Cheap Coolant Pipes ?

[Alzey]

Sorry BB is that internal diameter ??

[Oldiebut goodie]

That is just the metal insert coming out of the pipe - it is to prevent the plastic collapsing under the pressure of the hose clip.

[lloydy]

i honestly don't get it myself? i mean if your only spending a few quid on a fix, ok you've saved yourself a couple hundred. But if your going to spend £80 on a bodge, get the real thing. The genuine plastic pipes are available still for £100 each
https://www.vwheritage.com/vw_act_searc ... =TYPE%2025" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
although heritage are waiting on a delivery.

Most cold water pipes are permeable, as in they let air in through the wall of the pipe itself. Heating pipes are non permeable and may be a better option.

[boatbuilder]

The plastic pipes only seem to be available for the wbx and not diesels.

What would be wrong with using a standard epdm rubber coolant hose? Vw used long rubber hoses to go the whole length of the van to the heater matrix so why not for the main pipes as well?
Reading up on the silicone pipes isn't very encouraging. ..problems with them gripping properly at the ends and popping off and being easily cut by sharp edges...

[boatbuilder]

Sorry BB is that internal diameter ??

Original metal pipes are 32mm outside diameter.

[CovKid]

You'd have to be gaga to spend £100 on a length of plastic pipe......

This is one instance where "but its genuine volkswagen" sounds absurd. Sorry, but I'd be looking elsewhere too.

Mind you, I wouldn't spend £80 on one either.

[Alzey]

Lloydy I'm not looking to bodge it, I've read up on how to fix it on here (80-90) and it appears that you have to drop the fuel tank to fit the original plastic pipe, the stainless comes in two sections and I was interested to see if technology had come on in the last 30 years. Thats all. If i was going to bodge it I would have hoped to have shown the ingenuity displayed by a member on here who used a wheel barrow handle as a repair for the same pipe.Very creative.

[CovKid]

If it works, it works.

[lloydy]

Bodge is maybe a strong word.. I personally would buy the correct part, i can see the clever thinking behind using things like wheel barrow handles and bits of plumbing pipe but i just see them more as a get me home fix, rather than a proper repair. But hey, if it keeps your van on the road..

[boatbuilder]

So the options are expanding... in no particular order...

1. New plastic pipes
2. Stainless pipes
3. Second hand pipes
4. EPDM rubber coolant hose
5. Silicone coolant hose
6. Alkathene pipe
7. CSST flexible stainless gas pipe
8. Hydraulic Pipe (from an tractor parts place)
9. Wheelbarrow Handle

I think I'll look into the hydraulic pipe option first - there is an agri spares place beside me here. And if that doesn't work out, I'll go for the EPDM rubber hose option.

[Wychall]

Has anyone had any luck with refitting the brass inserts in the plastic pipes, once they have blown out?

[R0B]

There must be way as Gowesty sell a repair kit.http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details. ... parent_id=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Wychall]

There must be way as Gowesty sell a repair kit.http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details. ... parent_id=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for that, Rob. I've looked at their site and they explain quite well how to fit the kit. The new inserts are fitted in the rubber hose, not the plastic, and is just there to stop the original insert coming out. Now surely just fitting a jubilee clip that constricts the hose to less than the diameter of the original metal insert is going to do the same job, at considerably less than the $50 of their kit? Or am I being a bodge merchant?

[boatbuilder]

Apparently its very hard to get anything longer than one metre of proper epdm rubber "radiator hose" in 32mm. I suppose you could use a joiner, but at 1 metre lengths, you'd have to use three sections to make the distance (its about 2.14 metres on my 1.6 diesel van)
(E D I T- :Length is more like 3 metres - turns out the rear section of pipes had been replaced on mine with 28mm od steel pipe)

There are some multi-purpose industrial hoses like Gates GP60 but the prices are crazy and its only suitable for temps up to 100 degrees whereas the proper rad hose is resistant up to 125 degrees.

Another problem is that the existing metal pipes are 32mm outside diameter and the holes in the bulkheads are just exactly that size, so it leaves no room for a bigger pipe.... so that would mean that the silicone pipe wouldn't work because a 32mm i.d. silicone pipe has an o.d. of 40mm. That would mean you'd have to find 16mm of extra width to go through the bulkheads and thats definately not there. You could route the pipes through the hollow in the top of the tank, but that would mean crossing the gear lever.

[shepster]

After all these years have passed since these vans were designed surely something else is suitable to replace the original metal pipes.

They have, stainless from Baxter?