Heater hose

[Neumann]

This past weekend my heater hose blew off the fitting on the top front of the V10. I was towed to RV repair facility & they reconnected it and tested it. I then drove about 470 miles and the same hose blew a hole in it right at the top fitting on the engine.
Was towed home and I replaced the hose. Have not driven it much since the last fix but it seems OK.
Anyone think the thermostat could be going bad. Maybe just a fluke that the same hose gave me a problem twice. This is the first engine problem in 42,000 miles.

Hal

[srydve]

IMHO I doubt it is the thermostat, if it was stuck closed you would overheat and if stuck open you run cool. I can't see how running cool would blow the hose off. I suspect you had a bad hose and now that you've replaced it you should be good to go.

[John Hilley]

The hose should be able to handle any thing the engine can handle temperature wise. I would look for an external effect, such as rubbing on something from vibration scuffing and wearing the hose. It wouldn't hurt to reinforce the affected area with a high temperature tape or another hose split and slipped over the hose.

[The General]

Neumann,

uneasy gettting on the road again?
I would replace all hoses, clamps antifreeze and additives, at your current mileage and would feel like a NEUMANN!


Steve

[mfire1339]

Rad cap!


Mike

[tims52ford]

When you say heater hose, you are referring to the hoses that supply the heater core.

[Neumann]

Yes, the hose for the heater core.
The cap on top of the overflow tank is like a radiator cap on a car. If I was overheating it should have gone off. There is an overflow hose from the big plastic tank. I really don't watch the temp gage much as it hardly ever moves.
Hal

[Neumann]

Thanks for everyones help.
The local RV repair in Las Vegas shop did the following.
The thermostat they said was OK. Overheating did not blow the hose off the engine outlet. It just came off. A fluke. However when the first repair shop put the hose back on they must have nicked the end on the engine outlet side of the hose which caused the hose to burst.
The hose I replaced was a 3/4 inch. It fit just right on the engine outlet but was to big on the heater outlet. I just clamped it tight.
The local RV repair shop cut my 3/4 inch hose and put a couple, 3/4 to 1/2 inch, and put a 5/8 inch hose to the heater outlet.
They told me the original heater hose a special one from Ford that had the engine end larger, but this fix should be good.
Yes, if the engine did overheat the tank up front would have allowed the overheated water to go out the overflow.
So I shold be ready for may next trip of 350 miles. We shall see.

Hal

[jcthorne]

My guess is the original hose clamp was of the OEM spring clip type. They are known for failure. They just break and let go. Replace them with SS worm gear type hose clamps before another one fails. It is likely that the original hose was damaged in blowing off or when the shop reattached and clamped it causing the repeat failure.

[Neumann]

All the clamps are SS screw type. I'm hoping this should hold them now. I also don't like spring type clamps as I've see fail in the past. Problem is who gets under the motorhome and checks these when you buy it. I sure did not but I did now.

Hal

[Neumann]

For someone looking at this heater hose problem.
What I stated in thread #8 worked so far. I Have put about 400 miles on since then without any trouble.

Hal