Temporary water hose repair???

Sat Jul 12, 2008 2:56 pm

My water hose that goes from the thermostat to the bottom of the rad has sprung a leak due to it rubbing on a pulley (wrong rad on the M30B35 conversion) My question is can this be repaired as a temporary measure until my new hose and radiator arrives as I need my car for work tomorrow. I had thought using silicone sealant and duck tape!! do you reckon it will hold for a couple of days? I commute approx 14 miles per day and none of it is stuck in traffic.

What do you guys think??

Cheers

Charlie

Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:31 pm

It may survive a short while but I'd run it with the expansion cap off and take lots of spare coolant with you.

Is there no one you could scavenge one off over the weekend?

Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:22 pm

If you cant fix it with duct tape you havn't used enough...

Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:26 pm

No one local to me that would have one. I'm getting a new hose from BMW so hopefully will have that Tuesday (fingers crossed) I tried googling 'hose repair' and discovered Duck do a hose repair tape supposedly suitable for car hoses so I've now got that and will give it a go. I feel a bit happier using this over normal Duck tape.

Hopefully it'll hold

I didn't know it was possible to run an engine with the expansion cap off, I thought the whole water system was pressurized?

Thanks

Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:26 pm

Gibson wrote:If you cant fix it with duct tape you havn'nt used enough...

Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:27 pm

That hose repair stuff should be fine for a couple of days, realistically it mite survive weeks even months but you never really know with these things!

Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:42 pm

A little update, duck hose repairs works great

no sign of leaking at all after 5 days of commuting, if your going on a long journey and your still on the original hoses i recommend carrying some of this stuff in your tool box..

Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:47 pm

Similar thing happened to me when my water hose split, had to use a load of electrical tape and cable ties which was the best i could find at the service station, got me home from santa pod though!

Found the hose was cheapest from euro car parts (if its the T peice on for the top rad/water pump/heater matrix anyway) just over £40...

Thu Jul 17, 2008 5:47 pm

I used the Holts hose repair kit a couple of months ago when my top hose split. Ran it 10 miles home with the cap on very loosely and it was fine.

Definitely worth keeping in the tool kit imo.

Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:33 pm

Bicycle puncture repair kit

I know it sound silly but it works a treat, with a jubilee clip to hold it under pressure, I had to drive mine for 500 miles when it sprung a leak in Devon so couldn't run it with the cap off