A cautionary tale--check the clearance on your oil cooler hose

[kerry]

Wife's Land Cruiser wouldn't turn over today so since my daughter's 84SD was parked nearby I pulled it alongside to jump the Cruiser. When I opened the hood I noticed there was oil all over the front of the engine of the SD. WTF? I peer around. The power steering belt had sawed a hole in the top oil cooler hose and oil had been squirting out when the thermostat opened. Yikes. Clearance was about 1/2" from hose to belt. Hose was new less than 2k miles on it. Not sure what was causing the belt to move closer to the hose enough to saw it thru but if my daughter had driven that car on the highway and got it warm enough to open up the oil cooler thermostat, that engine would have been toast in short order. Check your clearances and your top oil cooler hose.