smallfry Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Probably been covered many times before, but I cant find anything offhand .......... Whats the consensus about using silicone hose over rubber, for heater hoses and the like ? I have never used them myself, but I gather they are "better", but from what I can find they become floppy when hot, come in shiny carpy colours for the bling enthused, and do not grip hosetails as well as rubber, and can blow off under pressure. As they become floppy, do they then kink if the radius is not so gentle ? Do they form a "set" after a few heating cycles ? Anyone had them "blow off" (no sniggering) under pressure, without tighten them down ridiculously. I prefer to use the modern spring clamps and dont like "Jubilee" type clips. Especially on smaller hose sizes. Are they worth the extra expense in the long term ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Silicone doesn't stick to the hose tail like rubber does so yes they can blow off under pressure but if you tighten them down well they're fine. I've had a silicone turbo hose blow off and induction side collapse. They don't like diesel. I decided against them on the ibex purely based on cost and I'm not convinced they last much longer. Mike 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger110 Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Also you can get different thickness's of silicone hose as well as coatings to allow the use with oil or fuel. I bought a set for the intercooler off ebay, 5 ply and cost £50. The bend just before the EGR valve on the puma is a little tight and the silicone began to kink at this point. A set from BAS came along and i snapped them up and the difference is like chalk n cheese. The BAS pipes are 5 ply also but much thicker and heavier with no kink at the same point. You might be buying 4 or 5 ply silicone hose, but the ply layers can be different thickness's, it's ' you get what you pay for ' scenario. The silicone hose's are no larger or stronger than the rubber ones if i'm honest, except my rubber ones were full of carp from the pre intall of the oil capture and egr blank off so i wanted to replace them. Genuine rubber pipes aren't cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Not so much better IMHO. But try getting bents etc. in rubber ? Have them on the three Tdi's and do well - but you need seriously good clamps. And they do come in black, too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPendrey Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 One benefit of different colours is that you can colour-code the hoses... Blue for water/coolant, Black for oil, green for air (for example). However, I will admit I've only considered it, I've not actually done this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=jon= Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 When I did the engine swap on mine I used silicon hoses and joiners as there's a variety of awkward bends for the top / bottom rad hoses that I couldn't find off the shelf pipework for. I spent weeks pulling my hair out tracking down and fixing leaks - no matter what I did I couldn't get it to all seal nicely... I tried different jubilee clips, hylomar on all of the joints, etc etc It drove me totally bonkers as it would all go back together, appear to be sealed and then a few days later you'd spot a few drips underneath... Then I'd check all of the jubilee clips and they would need nipping up - I think the heat cycles causes the clips to bite into the silicon and loosen. In the end, I used Mikalor clamps on all of the joins and it seems to be holding together much better, but long term I will probably look at replacing with rubber hoses and/or one piece/metal replacements to reduce the number of joins in the system... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 On 1/4/2021 at 3:08 PM, SPendrey said: One benefit of different colours is that you can colour-code the hoses... Blue for water/coolant, Black for oil, green for air (for example). However, I will admit I've only considered it, I've not actually done this! I think colour coding for flow directions might be hardly, like hot and cold side for heater hoses, oil cooler lines and such. I think there is probably not much need for colour coding fluid types, though - if you can’t tell a rad hose from an oil hose, then you probably should put the spanner’s down! 😉 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 @=jon= I used silicone hoses on the 109 but got stainless lengths & bends and some nice fellow TIGed them together so the silicone bits are only on either end and the majority of any run is stainless. Certainly you can't (easily) find good rubber hoses in the range of universal sizes/shapes that you can with silicone, and colour coding can be good and look smart if done well... or just buy black silicone and stay classy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallfry Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share Posted January 5, 2021 7 hours ago, Snagger said: if you can’t tell a rad hose from an oil hose, then you probably should put the spanner’s down! 😉 This is what I think when I see threads on "How do I change the brake pads on my Turbo Nutter Coupe" ............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallfry Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share Posted January 5, 2021 8 hours ago, =jon= said: In the end, I used Mikalor clamps on all of the joins and it seems to be holding together much better, but long term I will probably look at replacing with rubber hoses and/or one piece/metal replacements to reduce the number of joins in the system... Do you mean the circular spring type, or the wide band with two barrels and a screw ? Thanks for the input chaps ! The leaks and clips issue do worry me, and then I dont like having to make up hoses with lots of joins and clips. I have a good selection of old heater hoses from various vehicles going back a long time. For now, I think I will chop them up and make something out of them. I know it probably not good practise given that they are old, but at least I can work out hoe to route them temporarily. Ten years later .............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=jon= Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 12 hours ago, smallfry said: Do you mean the circular spring type, or the wide band with two barrels and a screw ? The ones like this: They seem to clamp better with more even pressure, but they are a fair bit more expensive than a standard jubilee clip.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 I've just swapped out all by water hoses for some black silicone hoses, seems ok at the moment, used some "high grip" JCS stainless hose clips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 Big trouble with silicone is that there are a lot of carp stuff out there. Like anything you get what you pay for. I seem to remember reading somewhere that silicon hoses (certainly on the water side) benefit hugely from the constant-tension type clamps. The kind with a zig-zag spring type affair round the outside as they give a much more even clamp compared to a standard jubilee type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbeaumont Posted January 7, 2021 Share Posted January 7, 2021 On 1/5/2021 at 7:38 PM, smallfry said: This is what I think when I see threads on "How do I change the brake pads on my Turbo Nutter Coupe" ............. At least they're taking the first baby steps beyond screwing on body trim and adding a few stickers...we all started somewhere... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallfry Posted January 7, 2021 Author Share Posted January 7, 2021 48 minutes ago, geoffbeaumont said: At least they're taking the first baby steps beyond screwing on body trim and adding a few stickers...we all started somewhere... That is very true Geoff, but when I started I was supervised by a responsible adult ! Very important with safety related stuff, like brakes ! More for other road users benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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