I am using a couple of pieces from a FD silacone kit, will they withstand the heat?

 

They will not work I used a little of the silcone hoses I had left over for one of my coolant hoses. After a while the heat got the hose and made it very soft and coolant could not pass through it freely.

 

That's what I thought. Thanks.

 

I'm using Thermoflex silicone radiator hoses...they need to be tightened down with a lot of torque, but they seem to work well...

 

I was told by Dave from KD that silicon will not work because the coolant will deteriorate the silicon. I had one silicon coolant line bust so I changed all of mine out.

 

That's strange, as silicone is supposed to be inert (doesn't react with much)...

 

I know that some silicone hoses are just fine for coolant because I HAD a VW Corrado (before I came to my senses and got an FD) and I put a silicone coolant hose kit from Samco on it, it worked beautifully and Samco claims that the hoses will last much longer and resist cracking and drying under heat much better than the OEM hoses. The only problem I ever had was when a bad battery started to drip on the lower radiator hose and ate through the first layer of silicone discoloring my beautiful blue hose but it still held the pressurized coolant just fine.

 

You can get such a thing as silicone heater hose. It looks like its rubber lined but I'm not sure.

I got mine from Thermal Flex, its universal hose that'll work for all but 3 heater/coolant hoses on an FD (those are: elbow under TB, both heater hoses on right side of fire wall). Sizes were 11 and 16 mm but the downside is 25 ft. minimum order. Its a good deal if you're replacing your motor and can split the cost with others local.

I will be selling some of my left over hose soon after I get all the hose lengths documented (forgot to measure them during my motor install but doing a friends car now).

Jack

 

All I've got to say is why would anyone spend $250 for silicone when the OEM's work just great (mine lasted 7 years in TUCSON heat- kind of like the ultimate road test) for about $40?

I think its a simple case of "since it is aftermarket and brightly colored, it MUST be better than OEM."

And in the real world, silicone hoses are a bitch to clamp.