A smoky experience

[mike020150]

On the last day of the month I decided to allow my Series 2 V12's RFL to lapse for winter and to do things properly, I went for a final 10 miles' run to warm the engine before changing the oil and filter. Returning, a mile from home, progress was baulked by a tractor and I changed down manually to squirt past at the first oportunity. As I accelerated briskly and changed up, the tractor disappeared from view in a vast cloud of white smoke emanating from what seemed to be the right hand exhaust. Instantaneous thoughts of head gasket failure were allayed by normal gauge readings, followed by alternative diagnoses of brake or transmission issues. The brakes pulling to one side certainly didn't feel normal nor was the powertrain which exhibited odd misfire-like symptoms. The car made the mile home but as I drove towards the garage, it lost all drive. The good news surfaced when I opened the bonnet and everything was covered in transmission fluid. A rubber oil cooler pipe, located just ahead of the exhaust down pipe had split spectacularly and showered the exhaust, the offside front brake and everything else rearwards. It looked like a particularly messy waxoyling session! The offending hose (non OE, kevlar reinforced) had replaced a 30 years' old original as a precaution a mere 4 years and very few miles ago. The moral of the story is; beware modern replacements! The original hoses are no longer available from JDHT but later versions (CAC3097/9) are. These are much longer than the originals but frustratingly, just too short for one expensive hose to replace both the originals. Concours owners would weep upon seeing the underside of the car. However, looking on the bright side, I won't have to waxoyl her this year.

[J44EAG]

Perhaps Pirtek or another company specialising in hydraulic hoses and fittings could in all probability make a hose to OE type spec. Pirtek specialise in heavy industrial plant applications so a simple car hose shouldn`t be a problem for them.

Duncan Rodgers Engineering in Scotland and Bristol are also good at this type of thing. If you go on line and find their site, as I remember you can order a free catalogue named "Airlines". It is most useful. DRE also offer a mail order service so if you live miles from anywhere getting parts sent to you is not a problem.

Some of these companies will, if in good condition, reuse the hose end tails saving costs and over coming occasional difficulties sourcing replacement item. I went that route when I replaced all the aged flexi hydraulic hoses on my boat gearboxes some years back.

Mike K

[almcl]

Interesting.

I had several bad experiences with Kevlar reinforced hoses on my 6 cylinder cars' cooling systems. Eventually (I am a slow learner) I stopped using any hose with Kevlar in its description. Since that time heater hoses have stopped bursting at embarassing moments within two years of being fitted.

I got a length of replacement autobox cooler hose from Martin Robey, I think, but, as you say, it was just too short to do both hoses. Fitting it was a nightmare with so little room to work in when attempting to slide it over the pipe ends.