Engine Tech Tips

[rustystud]

Today I was working on some engine parts. Cleaning and painting and grinding and filing. On all the parts I clean I like to remove all casting "flash" from them. That brings up my tech tip. As most of you know, during winter the coolant has a tendency to leak from engine hose ends. Especially after getting good and hot and then allowed to set overnight outside in the cold. Most will just tighten up the hose clamps. Some will buy expensive "spring" loaded clamps. What I found out years ago is the "fit and finish" of most all cast parts is not very good. Sometimes the part castings barely allow the engine to run properly due to their crappy machining. The coolant hose fittings are no different. What I have done over the years is to clean up this area and grind and file the ends round. As round as I can get it and still keep a "smooth" surface. The "smooth" part here is the critical part. When these parts are made smooth they allow the hoses to "grip" the housing all around preventing any leaking. I'm sure I'm not the first mechanic to realize this and start cleaning these housings up. But I'm probably one of the few to admit what I do to prevent these leaks. Like most mechanics you guard your little secret tips to help you on your jobs and give you an advantage over the other mechanics. It kind of goes like this. [Wow Joe over there never has come-backs on coolant leak problems. So lets give him all those from now on]. Now Joe has a steady supply of work just because of his little secret he learned. At first I wasn't going to share this little tip. Old habits I guess, but I'm retired now and don't need to keep guarding all my little secret tech tips.



These five pictures show what I was doing today. After all the parts are cleaned up I then give them a good primer and finish coat of paint. That really helps seal them to the hose.

 

[URSATDX]

Great tip.
It's been real cold lately and noticed a few spots of coolant where before there were none.
Thanks

 

[M543A2]

Seems antifreeze gets thinner in cold weather, but I think it actually is the dimension changes in parts and clamps due to the cold. School buses I worked on required that we use spring clamps so tension was maintained on coolant connections. And yes, I am guilty of polishing rough parts also!

 

[rustystud]

Seems antifreeze gets thinner in cold weather, but I think it actually is the dimension changes in parts and clamps due to the cold. School buses I worked on required that we use spring clamps so tension was maintained on coolant connections. And yes, I am guilty of polishing rough parts also!

All our buses and all the semi-trucks I worked on had the spring tension clamps. They still leak though. On some housings, I've seen the casting line go right down the outlet housing with no attempt to clean it up from the factory. Yes the hose will conform to that rough casting to a degree. That's the problem though, it does not seal totally and the temperature changes in winter will cause leaks even using spring tension clamps.