Thread: Auto pipe failure - emergency fix?

Hard to say how much is lost... How long is a piece of string.

When mine went i didn't notice until it was like someone pushed the clutch in and the engine is revving and you weren't going anywhere. Or like a slipping clutch. That's when I noticed the oil down the side of the vehicle in one of the side mirrors and quickly pulled over. Was in the middle of nowhere coming back from camping towing a heavily laden trailer all packed up. Luckily an older couple stopped who were towing a camper trailer and gave me a small hose clamp from their kitchen sink pipe for a temp fix. Limped to the nearest turn off where I got phone coverage....in south west wa. Called RAC and waited hoping I hadn't done too much damage.

All in all it would be hard to bypass as from what I have seen the pipes fail at the swaged ends. So you could remove the swaged ends and fit different fittings. I still have a hose clamp on the one which did fail and that's about 50k later.

I had a big block in a HQ ute that was solid mounted (used to break engine mounts and transmission pipes) I went to flexible hose at the cooler ends but always carried a couple of bayonet ends and some hose and clamps.

If you think its about to go it probably is The left/ cooler return is the pipe that fails. Remove the plastic acces plate and the pipe and fitting become visable. Grasp the hose and try and twist it on the pipe, chances are it will turn on 1 or the other ends, if it does try and pull it off. If it moves, even slightly , its had it! I removed mine , pulled the crimp fittings off, not as easy as you would think and fitted hose clamps.
Refer to my post about it here http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery-...-anything.html The pics give you an idea what I did. The hose itself was in fair condition surprisingly, so I reused it pending some new stuff. The 2 clamps fit either side of the crimp ridge on the metal pipes and perform as the factory crimp does, except I am able to adjust mine. you must use NARROW clamps because there is not a lot of room. This has now done 5000 kms and seems perfecto!
Studying the inlet and outlet flexs to the cooler I have come to the conclusion Land Rover made a miscalculation regarding heat . The inlet hose is a hi temp type hose with outside braiding whereas the outlet is a standard low temp ,rubber outer, braided core type. the idea being that the oil will be cooler after passing through the cooler. However the radiator fan exhaust a fair degree of hot air onto the hose, the power steer hoses are in close proximity, as is the turbo and intercooler inlet hose, so it appears a lot hotter enviroment than the inlet side!
Cheers Scott