Leaking Top Hose

J

Jim Kroeger

Member
I'm putting in a new water pump in my Fordor and am using the traditional red stripe hoses and clamps. The lower hoses do not leak but for the life of me I can't get the top hose at the head pipe to stop leaking and I do not even have the engine running. I've tried repositioning the hose at least five times and switched the position of the clamp but to no avail. It is driving me crazy! These hoses seem like they are too big in the first place as you can slip them on very easily with little effort but they come straight out of the catalog. They also don't seem long enough. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would be very appreciative.
 
A healthy smear of # 2 Permatex & wait 'til tomorrow to water it up. I just bought spiffy RED hoses from Snyder's & they fit nice & snug & don't leak. Bill W.
 
Hose should be a snug fit. Is it loose at both radiator and gooseneck/head outlets? If loose on both sounds like a rogue hose. Is outlet severely pitted with rust?-smooth it. If hose loose only on goose neck then maybe replace gooseneck or as Bill says use a lot of sealer.
 
Sand paper the neck and a little rtv wouldn't hurt for the imperfections if need be.
Make sure its the hose and not the neck mounting area
 
I has a similar problem on my 28 and found that the wrong goosneck was installed. Once I installed the correct one all was fine.
Supergnat
 
The necks are generally an area where JB Weld is a good thing IMO. My personal opinion is sealers such as Permatex/Silicone are good "band-aides" however if you ever find yourself away from home and you move the hose, you have a mess to contend with. Instead, I prefer to use some type of good filler and fill the pits or imperfections in the neck and then sand the filler smooth where the hose has a good surface to seal against. Once this has been done, the problem is cured for good.

Next, you did not mention what type of hose clamp(s) you are using but original type clamps and hard rubber hoses do not always get along well. Start by placing the hose in boiling water to allow it to soften. Then install the hose and tighten the clamps. Sometimes the engine needs to come up to operating temps before the hose will re-soften to make the final tightening possible. This should take care of any further drips.
 
I've had to use my Dremel to grind the rough mold line in the engine water outlet before I could finally stop the drip. I also use original clamps and apply Vaseline on the inner surface of the clamp and outer surface of the cast iron outlet.
 
I have the same problum weeping upper hose no matter how much i crank the clamp on my 28 thanks to this post i know how to deal with it thank you
 
Jim Kroeger said:
I'm putting in a new water pump in my Fordor and am using the traditional red stripe hoses and clamps. The lower hoses do not leak but for the life of me I can't get the top hose at the head pipe to stop leaking and I do not even have the engine running. I've tried repositioning the hose at least five times and switched the position of the clamp but to no avail. It is driving me crazy! These hoses seem like they are too big in the first place as you can slip them on very easily with little effort but they come straight out of the catalog. They also don't seem long enough. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would be very appreciative.
Click to expand...
There is a difference in length of the 28/29 VS 30/31 top hose..
 
I got tired of the leak and decided to heck with the original looking clamps. Used modern worm gear style hose clamps and problem solved!

Double clamped, just fercuz.
 

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I found that some clamps just don't tighten down enough. Assuming that you are using the style clamps that use the screw and square nut, I found that the screw seats down before the clamp is tight enough to stop seepage. That tells me that the clamps( usually the less expensive ones sold by the vendors) are a bit too large for the As neck. Try rapping a few turns of black tape around the hose to accommodate the clamp size. But of course, as the guys said earlier, smooth out any rough pits in the casting.
 
I'm using these hose clamps. Solved my problem.
 

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I just changed mine on a 1930 Roadster, first time since 1966. But I used the red hoses. Like stated above they were quite tight, and I just placed them in front of a small quartz heater (Brent's hot water would have been better). I did polish the neck area to get rid of high spots, and used the same clamps from '66 (looked just like the replacement ones in the books) and have no leaks at all.
 
I haven't had good luck with original style clamps but have used modern clamps to tighten down to stop the leak and after a couple days follow up with the original style and no more problem. I seem to remember at least one professional engine builder doesn't want to warrant an engine if the owner has used the repop type clamps. Of course if the surface is badly pitted step one is to adress that issue.
 
Thanks fellas for all the tips. I'm going to try grinding down that mold line on the goose neck and smooth out all perfections before trying again.
 
Tom, I have ground down the casting line on the goose neck but why the valesine on the outside of the neck? Does this act as a sealer once you tighten down the clamp or is it used just to slip it on easier? I have no problem with that-in fact it's too easy to slip on. Also, why under the clamp? Wouldn't this let the clamp possibly slip on the outside of the hose? Thanks. Jim
 
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