[Del]

Had a fun time this afternoon with the 91S. The short hose which runs between the bottom of the thermostat housing and the metal tube coming from the lower left side of the radiator blew. I was worried that it might be the waterpump but on inspection it was just the 4 inch long rubber hose, oh, and the broken upper hose clamp.

The interesting part was that when I pulled the forward fender panel liner out, I could see the upper hose clamp just hanging there, split apart halfway around from the winder mechanism. Upon removal of the old hose (by cutting it with a knife), I could see why everything failed.

The moron who originally owned the car had replaced this hose at least once, and the way he did it was to not loosen the lower bolts holding the metal pipe in place so that the pipe with the new hose could be moved into place, but to carve away part of the upper end of the new hose in the back where it would always otherwise hang up when being forced into place, and had obviously used something like a screwdriver to finish forcing the back of the hose to around the outlet/inlet? of the bottom housing of the thermostat.

A split started from all this rework/abuse, and also the damaged el cheapo hose clamp broke away, letting coolant start to run everywhere. Geez!!

If you have to replace this hose, it is sooo easy to do it the right way. The only tricky part is backing off the short bolt under the alternator which holds the metal tube in place. It's a little difficult to get to, and to get back in. I also removed the bolt holding the lower cross tube to the lower front cross member, but you might not have to do that.

Did find out that there are two different sized versions of this hose. The early smaller dia version of it is listed I guess as for the early B's and L's (60510278), replaced by the later larger dia version for the S (60560822), 05/2003. The dealer had both, the one for the S costing twice as much, of course.

Also, use the newer Euro style hose clamps in which the thread slots don't come through the strap to the inside, and are built like fuel injection clamps which don't damage the hose material. They are great and a much nicer design.

 

[Alfisto Steve]

Ah, yes the infamous hidden bolt under the alternator trick I know it well. I have seen many ways to beat the system besides actually removing and reinstalling HIDDEN BOLT correctly. Option 1 remove it throw it away. Option 2 cut through pipe bracket between cooling pipe and compressor lug where bolt goes through with saw and leave bolt/cut bracket installed. Neither one the correct way to go but your find of option 3 takes the cake.

 

[MrT]

I really do feel for you, Del. There have been several things I've found on these cars, accomplished at the hands of the P.O., which have needed undoing. I plan to restore my son's replacement '91S radiator fan function to stock soon, but we're so far behind on other things that it must wait a bit more..

 

[Del]

If you can get away with doing only one chore at a time, Then you can plan each fix/restoration as a nice little fix-it-up project, not wearing yourself out trying to do a complete car restoration/repair, and be able to clean up afterward, feeling good that one more little piece of hammer mechanic dirty work has been carefully restored to as it was meant to be.

I like that feeling of satisfaction that comes from correcting one more thing to as stock.