I would like to know if anyone here has any experiences with replacing and/or upgrading the overflow tank coolant PLASTIC tubing on 2002 or similar years of Discovery. While I was replacing the alternator belt yesterday, I came to learn very quickly that there are at least two coolant Plastic tubings on my 2002 Discovery are very brittle and prone to crack easily as egg shells. I cracked the tube that ran from the radiator to the overflow tank as I merely touched the tubing while I was replacing the belt. These two plastic tubings became brittle over time due to heat under the engine bay and are very prone to be broken. When they crack or break, the coolant will be lost and the engine will overheat. You don't want to be in that situation especially when you are on the road or trip.
I spent a large part of my Sunday morning having fabricated one of the two tubings out of copper tubings. Will have to make the other tubing on another Sunday. I enlosed a couple of pictures for your viewing. So far, the installed fabricated copper tubing looks pretty sharp under the dark color engine bay. Please feel free to comment and contribute your ideas.
All of the plastic on the rover seems to do this... Last week i not only broke the tube, but the little inlet into the radiator where your copper hose is going. It just shattered into a million pieces from a slight bump as i was replacing my air filter. I had to completely replace the radiator and that hose. This is an interesting idea though it seems like it would work MUCH better than these brittle hoses.
I know of a radiator shop in Los Angeles which could have replaced your radiator plastic tank from which the tube was broken. They have the special tool to crimp and uncrimp the tank from the alloy radiator core. I am curious as to how much you had to pay for a new Disco radiator.
By the way, why did Landrover use plastic tubings instead of soft metal tubings. I got the idea from working on my 1962 MGA which utilizes copper tubings for its coolant heater tubings. After 45 plus years, the copper tubings on the MGA are still intact and they only turned black with age and oxidation. I buffed them out shiny and they now look better than new on my MGA. I guess British cars are not built the same way they once were.
Harry
I know of a radiator shop in Los Angeles which could have replaced your radiator plastic tank from which the tube was broken. They have the special tool to crimp and uncrimp the tank from the alloy radiator core. I am curious as to how much you had to pay for a new Disco radiator.
I didn't think about it at the time or I would have. I just needed to have my truck drivable as quick as possible and we have no radiator shops (that i would trust) where I live. I bought a Silla radiator offthe internet for $230 and after buying coolant and clamps it cost me about $260 and it is actually working very well. My temps stay below 200 almost all the time and rarely tops out at 206 in midday traffic or off roading with the a/c blasting.
I like what u did with the Coper pipe. Mine shattered into pices when I was checking on the battery. I replaced it with a rubber hose althoe an LR garage told me that it was not a good idea. it has worked for me for now.
Looks great!
Dave
The approximate OD of the original plastic coolant tubing is 0.320 inch which is unavailable at my local hardware store. The closest OD copper tubing available is 3/8 tubing into which the existing radiator rubber hose will fit a little tight. You will need a tube bender to have all the correct bends. I got lucky to get all the bends really close to the original plastic tubing. Will also need a little trimming in the tubing groove or tubing retainer above the radiator. I now feel more confident not breaking up any more coolant tubings nor losing any more coolant while i am working under the hood around these coolant tubings or when I am driving my Disco. I still need to fabricate one more copper tubing going from the side of the overflow tank to engine. The plastic tubing or hose actually broke off and sprung a leak when I was driving with my 9-year old daughter to her soccer practice.
I just replaced the resevoir tank (broken hose nipple on the bottom ) with one off of ebay. In the process, the plastic tube that runs from there over to the throttle body snapped and I had a nice little mess. It was during business hours so I was able to plunk down 18 bucks at the dealer for a factory replacement hose. Your thread has more forewarned to expect the same issue from the hose that goes over to the radiator. I am wondering if that is a part I should just pick up and have ready to go...
Harry,
Looks like a good job, do your self a favor and support the connection to the radiator, cause it won't take much bouncing around to shear off the nipple.
I was able to replace the same hose with a small (3/8's I think) fuel line return hose. Just spun off a few too many feet from the Auto store and clamped the thing on with hose clamps. Broke it changing the air filter and replaced it and was out of the parking lot in under ten minutes.
Old thread, but I had to post because just today I broke the plastic tube going from the expansion tank to the TB heater plate, and the bottom nipple on the expansion tank! Ugh! After the tube broke I thought I'd take it out and epoxy it to test out my TB heater gasket fix...5 minutes later I'm on the phone with A-B ordering a new tube and an expansion tank in addition to the breather kit I needed....I wish I had seen this and just bought some cheap tubing...goddamn :clap:
I have been dealing with this problem since I bought my DII 2 weeks ago. I have been searching the Internet for a replacement tube. I didnt know if it would be ok to use copper tubing b/c its so plyable and the coolant is so hot..... :dunno:
I am going to use this idea though b/c yesterday I sprung a leak in the parking lot at work. I used cheep plastic tube as a replacement.
THANKS!!
Why the hell did the engineers use the brittle plastic tubing????:confused
Well... brand new they aren't brittle at all. They are very bendy and such. But they just don't stand up well at all to heat and time and get brittle and crack. Same with the plastic radiator end tanks.
Got a quick question in regards to using a 3/8in rubber hose going from the bottom of the coolant reservoir to the throttle body heater plate instead of copper tubing. Will it work just as well? Same dab gone thing happened to me replacing that weird radiator hose with four outlets. Ok, let me know if that will work with the rubber hose, dealership way to far to drive.
I took Bosbefok's advice w/ the 5/16" heater hose for both the expansion tank and the TB. Simply recess the original relief holes in the rad shroud, and remember to leave some enough extra at expansion tank to be able to raise it when you bleed the system. Also, use caution removing/install tube/hose at the radiator. As others have stated, it's very brittle.
Approaching 1,500 miles since new t-stat set-up and hoses with no leaks or temp issues (fingers crossed...).
Just be very careful when removing the hose from the radiator and the coolant bottle, it is very easy to break them off, then your looking at a new radiator also.
Just broke one of these pipes today and was going to do just this. Really neat job and improves the look too.
Appreciate this thread is old, but my throttle body return pipe broker, which runs across the top of the engine. Anyone think I'll have any issues with the high heat and the copper? I think it'll be 10mm heating pipe for me?
Mine have all been replaced as I had a leak from the bottom of the reservoir. No leaks now but my coolant is shooting up like a vortex back into the reservoir. Something wrong here. My Scanguage says the coolant is hovering around 200, but when it sits in the heat it goes to like 2007 max. ??
Same exact thing happened to me last night as I was finishing up a throttle body heater bypass. The tube shattered like glass between the radiator and the overflow bottle. Luckily for me I had a length of fuel hose and some hose clameps to patch it. It seems to be working so far. My next project will be to replace the entire tube with fuel hose.
I just went through the whole plastic tubing debacle while changing spark plugs and wires. I didn't notice any leaks immediately, and the LR Disco II overheated. Fortunately the Disco survived the heat stroke. After I replaced the expansion tank/Cap, and hosing from TB Heater Plate & Radiator, to the overflow tank. After finishing the repairs, I took the vehicle on the highway, and around town (10 miles). The vehicle hasn't overheated, and the temp gauge holds steady, just below center. I used rubber hosing off the roll from O'Reilly Auto Parts. I want to know if that particular hosing is safe for use on this particular vehicle (2002 LR Disco II). I haven't spotted any leaks or anything unusual with the hosing. I just want to make sure that I'm not creating a future problem by using O'Reilly's tubing. Thx in advance!
You people need to stop referencing the factory temp gauge! Do some reading if you haven't come across a thread by now. The indicator doesn't switch until coolant temps are BEYOND overheated. I have seen steam before the needle moved on 2 occasions and no my temp sender isn't faulty. That's the factory design for an already shitty system. Seriously, you need to do a little research before you **** your truck up. I'm not trying to be rude, by the way.
You need to go back up to the store and find out exactly what that tubing is rated for as there are several types.
When my D2's rad to tank pipe snapped used the 5/16" fuel hose that was on hand. Read of a couple people who have had the fuel hose slip off the nipples or bursting. Nobody with issues indicated length of time the fuel hose had been installed by a previous owner and suspect it would last almost as long as the plastic pipes?
If you replaced with actual 5/16" heater hose you're good to go.
......
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