Hose near fan belt

[jimed]

I've just replaced the thermostat housing to swirlpot hose on the S3C and have noted that it is very close to the fan belt. After some careful twisting of the hose (a silicon one) it is about 1/4 inch away but as the fan belt moves on acceleration, etc. it is very close and will sometimes touch. The old one has been on for some time as I've had the car for 10 years and not had to replace it and that has a groove worn in it which was not the failure cause but it was down to the canvas so to speak. As the groove is underneath you wouldn't even notice it but I wonder if anyone has put something round the hose to stop it being worn way like that? Not sure what to think of as a jubilee clip might restrict the hose when everything is hot and it also takes up some of the all too small gap ... hmmm!
The alternative could be to put on a jubilee clip and squeeze the hose in a bit to increase the gap as well as providing some additional protection; any views as to whether that would be a good idea or cause a problem??

Not a major issue as the old pipe did last OK but someone may have had a bright idea?
Jim
PS I was going to put in a thinking smiley but wasn't sure how to do it - if I type in the colon think colon as per the smiles legend does it appear when I put the post up??

[pies]

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=196832&f=11&h=0&hw

[keirangrogan]

I came across this problem when the belt actually wore thru!

Solved it by cleanly cutting through Hose and inserting Aluminium Join available from Motor Factors.

[jimed]

Thanks for that Pies; its certainly some food for thought but the jubilee clip may be a viable idea - any reason why not from anyone?
Jim

[spludge]

Watch the clearance to the alternator as well, the front lug has left a deep wear mark on the hose on mine.

[jonnylayze]

I used a silicon hose and pulled the hose back (in the direction of the wheel arch) using a cable tie without distorting the hose itself.

[jimed]

I was talking to a friend yesterday evening re the problem and he suggested the (apparently simple?) idea of lifting the whole swirlpot by undoing the retaining bolts at the bottom and inserting a couple of washers underneath to give a little more clearance. Has anyone any thoughts on this (other than checking to ensure clearance when the bonnet is shut), are the nuts under the swirlpot retained, would it catch on the battery tray, is the swirlpot tack-welded down at all (on mine there could be one spot of it or it could be some paint run?), etc???
I am away for a couple of nights so won't be able to look further myself until next week so any ideas in the meantime greatly appreciated.
Thanks guys (and any guyesses out there as well!)
Jim

Edited by jimed on Friday 23 February 09:23

[F908 Tim]

Four nuts with bolts below hold the swirlpot to the chassis so easy enough to space up wards a bit if that gives better belt clearance.I have a bit of rubber between the hose and alternator front fixing on mine because I notived I too had a wear mark on the new top hose.

[jimed]

Well here's an update.
I've had another look at the problem. When I got the new silicon hose (from TVR Car Parts)it was quite a bit longer on one length than the old one and I had cut a bit off to make it nearly the same (- at that time my worry was the alternator bracket rubbing as I hadn't spotted the fan belt issue then and it had not been a problem before). I came to the conclusion that I shouldn't really have done that and was coming down to the need to get another new hose - BUT - I have drained the system down enough to take the new hose off again and, after removing the other nearby hoses so I could get at it better, have had another go at it. With enough hose on each pipe to get the clip on and a little extra beyond it, I have then twisted the hose quite sharply and managed to get clearance of what looks like over 1/2 inch so should be OK. I've run the engine up after refilling and after putting a tie wrap round the other hose from the water pump to the swirlpot I now have both hoses with what looks like a good clearance from the fan belt and neither is touching the alternator bracket either so a good result after all. I suspect the ability to twist the hose more is down to it being silicon as it has held its shape and not distorted even when hot. Hopefully that now sorts it!!
Jim

[GreenV8S]

Silicon hoses tend to relax so check all the clearances and clamp tightness etc after a couple of days, and again in a couple of weeks time.

[jimed]

I will be checking it for a while until it all settles down Peter but thanks for the thought.
Jim