Radiator top hose

Post by **leyther8008** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 2:45 pm

Do you think I would be able to put a piece of 'straight' hose on place of the one with the 'bellows' in the middle?

Presumably the bellows are to absorb a bit of movement, but my 'kevlar reinforced' top hose has cracked and weeps and I'm thinking of upgrading to silicon to fit and forget but can only get straight lengths of 38mm pipe.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 4:46 pm

Don't see why not - but depends if your engine moves around - it may strain the radiator top pipe connection - I'm guessing the bellows effect is there to allow for this movement.

Post by **alex_holden** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 5:52 pm

I think I'd be concerned about the extra vibrations transmitted through a solid hose eventually causing the top radiator tank to crack where the pipe is soldered in.

Post by **leyther8008** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 6:13 pm

Thats what I thought but there are lots of cars with radiators not as well put together as a minors with straight connections.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 7:49 pm

Aye - but maybe they have better engine mounts! Or - the rads are flexibly mounted too.

Post by **rayofleamington** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 8:04 pm

it's pretty rare (non existant?) for a car to have a straight hose spanning 2 or 3" between engine and something body mounted.

Rule of thumb on modern cars is 25mm movement on engine...

Apart from the effect on the radiator stub pipe and the risk of it splitting, it could probably last longer than some of the very poor top hoses currently on sale.