Honda Radiator Hose Clamps

[philh]

I just replaced the radiator, hoses, and clamps, with all fresh new Honda parts.

After warming the car up, the lower radiator hose had a tiny leak – like one drop per 10-15 minutes.

I moved the clamp all around, rotated it, moved it front to back, and could not get it to completely stop.
(Was careful to make sure it was perfectly parallel to the end of the hose).

Bought another clamp from Honda (again, the Honda spring type) and installed it and this one was better –> Maybe 1 drop every 30 minutes.
Rotated it around and *finally* got it to stop. (!)

OK – Smple question: Is there some trick to always getting the Honda clamps to seal perfectly – without wasting time fiddling?

Was thinking of switching to a T-bolt clamp, but know I

Topic

[Third Gear]

Well, if all the parts are the correct part numbers, you might end up having to get a t-bolt or standard clamp. I prefer OEM clamps, but sometimes you have to throw in ones of those ugly ones.

That’s unusal though, because last time I bought a Honda hose it fit on the radiator really tight – perfectly actually.

[WDHewson]

A nice feature of modern radiator hose clamps is that they are designed to have the right tension and can’t crush the rubber too much or won’t clamp too weakly. But the hose has to be of the right rubber stiffness, or pliability, and everything has to be clean and flawless.

This summer my 1999 Honda CRV blew a transmission cooler hose. When I examined the hose, the pinhole was really small, and I had to flex the hose to open the hole, and even then needed a magnifying glass. The storey being, make sure your hose is good.

[EricTheCarGuy]

There is a trick, don’t use the spring clamps. In fact whenever I replace a radiator I often replace the lower hose clamp with a standard clamp that I can tighten as there has been more than one occation where I had to go back and put one on after the fact. The other upside to doing this is that you don’t have to remove the hose in order to install one of those clamps, just move the spring clamp back and install the regular clamp in front of it.

[philh]

Quoted From EricTheCarGuy:

There is a trick, don’t use the spring clamps. In fact whenever I replace a radiator I often replace the lower hose clamp with a standard clamp that I can tighten as there has been more than one occation where I had to go back and put one on after the fact. The other upside to doing this is that you don’t have to remove the hose in order to install one of those clamps, just move the spring clamp back and install the regular clamp in front of it.

Eric – Good feedback. I thought there was some trick to getting it just right – didn’t realize the positioning of the Honda spring clamps was so finicky.
Maybe just random, but I found was if I pulled the clamp back a little and got it closer to the raised part of radiator pipe (visible through the hose) it stopped the leak.

I looked at where Honda had put the original clamps on the original hoses, and seemed that they were closer to the end of the hose — but that didn’t work for me and still had a very, very slow leak. (1 drop every few minutes).

Assume you are using regular screw clamps. Noticed that my BMW uses a T-bolt clamp. Guess the downside of these is you cant put them on after the fact without pulling the radiator hose?

Anyway, thanks for the info.

[EricTheCarGuy]

You CAN put them on without removing the hose, just unscrew them all the way and slip them around the hose. If you have the leak solved however then you won’t need to worry about it. I was under the impression that you had replaced the hoses or I would have suggested that you put the clamp back in the same location that you took it off from. Thanks for the update.

[Shaun_300]

Yeah the spring clamps are handy and do work well when the vehicle is fairly new, but once some years of corrosion hit them they start to lose their tension and will even rot off. Especially here in Ontario where we get hard winters all the time with lots of snow, ice and cold temps. Salt is hammered on the roads here like you wouldn’t believe, I’ve replaced lower rad hose clamps on 2006 trucks because they’ve simply corroded in half.

[philh]

Quoted From EricTheCarGuy:

You CAN put them on without removing the hose, just unscrew them all the way and slip them around the hose. If you have the leak solved however then you won’t need to worry about it. I was under the impression that you had replaced the hoses or I would have suggested that you put the clamp back in the same location that you took it off from. Thanks for the update.

Just to be clear, I replaced the radiator, lower hose, and clamps with all new Honda OEM parts. Was surprised when the new Honda hose and new clamps still did not stop it from leaking completely. My references to moving the clamp around were with the new hose. Backing the clamp up on the new hose away from the radiator and just before the raised hump from the radiator inlet made it stop leaking.

Not sure why, but thought I’d pass this along.

[EricTheCarGuy]

As long as it worked that’s what counts, after a few heat cycles it will set in place and you’ll probably never see it leak again. Thanks for the update.

[Author]

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