The large hose closest to the thermostat as per pictured was pitted. There was also a hard plastic gasket that was degraded. In the picture, the nipple had been cleaned a bit. I'm not sure if the nipple is actually corroded or if it is just residue from the deteriorated gasket? I will clean it more.

It seems weird that there would be a gasket where there is a spring clamp? I did not see this plastic gasket on the other coolant fittings.

Is this gasket supposed to be there? Are there other places where there should be one?

 

Hi Steve,

if I see it correctly, you are referring to the hose circled in red in the following picture:


If it is so, then, yes, there is no gasket. The hose gets pushed on the nipple and fixed with the clamp.

What your picture shows is quite normal. As the hose is subject to quite an amount of heat, it gets stuck to the nipple and when you remove it, a bit of the rubber remains attached to the nipple. Furthermore, the nipple itself can have a bit of corrosion, as well.

If it looks like in your picture, there is nothing to worry about, just clean it a bit put a new hose on.

Best regards,

Thomas

 

Yes, that is the one. The attached picture is what came out as I was removing the hose; I believe on that nipple. It seems to be some kind of plastic/composite composition. As you see, it is quite decomposed. Could it be something that accidentally dropped in during manufacture?

 

Nah. Just "the nature of the beast". Metals have small Atoms are "tight", not pervious to anything much larger than Hydrogen or Helium Atoms.. both of which can "leak" right through a metal valve or cylinder, albeit slowly. Metals can degrade off the back of electronegativity differences AKA "galvanic corrosion".

Industrial plastics are resistant to galvanic effects, but have BIG molecules with long "chains". Those look like a sponge to water, glycols, and other skinnier molecules. Eventually, hot water and Glycol permeate the plastics and alter their characteristics to the point of degradation.

Not new. As with shoe soles or other "fast foods", they simply need replaced periodically.

 

Thanks, Bill!

But the point is: Should it have been there? If my memory is correct and it came from the described nipple, It doesn't seem to make sense that it was there in the first place?

CORRECTION: The apparatus housing the thermostat has 3 "Large" nipples. The one above was not the one it was on. It is larger than the other 2. As per the picture, you can see that the "gasket" fits the other 2 perfectly. The one I previously identified has a diameter that is too large.

 

Two thoughts here, from the way it fits:
Could it be something that was put on to aid hose sliding on?
Or could it be somebody during prior repair tried to seal this interface with plumber's potty or epoxy?

It is a wild world outhere.

 

Thanks, Big Guy!

Since you don't recognize it as something that should be there, I suspect it shouldn't be. Unless someone borrowed the car without my knowlwdge, that didn't happen. But as you said, It's a wild world out there!

Best,

Steve S.