it got down to about freezing here the other day. went out and
found a pool of antifreeze under the car. checked and found the small bypass hose underneath the thermostat housing was leaking. went in there today and replaced the 2 hose clamps which were pretty trashed (believe original).
lost quite a bit of antifreeze in the process so refilled and runs ok now (normal temp on the dash guage with good heat). will check tomorrow morning for any leakage.

question is anyone ever replace this part ? do you have to remove the entire thermostat housing? the hose seems to be covered by a metal band in the middle so maybe a special part as opposed to just regular rad hose?

any comments/thoughts appreciated.

__________________
1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

You will need to remove/replace the housing to replace that hose.

__________________
Jim

thanks reply Jim- yeah i thought it looked like you need to r&r the housing. anyhow went out there and it looks dry this morning - course at the next freeze overnight may be a different story -
will keep an eye on it.

Bob

__________________
1984 300D Turbo - 231k....totalled 11/30/07 RIP

havent seen 1 yet that did not have somekind of antifreeze leak at the first cold snap. uaually a good snug of the clamps at all the water joints will take care of it. good rule of thumb for any vehicle, new antifreeze and hoses every three years, new t-stats especially in the diesels. they don't hardly generate enough heat the way it is and they need heat to perfom well and to help them eliminate their wasteproducts. want to kill your diesel? never get it to operating temperature! slow painful and expensive death!