Thought I'd summarize my octopus hose journey, leaning heavily on the experiences of others here on the forum and elsewhere. Replacing the octopus hose is a non-trivial task and cost, but my solution may or may not apply to your specific problem. Failure of the hose means at least a tow and overheating risk to the engine.

Car long had a slow, invisible coolant leak. Finally it got bad enough to leak a little puddle on the drivers side near the firewall.

Someone had noted it's the connectors that tend to leak, not the hose itself. This was the case for me, in particular the two larger Norma connectors on either side of the throttle body.

Connector 1: On the drivers side of the throttle body, connecting a valley hose to the octopus hose is a Norma style, push on connector. I removed the coolant tank, throttle body and disconnected one or more electrical connectors to gain access.

Remove the connector, prying out the clip on each side, this one came off easily without breakage. Replace the o-ring you'll see inside the octopus hose. Mine came in a package with a #10 size on it. $0.80

Connector 2: On the passenger side near the throttle body is another Norma connector. I removed the air intake tube to gain access. I also disconnected an electrical connector to improve access. This leaked onto the exhaust, and was distinguished from the connector 1 leak by a coolant smell in the cockpit.

This connector is different from the one on the other side (why?) and I had to destroy it to get it off. The coolant leaking out glued everything together.

Following a fix posted here on the forum, I bought a short length of 3/4" heater hose, need about 4 inches, a 3/4" to 3/4" plastic connector and 3 hose clamps.

Cut the octopus hose as close to the Norma fitting as you can, flush with the metal tube you will see inside. Plug the connector into the remaining hose from the octopus hose and fasten with clamp. Use the new hose to connect the other side of the connector to the metal tube you just removed the Norma connector from. If you can push the new hose far enough, you can get the hose clamp on the other side of the small flange, about $4 of parts.

No more coolant leaks (at least from the hose)

 

Quick question: where can I scource the #10 o-ring for the NORMA connector on the LH side? And maybe I'm being dumb but how do you disconnect both sides?

 

I did something similar to your description, even with a brand new hose just to avoid a future problem and eliminate a potentially unreliable connector. If I had it to do over I would have cut the hose a bit closer to the connector as you describe, just to give more room between the clamp and the transition to the hose junction, but certainly works fine.

 

The connector on the octopus hose on the pas side to the metal tube that the valley hose connects too on the other end, there is also a SMALL hose off that metal tube that goes to back of TB, to what I forget. It is hard to see if the intake is not off. I had my intake off, TB, all that stuff and could see this little hose, it had swollen up MANY times the size of the hose at the clamp. Very hard to get too and see with the intake all together. If that would have went, seemed close, what a mess that would have been.

 

I will be doing this during the winter. Thanks for posting.

 

thanks for the post I just removed cracked n/c from metal tube that runs to thermostat housing and will hard patch it too, what a pain in the ### it was to get it off, If I didn't know better I'd say this was put together by German engineers, cause they always think it will never break so why make it easy to replace

 

Update: 5 months, no leaks since this fix.

o-ring: I took my old one to the local CarMax, and they gave me two of the closest looking sizes. Fitting each on the car made the #10 seem like a better fit.

Little hose: I'm not recognizing that one off hand, but I've replaced a lot of hoses, vacuum and coolant.

 

Thanks so much for this post! Happened to our car and gave me the confidence to cut off the old connector and replace it with tried and true parts. In fact, it's really odd every other hose connection on our 2006 used regular clamps except this one.

To maybe help the next person that encounters this, the best connector I found for splicing this was at Home Depot in the plumbing section. It's a barbed nylon union with 3/4" ID so should hold up to the heat and doesn't restrict coolant flow.

Doug

 

I wonder why thise hose gets these stupid connectors. Most any other car i ever have owned used more NORMAL clamps. What is Jags reasoning for these connectors?

 

I'm guessing it makes assembly at the factory easier. No tool needed, it just snaps together. Since they don't have to disassemble, no worries.

 

Here's a picture I just took of the passenger side fix in response to a private message about this topic. Can't see the 3rd clamp that connects the metal tube and the new rubber hose.

Also, close to 3 years later, still perfect.

 

Just wanted to add my formal thanks to Ophitoxaemia for this thread. After recently replacing my water pump, tower, thermostat, upper and lower radiator hoses, and reservoir (just for preventative maintenance at 93,000 miles), I though I'd be in good shape for a while. So, I took a 4 day, 900 mile trip from Las Vegas to Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon and back. Prior to the PM, the engine temp had been running around 203 to 210 degrees F, with peaks at 215 F. After the maintenance, the engine was running around 192 to 197 degrees F, with peaks at 205 F. I had noticed a very faint coolant smell prior to the maintenance, which was attributed to a tiny leak in the reservoir and another very tiny leak in the tower housing. Yay; smell gone after the replacements! However, on the evening of my first day's travel, I noticed a very slight coolant smell again when I got out of the car. Popped the hood and looked all over; no visual evidence of a leak anywhere. Next morning, I added about 4 oz of DexCool and drove about 200 miles without issue. Next morning, another 4 oz of coolant. And the next, and the next. No real issues on the cross country drive back home, but highway cruising temps were now running from 198 to 203 degrees F, with an increase to about 208-212 F when in traffic. I parked it in the garage, topped up the coolant again after it cooled down that eve, and didn't drive it for a week.

Fast forward to a couple of days ago, when I fired the cat back up for a run to the store. I only made it about 1/2 mile when my "Coolant Low" warning came on! Engine temp was only 185 degrees so I whipped around, drove straight back to the garage, popped the hood and located coolant gushing from the passenger side octopus Norma connector. Letting the car cool completely down, the Norma connector was still dripping --- until I opened the reservoir cap, when the drip turned into a serious stream.

Finding this thread, I immediately ran out to purchase a 3/4 to 3/4 connector and a foot of 3/4" heater hose. The Norma connector was, of course, brittle, to say the least. And obstinate. Even with the air intake hose out of the way, there's room for about one and a half hands down in there. I had to chip the connector apart and in so doing, accidentally destroyed the o-ring rim. Ergh; so much for ever replacing the octopus.

Found that old, dried end of the octopus hose under the connector had cracked and split back about half an inch, creating the leak. When I pulled the hose connection off, I found a flared end to the metal tubing. Ergh again. I tried for two hours to heat and stretch the 3/4" hose but it would not even begin to cooperate. I wrote to Ophitoxaemia, who suggested I remove the flared end, but by the time I read his response, I had already purchased a piece of 3/4" (19mm) silicone coolant hose (Plan B).

With a bit of heat and silicone o-ring lube, the silicone hose could be worked over the flare. But the instant you let go of things, the metal tube ejects it like a baby and it's first mouthful of pureed squash.

Plan C: Too lazy to cut the flared end off of the tube, I researched Gates Rubber website and found they made a short 20mm heater hose (Gates 19700). Had to visit 5 auto supply stores before finding one that had it in stock (so call ahead or research online before you go...). Cutting a 3" piece, I heated and greased it as before, then jammed it as far as I could onto a 3/4" deep socket and left it to cure for a couple of hours. Feeling lucky, I pulled the hose from the socket and immediately applied it to the flared tube end. Victory! Took to it like a baby and good imported beer... The rest of the story is as above; hose to hose connector and 3 clamps and it's good to go. 45 minute drive later, no leaks and cruising temp holding at about 194 - 199 degrees. Here's my pics to add to the collection...

 

Now I see why that was so hard for you. You stretched the rubber hose over part of the Norma connector: I cut that whole big thing off. The flange I refer to is that tiny bump to the right of where your tube ends.

Congrats on your fix!

 

One of the reasons I decided not to cut the flared end was that it feels like a sleeve sweated on the the tube (the flare and the o-ring rim both). And I didn't want to pull the whole tube out to do the cutting for fear of doing more harm to the existing hoses connected at the other end. The 20mm hose is working fine and the 3/4" (19mm) connector fits into the octopus and the patch hose just fine. If I hadn't damaged the o-ring rim it would be available for an eventual total replacement, but I have purchased an undamaged tube from an XK8 being parted out so I'll be ready...

Thanks to you for the original idea; saved me from substantial depression and possible alcohol abuse!

 

Or the free option I used awhile back. I bought the spider hose online but needed to drive my XK8 in the interim so went down into the basement and grabbed a 4 inch piece of 3/4 copper pipe, took it out to the garage, cut off my spider hose, clamped the copper in, broke the leaking connector piece off and clamped a couple inches of rubber after copper and it's fixed. I fully intended to swap it out with the new spider hose but 3 1" clamps and a 4 inch piece of copper has held up just fine for 9 years now and counting. As you said a plastic connector would probably work well too. I just thought copper could withstand a bit more heat and hold up a little better. Only regret is dropping so much on a new spider hose just to have it sit in a plastic bag.

 

I pulled off the Norma connector and replaced it with a 3/4-inch by 3/4-inch brass hose barb sourced at my local NAPA store, a short section of new 3/4-inch heater hose, and three new hose clamps. Did the job in mid-December 2020 when the Norma connector started seeping and not a drop of coolant has leaked since. Damn those lousy plastic Norma connectors....

 

I also had a leak at the passenger side Norma connector. I was able to stop the leak by putting a hose clamp on the metal band right behind the Norma connector.

 

Is there any success to be had by getting the connector to properly release and then just replacing the o-rings ???


Z

 

That would depend upon the condition of the Norma connector's plastic, which by now can be very brittle to the point of falling apart. You are much better off by just getting rid of the damn thing....

 

Some day I’m going to try to just do an o-ring replacement on the power steering connector on the (USA) passenger side apron, roughly under the air box area. The plastic seems to be in good condition, so far.


And the leak has pretty much stopped after I did a power steering fluid change. So I’ve been putting it off.


Z