Always carry zip ties and duct tape - CARNAGE!!

[410Fortune]

Ah yes I should know better.
So I am on my way home from work on the higway and I smell coolant...
I look in my rear view and the Subaru behind me has his wipers on, I figure oh great its me...

I pull off next exit, temp is climbing slowly....shut her down and STEAM everyhwere.

Pop the hood figuring the worst has happened (intake gasket, water pump, etc) But no the small hose from waterpump to thermostat housing is split!

I pour in the drinking water I have and make to a 7-11, 1/4 mile or so.
7-11 sells 3m clear duct tape thank goodness.
Wrapped the hose with about 14 pieces, pour in 2.5 gallons of water and drive her home 2 miles...no heat issues.
Still leaking, but only a bit.

Life lesson: So if I had zip ties and duct tape in the glove box like I should I could have made this repair anywhere, at least enough to get me to the next exit.

Shiny and wet, but not from a recent clean....its coolant

Small leak now

Clear duct tape saves the day

Of course I have a spare hose on my spare 5.0L so it will be an easy repair, once she cools off...

 

[Stic-o]

Just keep a women with you, they carry things to stop leaks Trust me it saved my ass once

 

[aldive]

No MacGyver aficionado would leave home without them

 

[tdavis]

And to think, I was expecting another Radiator rant..

 

[TheJMan]

I had the exact same problem on my 5.0 one day leaving school. Luckily I made it home but the temp gauge was climbing fast, probably around 240 or so. The best part of it was that I had a coolant flush done 2 days before, so I called up the place that did the flush, and said it was their fault, and they sent someone out to replace the hose and thermostat for free.

 

[FROADER]

The best part is that you showered a Subi with hot coolant. I wonder what it looked like when that person got home... haha

Zip ties and duct tape are ecential. It helped my dad and I get to the parts store when his rotor fell apart inside the distributor. He had a 350 in a 75 landcruiser.

 

[section525]

I've blown the same hose in my Explorer and Mounty.

 

[410Fortune]

hmmm so this hose has issues, very interesting!

Edited to remove gross stuff

hahaha

 

[section525]

unsubscribing

 

[gijoecam]

When I was in high school, I was riding in a Chevette with five of my closest friends. Took a turn too fast, slid wide, and smacked a semi real soft..... Somehow, while idling and waiting for the local constabulary, the radiator hose developed a pin-hole leak. We did much the same thing.... topped it off with all the water we had handy (and made our own from some fresh snow on the grass), then ran down a mile to the closest gas station. To fix the leak, we used a 3-mouth wad of bubble gum and tied a sweat-sock around it to hold it in place. Fred drove that car for three more years with that sweat sock holding the gum-patch in place!

-Joe

 

[Rhett]

I carry duct tape (for hose repair) in my "emergency basket" in my truck. But why the zip ties?? What good are they?

 

[410Fortune]

teh zip ties would have allowed me to stop the leak even further, by ensuring my duct tape staid in place and held it to the hose tight, even when wet.

I use zip ties more often the duct tape....they are super handy, especially the big dudes (like cops use to handcuff people)

 

[Josh]

Hows about a write up on how to convert a Mercury to a Ford Nice grill.

 

[410Fortune]

in my sig silly, more of a Ford with Merc seats and front clip

 

[ma96782]

I got the solution......well maybe.

I was at the sportsman's show and one dealer was selling silicone tape (came in different colors). He says he sells mainly through the internet.

Humm..........he demonstrated.........(imagine) a leakey hose.............OK pull off a length of tape (remove backing) and stretch and wrap it around the hose where the hole is suppose to be. Repair stays flexable and won't leak. He claimed he fixed his buddies boat's radiator hose while out on the water.........and hasn't gotten to a permanent fix in over a year.

BTW, I didn't buy........as it was somewhat expensive (forgot the price). Though, I guess it would be worth it, to have in an emergency.

Aloha, Mark

 

[gijoecam]

I've also seen self-vulcanizing rubber tapes too. They do sort of the same thing, but aren't generally as long-term of a fix.

-Joe

 

[410Fortune]

pep boys carries this hose, #71518 for $8.

I removed the one from my "spare" engine and placed it in the cargo area of the explorer, so if it blows again in the middle of the desert I will have a spare on board.
3 of 5 pep boys in denver were out of this hose.
Sounds to me like this hose may be under a bit of stress or is prone to failing quite often.

 

[410Fortune]

okay so I love this truck but WTF?

So Labor day I finally replaced the hose, no biggie. I removed the fan, belt, and upper radiator hose just to make it a bit easier.
Got the hose replaced, filled the cooling system and burped the system.

Now the explorer has been sitting since last Fri with 0 gas, I mean the tank was low low low, I let it sit out front for 15 minutes idling, getting up to temp, monitoring for leaks.
I then went to teh gas station, a Conoco about 1 mile from my house.
I figured since the tank was slo low I would dump in a bottle of red Line fuel system treatment I had held on to for about a month.
I filled the tank up completely full.
I drove to run some errands, about 15 miles round trip, no issues.
truck sits for 1 hour.
Truck will not start.

No fuel pump coming on.

Checked/replaced relay and fuse, still no fuel pump.
inertia switch is fine.

153K miles on truck, assume factory pump.

Why would the pump completely quit 100% now? No signs of weakness prior, it is just dead?
The tank is FULL, this is going to be fun.
I have a spare pump.
I will test the electrical tonight.

Any thoughts?
in my experience these pumps dont just stop coming on, they get weak fuel pressure wise...

 

[EMG7895]

When mine died about eight years ago it just died. It showed no signs of slowing down and wouldnt start the nest moring.

 

[Brandons]

Same here, twice so far, was 2000km from home with the family and it just stopped. Then many years later i had problems with the truck stalling and idling funny, got better, than once again it was toast.