Coolant hose sealant

[superih]

Seems like anymore you change a radiator hose and it seeps for a couple of years until it finally seats in, all the while you keep tightening the hose clamps.  Anyone found a good sealant to put on the inside of the hoses before assembly that seals them up good?

[Weapon]

HiTack formagasket works for me. Clean up the tube and spray on the tube or inside the hose. Slip together and tighten hose clamp. 

John

[ksfarmdude]

Indianhead shelac little brown bottle with a brush appilcator Sold at all NAPA's great stuff seals hoses really well

[HTS1206]

Don't do it on all hoses but if I have trouble with one I coat the I.D. with black Permatex also makes them easier to slip on .But when you take it of the next time you'll need a hose pick tool to break it loose.

[DR.EVIL]

Speaking of radiator and heater hoses,  They are something that modern technology with improved rubber compounds has really improved.  Was about 43-44 years ago I was gassing up and pre-flighting my car for the 200+ mile trip home from school.  Drove to the gas station, filled with gas, popped the hood to check/add oil and my eyes almost popped out of my head!  The upper radiator hose was about SIX Inches in diameter,  the nylon reinforcing threads had broke and it blew up like a balloon.  Loosened the radiator cap and let the pressure off it and drove to the local auto parts store, got both upper and lower hoses but just changed out the upper back at school,  not really equipped to drain the cooling system at school.  I suspect they were all factory installed hoses,  car was 4-5 yrs old. probably close to 100,000 miles.  My F-250 I replaced all the cooling system hoses on when it was about 5-6 years old,  around 175,000 miles, with OEM hoses.  They still look great now 16-17 years later with another 125,000 miles on the truck.  We traded the Wife's old car off at 12 years old and 205,000 miles and it still had all factory installed hoses except for one air conditioning hose.

[BOBSIH856]

Have you tried constant torque clamps? They work well especially with silicone hose. Also don't over tighten the hose.

[Tmtbob]

A guy around here will use white lithium grease on hose fittings and swears by it. I use black permatex 

[Rawleigh99]

Use two hose clamps offset by 180 degrees.

[Maynard]

Murphy's oil soap aids assembly, helps form a seal and releases easily even years after assembly.

[pete23]

Sealant is going to depend on what the hose is going on.  If the radiator or what ever has a very smooth surface and no ridge near the end of the pipe, a sealant will make that hose slip right off in some cases.  A clean dry hose is the best there.  Most tractor applications, I     use permatex like  Indian Head or back in the day, number two Permatex.   Most castings like water pump, thermostat housings are rough and I use permatex on them.  Also, lot of castings have the cast molding ridge on them that needs to be leveled off. 

Now, when you put hoses on air intake parts, you are not going to notice if they leak a little or not.  IH had severe problems with this happening when the hose clamp digs down into the hose and then clamp is loose. Their remedy was a    hose clamp with the protective inner strip that went right under the screw and slots in clamp.  It did a real good job and those clamps very seldom lost their tension. Also, the castings on some of those air intakes had that ridge and needs to be leveled out to get a good seal.   More than a few engines got dusted from poor hose clamping and connections. 

[New Englander]

I like spring clamps, not the wire type but the flat style. I've never had one leak. That being said I haven't had much trouble with screw clamps as long as everything is very clean - no rust or scale.

[oleman]

We put a new Chinese aluminum radiator in our K2500.  Have not been able to stop the coolent from oozing.  The torque type clamps are being used. Believe the issue is the connections at the radiator are slick aluminum with nothing to grip to.  Also miserable connections with "MODERN" plastic radiators.  Our ace fixer once tightened a hose clamp such that  that it sheared off the plastic radiator  connection,  hose still leaked.  We will use permatex aviation on all hoses in the future.

[Diesel Doctor]

Have never used any type of sealant and never really had an issue.

Clean rubber grips a dry fitting really well.

I only found that when it hit 10 below you may need to tighten the worm gear clamps a bit.

That is why I use the spring clamps when I can. They are a pain but they constantly put the same pressure on the hose even if the hose deteriorates a bit.

They don't leak and work on plastic and aluminum tanks if the right size.

My choice.

[New Englander]

9 hours ago, Diesel Doctor said:

That is why I use the spring clamps when I can. They are a pain but they constantly put the same pressure on the hose even if the hose deteriorates a bit.

They don't leak and work on plastic and aluminum tanks if the right size.

Ditto! Anything I have with a plastic tank has a spring clamp. McMaster Carr has the flat type for smaller hose sizes and the constant pressure types for larger. No seeping when it gets cold.

[oleman]

6 hours ago, New Englander said:

Ditto! Anything I have with a plastic tank has a spring clamp. McMaster Carr has the flat type for smaller hose sizes and the constant pressure types for larger. No seeping when it gets cold.

Any many situations the spring type are very difficult to work with due to access limitations!

[New Englander]

8 hours ago, oleman said:

Any many situations the spring type are very difficult to work with due to access limitations!

When you can't get a spring type in these accomplish the same thing but are about the same effort as a regular screw clamp. Scroll down for the firm-type hose variety:

https://www.mcmaster.com/#constant-tension-hose-clamps/=1cl3nc7

[oleman]

19 hours ago, New Englander said:

When you can't get a spring type in these accomplish the same thing but are about the same effort as a regular screw clamp. Scroll down for the firm-type hose variety:

https://www.mcmaster.com/#constant-tension-hose-clamps/=1cl3nc7

The constant tension bellville type are the ones we have removed on the aluminum radiator because with the max torque recommended they still oozed.  Also on the more substantial intake manifold connection on the 454 chevy they continue to ooze even when torqued well past the max recommended. We even went back to Delco hoses still an issue.  My latest thought is that the current family of environmentally friendly and EPA certified coolant is probably the problem.  Has a very oily and thin feel to it, almost like a liquid silicone we used for high power vacuum tube coolant used in shipboard radar.

[New Englander]

9 hours ago, oleman said:

The constant tension bellville type are the ones we have removed on the aluminum radiator because with the max torque recommended they still oozed.  Also on the more substantial intake manifold connection on the 454 chevy they continue to ooze even when torqued well past the max recommended. We even went back to Delco hoses still an issue.  My latest thought is that the current family of environmentally friendly and EPA certified coolant is probably the problem.  Has a very oily and thin feel to it, almost like a liquid silicone we used for high power vacuum tube coolant used in shipboard radar.

Wow! Leaking at sub zero or under pressure? What coolant is that? I want to avoid it! Haven't had that with generic green stuff, pink GM, or purple SCA diesel.

[oleman]

18 hours ago, New Englander said:

Wow! Leaking at sub zero or under pressure? What coolant is that? I want to avoid it! Haven't had that with generic green stuff, pink GM, or purple SCA diesel.

Currently running the WalMart brand mixes with any type, 50/50 mix out of the jug and no other liquid.  Also use in tractor without an issue but that radiator does not build up pressure because of flue leaks. Do not recall an issue with the version that was designed to be blended at the job.

Another issue is the radiator outlet is below the intake man so there is going to be an air pocket in the radiator hose that has to be worked out by cycling engine over time.  Actually appears to getting easier to contain.  Not indication of heating so I will let it go and see it takes me.  This is a totally stock cooling system except for the larger radiator so it has been good enough for the past 25 years and I do not redesign wheels.