joeb Posted June 4, 2004 Report Share Posted June 4, 2004 the short molded rubber hoses that go thru the firewall on my STS have screw clamps on them. I get an occasional leak and have tried tightening them. the ends of the tubes seem corroded or frayed. i bought 2 new tubes and they have spring clamps on them. why the difference? I did take out the surge tank before when i was tracking down the leak so i think i can get clearance to swap out these hoses. someone said the inlets on the heater core are plastic and prone to cracking. is this true? i have done heater cores on other cars before and i know getting the hoses off can be a pain. any comments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
growe3 Posted June 4, 2004 Report Share Posted June 4, 2004 On the two engine removal jobs I did on my 93 STS's, I got tired of fooling around with the molded hoses, so with the surge tank removed, I used a single edge razor to cut the each hose in two. I was then able to finally rotate and remove each piece. The heater core tubes were slightly corroded so I used a spray brake cleaner and a brass cleaning brush to remove the rough stuff. I then used some coolant on the hose ends, to help them slip on to the heater core tubes. I would not like using spring clamps on the hoses, I find them very awkward in tight places, I would use the stainless steel screw type clamps, and a long screwdriver. -George Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeb Posted June 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2004 sounds like the heater core connections are metal. i would expect that. i suppose i could use the clamps on the existing hoses and transfer them to the new hoses. the hoses are pretty short, maybe 12-15". i think one of them hooks into a tee fitting that is right under/next to the surge tank. there is a thread a few posts up that mentions something about this tee fitting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted June 5, 2004 Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 Leave it to Bbobynski to always make me rethink my long held beliefs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
growe3 Posted June 5, 2004 Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 In general I still prefer the screw clamp style, especially in hard to get at places. I have snapped my fingers a time or ten accessing hard to reach spring clamps, and often when removed they have permanently impressed the hose. If you are going to reconnect the hose you have to be careful to align the spring clamp in its existing impression or it will likely leak. A screw clamp with its wider bearing normally does not cause this kind of "damage" to the hose, and it is normally not required to align it in any impression that may have been created by it. To apply or release the spring clamp style, unless it is well exposed, I have to make sure I have a pair of special spring clamp pliers. That is kind of a deep hole at the firewall to reach into. With the screw style clamp all I need is a common screwdriver to deal with it, no special tools. -George Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
growe3 Posted June 5, 2004 Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 In fact, I don't think that the car was assembled with the screw clamps you describe....someone must have "retrofitted" them. I am not sure about the later Cadillacs, but my 93 STS has screw type clamps. In addition the OEM replacement hoses that I have used, all have the same screw type clamps, riveted to the hose. I don't doubt that there is a spring type hose clamp somewhere on the car, but I have not seen any on both of the engines that I have removed and repaired. -George Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julio Posted June 5, 2004 Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 Very good topic, don't usually crank on the hoses, learned that straight away when fussing with molded hose. the clamp was anchored with a rivit, once you loose the hose in the rivit clamp joint forget it. What is interesting is the poster's question of heater core construction. It appears the suggestion is they are consturcted of metal and not plastic. Once changeing a mopar heater core for a leak the item was plastic at hoses and ckacked there, I put a new one in and assembled it, still not heat, had to take it back apart because the servo not vaccuum actuated door was dead because antifreeze had run all over it. The replacement part was metal not plastic this time. Please tell me Cadillac put metal ends on their heater core. Julio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeb Posted June 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2004 i am not sure where i heard about plastic heater core bits. i have had these hoses for about 6 months and have been waiting for it to warm up to replace them. i have to take out the surge tank, (drain the coolant) and i could hardly wait to start. i am glad they never burst prior to this. you know overheating is the NS bugaboo. Never overheat this motor, unless you like to spend money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted June 6, 2004 Report Share Posted June 6, 2004 Yea, I loose track of what clamps are used where. I don't think there are any screw clamps on the cars anywhere anymore due to the problems with them. They certainly could have been used back on the early 90's cars without me realizing it....sorry for the misinformation. The indents in the hoses show that the spring clamps are working....that is what is supposed to happen. The screw clamps don't indent the hose because they have very little residual clamp load after the hose thermalcycles. My '93 Fleetwood has a mix of spring clamps and screw clamps. I bought the car new and thought it was odd that a mix of clamps were used. I was surprised that the screw clamps looked like the hardware store type. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmac-etc Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 whoops, double posted ... read next post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmac-etc Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 Never overheat this motor, unless you like to spend money. wha .... overheat a northstar???? Does not compute. It will go into limp home mode. It will go 50 miles+ with no coolant. I know this, 'cause about 3 years ago .... http://caddyinfo.ipbhost.com/index.php?sho...findpost&p=1122 . It displays 252 degrees (maybe 250 - can't remember exactly) after that the dic just displays 'engine way too effing hot!' (ok, not exactly), but it protects itself magnificantly. I have had cars overheat in the past, but they never took me home! They were very expensive dates. This one didn't cost a nickel. I now realize I should have changed the oil right away, didn't even do that (3 years ago). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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