Water pipes to oil filter?

Tim,

As an emergency method I would clean up the end of the leaking hose just enough to cure the leak.

The come back along that hose a few inches and cut it at that point and push the cut piece onto the stub connector of the 'oil filter' thus leaving you with a gap gap in the hose.

At this gap, insert a short length of copper into the two open ends and fix with a couple of jubilee clips.

I hope that you can follow my train of thought here :-)

If not, have a look at this link --

-- of a very rough sketch at what I mean at This in effect could give an effective and long lasting *temporary* repair that will maintain the flow around the oil filter to keep the oil cool.

Hope this is of some use?

Brian G

Hi Brian,

Ok ..

Understood ..

I do indeed ;-)

Bless you .. ;-)

It is indeed.

The only thing though, the particular hose(s) in question (there are a pair that run in parallel) is they terminate at 90 degrees to the main run. So, they come down from somewhere on the upper right hand side of the engine, across the front of the engine then drop down for a few inches to the vertical stubs either side of the old filter mount of the left of the engine? The one in question is the shortest (innermost) drop of course.

However, what your idea has given me is they might be able to find me a right angled section of suitable new hose and I could connect *that* to the remaining good bit? ;-)

All the best and thanks very much for your time.

T i m

make sure that the coper pipe is swarf free if you go down this tempory path

You're welcome Tim, it's a trick I learned many *many* years ago and it's got me out of trouble on several occasions.

Let us know how effective the 'repair' was if you use the idea.

By the way, it may be possibe to bend the copper tube to get what you want - although without a tube spring it may kink - or at a push, use a copper elbow and solder it to the pipe at the desired point.

Brian G

================================== Without seeing the actual hose(s) it's difficult to be specific, but the hose you're looking for is probably standard 'heater hose'. Halfords and most good accessory shops sell it by the metre but there are two or three different bore diameters so you'll need to check yours before you buy.

If you do decide on the copper pipe method it's worth soldering an olive close to each end so that you can fit the Jubilee clips inboard to prevent any possibility of blowing off under pressure.

Cic.

Ok and fair point. I was thinking a properly cooled engine without an oil cooler might be a better bet than an engine with no water! ;-)

Ok, well we have both (and I've tried a local 'Car Spares' with no luck [1]) so I'll check them out tomorrow morning.

I'll check them out if the above fails, thanks.

All the best ..

T i m

[1] They do stock various 'universal' lengths and diameters (concertina in the middle, plain at the ends) so in an emergency ...

Yep, I was quite chuffed I had some water and the hose repair tape (and Leatherman) with me today, if only for the non diy jubilee clip (doh!).

Will do Brian. I'll have a quick look as soon as the frost has cleared as I'm supposed to take the daughter to Taekwondo lunchtime and the Missus will be at work with her car. I could put the spare wheel on the kitcar (leaky rim) and give that a little run!

Yeah, I think I did similar on the heater hose on the kitcar some years ago (and I do have a 15mm bending spring) ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

Of course, although I'm sure there already all sorts of debris wandering around this system after nearly 200,000 miles!

All the best ..

T i m

It would be if it was straight but these have a 90 deg bend at one end, ~18" of straight then another 90 deg bend (in the opposite direction) at the other. I could probably do it with some good quality hose (as a soft 'S') but I can't remember what happens at the opposite end (to the oil filter).

Understood. Following on from Brian's idea I could possibly (depending on the diameter of the stub connector and hose i/d) reverse the remaining 90 deg section and lengthen the shot bit with the copper?

Understood and good idea. I think I did similar with the kitcar years ago but actually soldered some straight 15mm connectors to each end of a straight length of copper as the o/d of the fittings was good for the i/d of the hose (and as you say, gave some 'shape' for the hose to grip / clip onto).

All the best and thanks ..

T i m

Back in the sixties, I had a Morris Mini. Fun to drive but an absolute sod to maintain. On the cooling system, it had some sort of by-pass hose, about

3 inches long. This thing was almost impossible to replace if it split, short of removing the cylinder head! Fortunately, some manufacturer brought out a convoluted version which was easier to fit. I remember my engine overheating only 5 miles away from home one evening due to a split hose - the car didn't even have a temperature gauge, so I only suspected the fault due to misfiring. I managed to make it home after several stops at friends houses and topping up with kettles of hot water. Young car owners these days don't know they're born!

I think that car designers should be forced to carry out a complete service on the cars they design, and also maybe a clutch change and engine overhaul. They then may realise how difficult it has now become for us DIY'ers. I have a Nissan Almera on my drive which refuses to start. In the old days, I would have probably sorted the problem in 30 minutes but now I haven't got a clue.

Terry D. (an old and very grumpy, but accident free motorist)

So did my Wife when I met her. We sold it to raise the deposit for the kit car. ;-)

I remember that .. in the front rls of the engine .. under the stat housing was it?

I think I've done one.

Our daughter was with me yesterday and as we were slowly trickling cold water into the expansion tank I was explaining the caution of not adding cold water too fast (we were taking it in turns with several small bottles fill from a Farm Shop toilet tap). She said "should I get hot water the next batch?". So some of them can work it out for themselves given the right prompts. [1] ;-)

I'm not sure they would be interested .. well not yet, till the raw materials needed to make a new one becomes cost prohibitive and we have to go back to actually repairing stuff (oh, or we get Polish mechanics here who would actually be willing do the work cheaper than £120 / hour ). Like with all these modules that are thrown away because of a simple cheap bearing or bush, because the labour cost of 'repairing' that part wouldn't be worth it. But they can (and do) service exchange many parts (like alternators) and seem to make a living from doing so?

And they don't want you to do it do they. If the ECU can pop up a fault light and with the cost of computers as low as they are I can't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to dump the fault log to a USB pen drive and run it against the manufacturers database (on line) and it tell you what the likely fault is.

But again they wouldn't be interested and I'm not sure how many interested folk these days could do what it came back with.

No, cars are becoming consumables, especially with the emissions standards and many 'sealed for life' components (gearboxes / axles / bearings etc).

;-)

All the best ..

T i m

[1] FWIWW I was happy to use cold water as I wanted to get the general engine temp down.

Everything is now on hold for Christmas. My younger son and his girlfriend have returned for the holiday. The Nissan can quietly rust on the drive for a week or two. Anyway, all DIY is now confined to indoors and I can't get the car into the kitchen.

Christmas is just madness. I couldn't find a delivery slot at Tesco or Asda until 27th December, and Tesco had no decent turkey on their website - only Bernard Matthews imitations. My daughter gave me a lift to the local Tesco where I managed to obtain all I wanted. However, it was packed out with fools with siege mentality. Why does this happen year after year? The main shops are only closed for two days maximum, and there are plenty of local shops which are open all over Christmas. BTW the taxi fare back was a lot cheaper than Tesco's delivery charge and the driver loaded and unloaded my shopping. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my £6.30 off voucher!

Can anyone recommend a good home car maintenance business - I'm in the Teesside area.

All the best to you, Tim, and to all users of this newsgroup.

Terry D.

Terry,

They were easy-peasy if you knew the knack with either the 'straight' or 'convoluted ones' :-).

If I remember correctly, you would undo the to rad brackets and pull off the covers to allow the rad to fall towards the wing, whip off the fan blades, remove the remnants of the old hose, coat the insides of the new one with some washing up liquid, slide the top part on first and the compress the hose using a flat bladed paint scraper and slide the bottom of the hose into the correct position and pull the scraper gently away - fantastic job done - and then I realise I'd forgotten to slip one of the jubilee clips on first :-)

Ah the memories - sloppy gearstick joints, rotten rubber drive shaft couplings, siezed handbrake quadrants, knaff rear radius arm bearings, rotting subframes, floors and sills - and the damned engine stopping every time a couple of drops of rain fell from the skies - nostalgia in the first degree....

As you say "Young car owners these days don't know they're born!"

Brian G

Another old motorist - who according to my other half tends to suffer from the odd Victor Meldrew moment on occasions :-)

I remember all that you mention and more, but I do have many happy memories of my Mini, especially my honeymoon in 1968 in the Lake District and previously a holiday in Wales. I managed to get 85+mph in that car, and all from an 848cc engine and it never let me down on the road. Stopping the beast was the problem, with the single leading shoe front drum brakes! However I did learn how to do handbrake turns and to drive on ice. Unfortunately, I owned a few more BMC/Leyland etc disasters afterwards, including a Morris 1100, a Maxi and a Princess, and spent many happy hours in my garage repairing them. I've only had a car with power steering for the last seven years. I hope Alec Issigonis is happy, wherever he is!

I think my next car will be an old Merc - automatic, aircon and electric everything, silence & comfort - much cheaper than modern shoeboxes for five times the price. I don't care about insurance and MPG, as it will work out much cheaper in the end.

Terry D.

Just as well I was able to 'fix' my split hose then eh. I was right re the one_way hose clip they had used (I had to cut it off) and luckily the split was across the hose just as it joined the stub and there was enough good hose left to re-connect (for now anyway).

I'll have a good look round it in the new year (in my mates heated workshop) and maybe change more of the questionable hoses and all the one way clips! The heater hasn't ever been very good and I noticed quite a bit of corrosion around the 3 way tap thing that I believe sends the water into the heater matrix (or not). I might take it all off and check it out at the same time. The trouble is there are quite a few hoses and they aren't always the prices I'm used to on Fords .. :-(

Those were the days eh .. when it was perfectly natural to work on yer bicycle, scooter or motorbike in the kitchen. That's when the kitchens were just 'functional' with hard tiled floors and units that didn't cost the best part of 20 grand. :-(

Luckily the missus isn't such a snob and she was happy to grind the valves in on the kitchen work top when we were building the kit car (on a big wodge of newspaper of course).

Currently my Honda CB250 painted bits are drying in the kitchen and the bike would be in there as well if I could get it through the door! ;-)

True. I think for many people (not all of course) it's a habit, a loop they can't (or don't have the desire / gut's) to break out of. It has taken us quite a few years to get people to stop sending us cards (and put all the money in the charity box instead if they must do something). Better the charity get's all the cash rather the 1p they get per card?

lol. Luckily we suffer with little of such stress .. no turkey, cards, tree, decorations. It's like being an atheist, no time wasted! The Missus usually goes to her sisters on Xmas day (where her Mum now lives) and I have an open invite to go just for lunch if I feel like it. This year I think I'm ferrying some (of her) old reles up there so may stay .. probably not. On their own they are often very interesting, in a gaggle it's just more shouting and repeating than my tinnitus can cope with. I'm happy doing what I want, when I want it .. humbug or otherwise .. and I normally end up doing something for whoever (like sorting their PC's or building the flat pack furniture they've bought because they hope I might pop in .. and that I'm happy to do .. anytime ?) in any case. ;-)

Yup, and somewhere / thing I'd avoid like the plague. The few times I actually go food shopping and especially at Tesco I go at about 11pm .. I'd rather mix with the shelf stackers than gimps wandering about aimlessly!

As you say .. some sort of siege mentality ... gotta rush round and buy enough food to feed a small African country and buy crap for folk they don't want (but won't say) and will never use ..:-(

You have seen the stages:

1) You buy them something and they buy you something (and one will be embarrassed by the costing / appropriateness mismatch).

2) You give them vouchers and they give you vouchers (which may have expired by the time you find them in June, when clearing out the unopened Xmas cards).

3) You give them cash and they give you cash.

4) You see sense and just 'get yourself something when it's appropriate (and less chance of offending anyone, wasting money you don't have ) and maybe get them things they really want or need when they really want or need them?

Not many of the car spares places are round here and if they are they can't get anything themselves as the factories and big suppliers are all closed. I'll wait till normality returns and maybe order the hoses on the net?

Doh!

A mate has moved up to Telford (from Stevenage) and still drives down to get his car serviced by my mate (in Nth London). Not because he's particularly cheap but because you know it's been done by him (he works on his own) and know it's been done thoroughly. He also fixes the stuff for the main dealers when their fitters can't ....

Thank you and likewise Terry.

All the best ..

T i m