I think I'll do just that however I will likely wrap the hose behind the clamp... come forward to behind the barb on the hard line to lock them in place. I've got stainless safety wire.

Also ordered the Norma Torro clamps which will be here tomorrow.

I don't get it, where are you guys using this safety wire? You just put some under the clamp and then tighten the clamp like normal?

I had the same question. I was thinking a monster crimp tool would be the ticket. I replaced those lines shortly after I bought my 300D, miles were sorta low - 135K but those lines were likely original - 35 years old. Everything I read said replace at any sign of leakage and it made sense. A failure at speed and most of the oil is pumped out in short order - we have scrap metal, Houston.

It was not a horrible job but I lost my religion pretty badly at a few points. I bought the turoial from Kent, good thing, no need to learn all of that trial and error.

But the fittings at the radiator are fairly easy to access. There are going to be 4 fittings per line, right? Not sure if one can be assured that only the radiator fittings are going to be the ones prone to failure. I'll have to take a close look to see if one can access those points without removing. Or are we talking about running the hoses the full length, no metal part in the middle?

OTOH, these oil lines might not be availabe forever. Removing and attaching new lines with the right crimping hardware might be the ticket.

I plumb with PEX now and then - I prefer copper but PEX can be handy, just hope it lasts. Some issues on that, need to get the very best fittings - chlorine and oxygen can degrade regular brass leading to leakage. Unlikey the crimp fittings would be right size for these oil lines and turns out they might not be up to the job anyway. Strength goes down with temp, only rated at 100 psi at 180 F. So looks like I'd need to break down and buy a serious crimping setup.

But I could see the SS wire under hose clamps doing the trick. How thick should it be I wonder. I'm guessing the thicker it is, the harder it would be to wrap so that you could get the clamp over it well enough.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I wonder if this type would be good. Have to get a box of 100, could put on two or three of them.

https://tinyurl.com/ezd8je98

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

They use these a lot on my Land Rover. About a year or so ago I saw a pretty good post explaining why these were better than the screw type clamps. Do not remember the exact reasoning but my impression now is that were supposed to be significantly better.

Not sure whether it was on LandRoversonly.com or this forum but if I have a chance I will see if I can find it again. Before that I never thought there was any scientific or engineering reason that one type of clamp would be better than another.

I've made screw clamps fail in plumbing, not that I wanted to. Could be that I was into overkill, something I do too often. They are frequently good, but there are a few weak points.

I almost lost my SDL owing to radiator failure on the freeway. If I hadn't (miraculously) noticed the radiator shaped idiot light blink on could have been really bad. Might have damaged the head at any rate, though it did continue to drive for more than a year.

Point being, I put an idiot light sensor into the new coolant resorvoir box I installed a few months ago, I would have needed to install a plug of some sort anyway. I'm looking to put together a light/audio warning as a back burner project. An audio alarm for sudden oil pressure drop would be a good thing methinks. Research needed.

I've been told that the Euro hose clamps are better. But even with those, there is the crimped over part by the screw that I've seen blow out before:

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

The safety wire can be done a few ways... Under the clamp or around the clamp. Either way works fine.

You wrap the stainless wire around or through the clamp and then tie it off to something that the wire can't release from. In this case, the factory hose has a bump in the hard line just behind the ferrule. I'll wrap the stainless safety wire around the clamp and then wrap it around the hard line behind the bump.

You can check out different ways to safety wire hoses in air crafts or motorcycles for racing. It's a requirement.

With the safety wire in place, the clamps would have to snap in order for the hose to blow off. It can still leak... but the chance of a sudden total failure is very slim.

The factory hoses do something similar. The ferrule when compressed not only compresses the hose onto the barb, but the ferrule end locks into a groove on the hard line. Using stainless safety wire essentially does the same thing.

On that note, my hose showed up today. Apparently the hose is no longer cloth braided. I double checked the manufacturer's website just to be sure. Same hose but no cloth outer cover.

You can certainly make a hose clamp fail. Over torquing is the #1 cause. Most clamps reach full hold potential somewhere around 30in. lbs. That is basically just snug with a 1/4" ratchet. Sure you can put more on the clamp... but you run the risk of damaging the clamp.


The old US mil spec. stated that the worm gear clamps would be able to retain 600psi of line pressure in the size we are using when torqued to spec. Those were just plain stainless clamps.

Those do work... but you must have the exact size for your specific hose and room to properly crimp them.


Some have tried to use this style and they weren't the exact size. The lines blew off shortly after.


Personally (after using double worm clamps on MANY transmission cooler installations on smooth tube - no barbs.. and aftermarket oil cooler installations with barbs).. I would much rather just run double stainless worm clamps and check them often. Once safety wired, the clamps can't loosen and the hoses can't completely blow off without rupturing. If the line ruptures, you've got more problems than just a hose clamp.

It occurred to me to mention that no way would I want to use those clamps on radiator hose fittings. I wasn't sure how to take them off, I did a search and of course, you cut the upraised part, either with stong ass cutters or a dremel tool. There are many hoses that you really want to reuse after you take them off, the larger preformed items especialy. Wouldn't be too hard to remove the clamps, but there is some chance the Dremel cutter could wander if you had to go that route.

I rarely replace hoses, unless they show serious signs of age/degradation. Hose clamps are plenty tight - less chance of damage.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Good to know. I wasn't aware of the bolded.

But I'm curious, I mentioned this already, oh well - are you talking about replacing both of the flex hoses in the 617 oil lines? Is it difficult to work on some of the spots? I recall having trouble getting a wrench into the spot on what, the block and oil filter housing? I'd need to refresh my memory. It happened a long time ago, little bit more than a year,

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

When I did it everything was left inside of the Car.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Clamps: I stared off with the shielded Clamps in the pic and later went with the Norma type clamps. Not that the Norma Clamp is narrower and has sort of a tapered tongue inside. The Normal Camps have an edge that is slightly bent out away from the hose.

Notice the verious Letiker type clamps. Some are shielded.

With the Oetiker type clamps you need to find a chart that will tell you what diameter hose you can use specific clamps on.

Attached Thumbnails

     

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Everything stays in the car. We're talking about only replacing the short rubber sections of the lines which are the typical failure points. May have to remove the fan shroud or fan to make room... but you cut the ferrules on the factory hoses using a dremel style tool and cutter. Gently pry off the ferrules.. remove the factory hoses from the barbs on the hard line sections... clean everything... replace the hose and install clamps.


I'll be safety wiring the clamps in place as well and using 2 clamps on each end. Double clamps are common practice on aftermarket fluid coolers like transmission and oil coolers. Most aftermarket kits come standard with flexible hose and worm gear clamps.

So after doing some looking... it looks like my oil cooler may be weeping a bit at the top tank as well. Can't verify yet... but will this weekend.

For the time being, I'll be running this hose setup just to eliminate the hose issue but once I verify that the cooler is leaking, I'll be pulling the oem lines and cooler for an aftermarket solution.

I've been doing some reading on the swap forums (as I've done some swaps in the past.. last one is my 4bt powered Tahoe). From what I'm reading, the oil filter housing cooler ports are 18mm x 1.5. If that's the case, I can easily get some 18m to -10 adapters for the filter housing and run a large bar/plate cooler with -10 (5/8") lines all aftermarket for MUCH cheaper than just replacing the cooler.

The line I use in -10 is PTFE lined.. rated at a 1kpsi working pressure and a -40 to 300+ working temperature range. It uses reusable swivel style compression hose ends. The cooler I've found uses -10 fittings and is plenty large for the 617.

I thought about cutting and brazing an AN fitting to the oem hard lines.. but I just can't wrap my head around that. Sure it likely works... but with the vibrations and such.. I don't know that I would trust it. This setup would be an easily rebuildable hose assembly from filter head to cooler for under the cost of replacing just the factory hoses let alone the cooler as well.

Anyways.. we'll see how this progresses. Hopefully the cooler isn't leaking but there is quite a bit of wet sludge at the top edge where the tank meets the core. I'll get it cleaned up after repairing the hoses this weekend and see what it looks like after a week or so.