Possibilities of a Club Group Buy opportunity.

[chiron_myth]

I'd be interested... if nothing else, at that price it makes a cheap reliable spare :-)
Might be worth setting up a list somewhere to keep track of everybody who is interested.

[RobSun]

I do not want to be tarnished as a detractor from silicone hoses, I have used them and considered them on other cars, but a friend of mine is an expert in this field, and classic cars being the editor of a few mags.

We were having a discussion on using these hoses in classic cars and he gave us this information that you should consider. You may say he has an axe to grind but he is well respected in the field.

I reproduce an article he wrote after we had our discussion.

Your Editor has to advise you that he has an interest in a rubber manufacturing concern who produce cooling system hoses for many classic car clubs and specialists. We often get asked about silicone hoses and the following are a few disadvantages of this material. I would also add that if you do fit them to a vehicle that you must not use traditional jubilee clips as the sharp edge will cut into the material.

Silicone Hoses Disadvantages.

Permeability to oil and fuel.
The molecular structure of silicone doesn't play well with oil and other oil based products. We do not recommend using silicone hoses for any applications where they will come into contact with fuel or oil.

Permeability to water molecules.
Silicone is watertight, but water vapour can escape very slowly through the walls of the hose. Think of a balloon that you blow up with air and leave on a table for a week. The air escapes very very slowly through the walls of the balloon. There's a similar effect with silicone and if you have silicone hoses you will find that you have to top up the radiator from time to time , not because of a leak, but because of the water escaping through the walls of your hoses.. While silicone hoses are a must for racing applications some people do not like them for daily driving for these reasons.

He then goes on to explain the benefits of rubber hoses and the problems found with the readily available cheaply manufactured imported ones. THey use Kevlar reinforcement and not cheap fabric found in the imported ones causing them to soften and fail early.

So the information he gives makes silicone, in my opinion, to be something to probably avoid. We use them on intercooler hoses where they get into contact with fuel and oil, and cooling systems. I know my Rubber hoses lasted 130,000 miles but looking at that info will the silicone? Only time will tell but for me now a good set of uk made rubber ones are preferred.

[Sheraton]

I considered Silicone Hoses - In the End i opted for a complete set of Original hoses £100 with PRT and all connections the Original hoses on my Car lasted 14 years and (almost) 90k WITHOUT failing time will tell on the New set i fitted.


OEM Looks Tidier too



Paul.

[Georgies Dad]

Someone will be along soon saying you will have to pay traders fee if you are going to sell said items to members

[RobSun]

The quality of manufacture is now not as good as in the past causing premature failure. With them using Kevlar and not the fabrics available they overcome this. Silicon ones are probably better than poor quality rubber but if good quality rubber are available they will probably be better. I would not be bothered about having to top up water on occasions, but there are those who never check, and they could be caught out by loss of water especially if they think they are the bees knees and resolve all problems. My main concern would be those who like me fitted them to the intercooler. Was it a good move? The information he passed on is well known within the industry but have you heard anyone tell you this. A solely Silicon manufacturer may not tell you these disadvantages that they keep to themselves.

[Yorkshire GOC]

Originally Posted by trikey

Simple answer is change to blue anti freeze ��

As i have done and swopped out rubber for Silicone

[Ross R75]

Just to clarify, the blue antifreeze in question has to be silicate based antifreeze and it needs to be changed every 2 years. A lot of blue antifreeze is OAT based and is just as bad for your hoses as the red stuff.

Halfords do a decent silicate based blue antifreeze. It's the cheapest in their range and perfect for getting long life out of rubber hoses: https://www.halfords.com/motoring/en...-antifreeze-5l

My Volvo 850 T5 has run silicate antifreeze for 21 years and 144000 miles. The hoses are dry as a bone and the coolant circuit is clean as a whistle.

[p2roverman]

Originally Posted by VVC-Geeza

Hi John

have you seen THESE sets?

Shame they only supply them for the 1.8T, what about for the V6 ?

[p2roverman]

Originally Posted by Ross R75

Just to clarify, the blue antifreeze in question has to be silicate based antifreeze and it needs to be changed every 2 years. A lot of blue antifreeze is OAT based and is just as bad for your hoses as the red stuff.

That's news to me.

I use OAT because that's what the manual says, and for some reason (what?) I thought it was essential for the health of our engines.

But if OAT is bad for the rubber hoses, why was it originally specified?

[Ross R75]

Originally Posted by p2roverman

That's news to me.

I use OAT because that's what the manual says, and for some reason (what?) I thought it was essential for the health of our engines.

But if OAT is bad for the rubber hoses, why was it originally specified?

I have no idea why it was originally specified, probably because it lasts longer and brought costs down for fleet service managers. OAT is nasty stuff, IAT such as silicate based antifreeze won't do your engine any harm and won't degrade your rubber hoses.