Oil cooler hose

Mine just sprang a leak (the short 'S' type one) Not sure how much they are but shouldn't be expensive
Can you change one over and get away with not bleeding the system

probably not, as they are quite low in the system.

Bleeding in not that hard, jack up the drivers side, run a hose into the resivoir so it is over flowing, start the engine, set the cabin heater to hot and open the bleed valve on the rad, all the air should be in the raised corner of the rad where the bleed pipe is. Take the bleed screw right off so that the water circulation is enough to force all the air out, you can also raise up the bleed hose so that there is less pressure for the air to escape against. A 10 minute job to refill and bleed the system. In this heat you wont mind getting we either.

What is the internak diameter of these hoses. I thought I would just a straight hose from the auto factors as a replacement, or even use a straight silicone hose.

One of those S shaped oil cooler hoses on mine is from a V12 Jag engine.... it was an almost exact match.

Rubbish piece of trivia I know but at the time it was far easier than waiting for Renault to come up with the goods.

I tried the shortcut of using a piece of heater hose but it really needs the bends in it so that it doesn't flatten out. I ended up having to do a big loop round the driveshaft so that the pipe would stay in shape - temporarily of course whilst the correct part was sourced.

I guess these pipes are prone to bursting because of the exhaust heat and also I think they get a lot of movement as the engine rocks from side to side. I was baffled for ages by mine because it had a little split that only leaked when the engine was under load and rocked over a bit. Take it out for a spin - water all over the engine bay. Sit it on the driveway - no sign of any leaks - nightmare. Only really found out when it burst spectacularly, ending a brief race with a 200SX and leaving a quite spectacular plume of steam behind me.

Order the part from our local Renault dealer.
£13.10 inc VAT, not so bad. 5 to 10 day wait, not so good as I was intending to go to Brands next Friday

One thing I'd like to know is where the coolant hoses head to after they've circulated the oil heat exchanger. Do they T into the heater matrix feed ?

I still think if I can seal the expansion tank filler with clingfilm carefully screw the lid back on then the water loss should be minimal when I remove the old hose. And when fitting the new hose I'll fill the piece with water just before I connect it. Perhaps then I wont need to bleed the system much if at all.

I still think if I can seal the expansion tank filler with clingfilm carefully screw the lid back on then the water loss should be minimal when I remove the old hose. And when fitting the new hose I'll fill the piece with water just before I connect it. Perhaps then I wont need to bleed the system much if at all.

think i will keep my mouth shut

I still think if I can seal the expansion tank filler with clingfilm carefully screw the lid back on then the water loss should be minimal when I remove the old hose. And when fitting the new hose I'll fill the piece with water just before I connect it. Perhaps then I wont need to bleed the system much if at all.

think i will keep my mouth shut

Hmmmmmmm yes

There's a lot of weight and therefore pressure in that water as you're disconnecting at the lowest point in the system - essentially you've got the weight of all the water pressing down from in the heads, the block, pump, etc. Whatever you do it's going to flood out.

The clingfilm may slow it a bit and if you were quick you might get the pipe on without losing it all, but whichever way you're going to need to bleed the system at the rad really. It's not hard to do.

GTA systems never ever bleed completely in my experience and you always end up having to top the water up a fraction for a couple of times afterwards. Despite the pipes on the rad being mounted in the middle as long as the rad isn't half full of air it does self bleed. As you go along the water obviously moves, sloshes around and bubbles and in my experience the air finds its way out.

[stephendell]

Order the part from our local Renault dealer.
£13.10 inc VAT

Or get nice Samco silicone ones for only £10.40+VAT each