300 hose clamps

Discussion in 'Saturn L-series' started by Oppie, Jan 30, 2007.

  1. Oppie

    Oppie Guest

    I finally got arround to fixing the leaking joint on the heater core of my
    '01 LW300.

    Found that the joints are all O-Ring seals with a plastic retainer clamp
    holding the joint together. The clamp holds the swaged flange on the core
    joint to a similar flange on the pipe. As the lowest point in the system,
    some debris had worked its way between the o-ring and the wall causing a
    slow leak (a couple of drops on engine cool-down). The Dex-Cool was
    definitely in need of replacement (95K) and was pretty foul looking. Flushed
    out the entire system till water ran clear (fun doing it in 20F weather in
    the driveway).

    The plastic clip and O-Rings needed to be replaced to re-seal the heater
    core to pipe connections. Careful as I was to remove the clips, they broke
    and needed to be replaced. CarQuest didn't have a clue on this. Saturn
    appears to sell the clips and o-rings only as part of kits - One for the
    heater pipes ($55) and heater core ($250). A little ticked off, I took the
    pipe kit. btw- the hoses are all marked EPDM which is the type of rubber
    that is supposed to be compatible with Dex-Cool. I assume that the O-rings
    should also be EPDM? Don't know how well general purpose Buna-N or Neoprene
    seals might hold up.

    Does anybody know if these clips and o-rings are available anywhere else?

    tia - Oppie
     
    Oppie, Jan 30, 2007
    #1
  2. Oppie

    BläBlä Guest

    For any engine coolant I have had no problems thus far using the Nitrile
    rubber o-rings you can buy at harbor freight.
    http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=2901

    Are these the clamps you speak of
    http://www.saturnfans.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=11657

    Did they just break at the hinge? They should still be usable... Stick
    whats left of them on and then "clamp over" them with regular hose
    clamps if you can fit them on. Lemme know if that works.
     
    BläBlä, Jan 31, 2007
    #2
  3. Oppie

    Steve Guest

    If you want to stick with EPDM (you probably should),
    http://www.mcmaster.com/ has an EPDM o-ring kit (not as complete as the
    harbor freight kit, so double check the size range you need) and every
    individual size (assuming you can find the ASA size number or exact
    dimensions).

    Steve
     
    Steve, Jan 31, 2007
    #3
  4. Oppie

    Oppie Guest

    Thanks Guys.

    Yes, the link with the picture of the clamps looks right. I can get the
    exact dimensions if anybody needs them.

    One clamp broke at the hinge and both broke at the locking clip. It occurred
    to me after I bought the $55 pipe kit that I could merely place a
    conventional hose clamp over the two halves of the original clamp. The
    reason I decided not to go that route was that it seemed likely that if the
    material was so brittle that it broke when removing the clip, it may well
    split elsewhere under high coolant pressure. I had this picture of my wife's
    shapely legs in my mind with second degree burns from scalding due to a
    coolant breach. Pissed as I was that the clamp was not available separately,
    $55 seemed like a reasonable expense for the safety.

    I also thought briefly about using a tie-wrap (plastic tie) over the broken
    hose clamp. Again did not do this for safety reasons. I've seen many of the
    old Nylon plastic ties that get brittle with exposure to heat. Perhaps there
    is a different material available for the plastic ties but nylon is the most
    common material used.

    When I interned as part of my engineering training, I spent a term in a
    military contractor's reliability testing lab.Taught me many lessons in
    safety and common sense that applied outside of the lab.

    Bob 'Oppie' Oppenheimer
     
    Oppie, Jan 31, 2007
    #4
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