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Silicone Hoses And Oat Coolant


AndyW

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I'm replacing part of the cooling system hoses on my Rover engine where one of the bends has been rubbing, and to redesign the expansion bottle system.

 

I was about to get some silicone hoses to replace the rubber bits and pieces I've got, but I've just read on a couple of websites that silicone hoses shouldn't be used with OAT antifreeze. Apparently it degrades and perishes silicone hoses quickly.

 

Is this true? Anyone have any experiences? Should I stick to rubber hoses?

 

Andy

 

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Hi Andy,

 

Just a thought...

 

I know that silicon rubber and petrol is not a good mix. You need a floor lined sitcom hose where it comes in contact with petrol but I'm not sure about OAT (Organic Acid Technology) antifreeze.

 

So thing is you'll need to drain the cooling system when you are replacing the hoses so why not use a different antifreeze when you fill it up again!

 

Here's link I found that might help you

 

https://www.viperperformance.co.uk/plainpage.php?pgId=60

 

 

 

Kevin

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Hi Kevin,

 

Yes that was one of the pages I found which got me thinking.

 

I don't think I can use a different antifreeze, as the Rover T-series engine is mixed metal and the workshop manual (and the Halfords selector) recommends OAT antifreeze.

 

I looked at fluoro lined silicone hoses but they are 3x the price and not all shapes are available, so that rather puts them out of reach.

 

I just wondered if anyone had used normal cheapo silicone hoses, eg from ASH, with OAT antifreez and whether they'd had any adverse effects?

 

Andy

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Hi

 

I've got plenty off cuts of ASH silicon hoses as I've been putting the cooling system together on my Robin Hood 2B. Happy to send you an off cut and you can steep it in OAT and see what happens.

 

Just give me an address and I'll post it off to you

 

Kevin

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I use to run OAT with samco hoses on an old car with no problems. If you are concerned you could always look into waterless coolant as thats different again.

That sounds promising with no damage happening from normal usage. Although I suspect Samco hoses might be higher quality than the ASH hoses if price is anything to go by.

 

Id thought of waterless coolant, but expensive to waste judging by the number of times Ive had to drain and refill my cooling system in the past year!

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I've got plenty off cuts of ASH silicon hoses as I've been putting the cooling system together on my Robin Hood 2B. Happy to send you an off cut and you can steep it in OAT and see what happens.

Kevin, thanks for the offer, but Im not sure it would show anything in just a few days. I understand the hoses degrade slowly over time.

 

Andy

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I used OAT with ASH hoses not had any issues - thats 3-odd years plus refitted some hoses as still in great condition.

Fluoro lined simply used for the filler neck as the rest is all proper fuel lines. Think its the ethanol that eats the silicone unlined hoses (happy to be corrected?) Normal silicone for coolant stuff will be fine

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