Guys!

I think it may be time for me to hang up my coveralls..

I did a BIG no-no today...on accident of course....I've severed an ARTERY on my car!!! It's going to BLEED TO DEATH!!!!!!
I was hand cranking the engine and all was well! I was really proud that I actually DID it!
I got the distributor on the high cam and set the points!!!!
I got in to start the car...and you know it.....THUD!!!!!!!! I left the ROD ON THE SOCKET IN THE PULLEY HOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a result, I slammed some hose that goes to radiator and oil is dripping out of the hose!!!!

WHAT CAN I DO??????????

I need to tighten this hose and I can't just pull it off to put a hose clamp on it because it'll be a flowing mess!

Could a cable tie work??? Does anyone know what I damaged??

~Christy

btw...the dwell is now 36

I warned you about that.

But, that's 'cause I did it myself. In my case, I took out the otherwise perfect radiator. In your case, you took out one of the transmission cooling hoses. The bad news, is that those are hydraulic hoses with special fittings. Yeah, I've seen people cheat and use hose clamps, but I wouldn't trust a 2,000$ transmission to them. The hoses were probably very old and brittle anyway, so you might well have done yourself a bit of a favor. To fix this, undo the two hose fittings and take the whole thing to a shop that can make hydraulic hoses. Just look in the yellow pages or ask your favorite mechanic (no, not stevebfl) for somebody to go to. They can make you a new hose for 20-40$ depending on how much they like you. The guy that makes mine is a former benz mechanic, so I get them cheap once he sees them.

To remove the hose ends w/o making things worse:

If the hose is completely severed, use a 19mm box end wrench. If it's still intact, leave it that way and get a 19mm flare wrench. If you don't want to visit sears to buy a flare wrench, you can (but shouldn't) use a 19mm open end wrench.

1. Armed with a 19mm open end wrench and the 19mm wrench, above, loosen the connection on the radiator. The radiator is relatively soft brass, so putting one wrench on the hose and turning can easily destroy it.

Use the open end wrench on the radiator's end of the fitting. Use the other wrench on the barb. I find it VERY helpful to arrange the two wrenches so that the two handles are close together AND you are going to turn the one on the fitting closer to the other one.

To visualize what I just said, hold up two fingers on your right hand in a "V for victory". Think of your wrist as the fitting and then think of how you turn the middle finger towards the other to unscrew it. More importantly, notice that you can grab BOTH fingers with your left hand and squeeze them together. Do that with the wrenches (obviously grabbing them with both hands) and squeeze and the end result will be loosening the fitting.

Do the same thing to the other end of the hose. BUT, you have to be even more careful here. While you could cheat before by not having a flare wrench, you REALLY, REALLY need a 17mm flare wrench here. Because, this end isn't a nice big radiator, it's a small metal hose. If fact, you might have to look hard to find it. The end of the fitting is right near the stabilizer bar that runs from wheel to wheel. The metal hose runs along the side of the engine by the lip between the oil pan and the block.

Put the 17mm flare on the hose and the 19mm flare (if you have it) on the other fitting. Use the same squeeze trick here.

In both cases, all you want to do at first is loosen the fitting. Once both are loose, you can remove them entirely (and yes, now you can use a basic, open end wrench, since they're not tight.)

Got all that?

-CTH

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http://www.111lakeside.com/

Great post cth350, but er.......

......If you have to replace the hose why not sever it completely anyway?

A box end wrench is always the better option, and I'm guessing you may even be able to use a socket/ box end combination, if you shorten the hose enough.

__________________
306D 1975 (camper) - rusting away
W116 450 SEL 1975 - sold
W114 long wheelbase ambulance, 3 litre diesel 1974

VW Golf 1 convertable - midlife crisis item
VW T4 van - support vehicle

keep the hose intact to be able to take it to the shop for replacement w/o loosing one end or getting the length all wrong. Too long a hose is a pain (kinks). Too short won't work.
It's not a very serious requirement to keep it together, but it's very good practice for a newbie.

-CTH

__________________
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http://www.111lakeside.com/

CTH!!

You're the BEST!!! Your long and detailed replies are just what I need!!! YES!!

This job sounds scary though....who wants to BET I'll have trouble FINDING the other end of the hose!

I don't think I own box wrenches either....are they the ones that are four sides??

Again....*GREAT* REPLY!!!! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!

~Christy

Yup I've done it too.
With an old Honda so the transverse engine meant it just went bang-bang-bang a few times. Not a fun sound but a great lesson.
$20 to learn that lesson isn't bad, coulda been worse. I could tell you how but I'm guessing that would make you overly suspicous of those components.

Wrenches come in several flavors...

Box end - The end of the wrench is closed, so it fully encircles the nut/bolt being turned. Box ends come in 6 point and 12 point. Simply put, count the number of notches in the box. The 6 point box holds a hex nut snuggly on all sides. A 12 point holds just the corners of either a hex nut or a square nut.

Open end - The end of the wrench is wide open, exposing 2 sides of the usual 6 sided nut/bolt. Can be used on 4 sided (square) nuts too.

Flare wrench - Still open, but the ends wrap around a bit to form part of the missing sides of an open end wrench. This wrench is REQUIRED whenever you are working on a hollow nut or bolt.

Combination wrench - The name given to a wrench with a box end on side and an open end on the other.

Then there are the cheezy things that sears sells where there's a notch on the inside of the open end to make it "easy" to use the wrench like a ratchet. I don't trust the things anywhere near as far as I can throw them.

The biggest difference about all of these, and why in fact they exist, is about how well the wrench grabs the item to be turned.

To get maximum effect and really turn that nut, you want the wrench to hold all the sides of the nut snuggly. So, a 6 point box end is "best" and the funky sears thing seems "worse".

If your nuts are old and worn, then a 6 point box end may well be the best shot you have of getting your nuts off. That and some heat and penetrant oil if there's rust involved.

Do be careful with rusty nuts & bolts. You can easily break them by applying too much force on them. For instance the little hollow nuts on the bypass tube connecting the water pump to the cylinder head. They're hollow, which means they are relatively weak. And they rust, which means they get stuck easily. Start with a 6 point wrench. If they don't come out easily, drain the coolant, and then heating them with a propane torch.

(Not that any of the above is needed on Christy's car).

-CTH

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- cth350@gmail.com
http://www.111lakeside.com/

(Not that any of the above is needed on Christy's car).


YET!!!!!!!!

~Christy

CTH..

This hose looks like it is just PUSHED ONTO the fitting you speak of. Is it?? Mine has come LOOSE...thankfully it does not appear to be dripping anymore...*whew*
I felt back to the other end of the hose (YES I found it!) and it feels like the hose is merely pushed onto to that fitting too.
I guess I'm just wondering HOW this hose is CONNECTED to this FITTING.

Also...if I undo the fitting....is JIZ gonna flow out all over the place???

~Christy

The hose IS just pressed on the fitting, into a metal jacket, and then the jacket is crimped down. In order to put it back together, the old jacket has to be cut off, a new one is put on, the hose shoved in, and then a few zillion PSI mashes the jacket on permamently (or until the next time you kill it).

In other words, yes, but no.

-CTH

__________________
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http://www.111lakeside.com/

OK...What can I expect when I take these fittings off? Do I need a pail on hand? I really don't want to douse the driveway with transmission fluid!

~Christy

As long as the engine's not running, worse case, about 4 oz fluid, perhaps a whole cup.

-CTH

__________________
- cth350@gmail.com
http://www.111lakeside.com/

CTH!!

You ALWAYS know!!!!!

~Christy