Heat and plastic parts

[tranmkp]

plastic parts fro cooling systems on some v8 and v6 engines will crack at seam welds or junctions after X years or after 3-5 years. I was wondering if these pieces would last longer if wrapped with something like exhaust wrap and gold foil to increase life?

Would be wise to install a coolant pressure sensor,,,, wrapped part would not show a leak until its too late.

 

[Cujet]

I think the plastic parts, (often a form of nylon) tend to deteriorate over time in the heat. Any insulation on hose fittings would keep heat in.

 

[Dave9]

Yes a wrap can help, especially during that heat soak period once you turn the engine off. The question is how much trouble to go to, and if they get wet they may turn funky fungusy.

I don't understand your concern about a wrapped coolant part taking too long to show a leak. It's not like a wrap is going to absorb gallons of coolant. If it's only a tiny leak that dries up without ever dripping, you should be able to go long enough to notice it the next time you regularly check the coolant level, and of course you know you have a good temperature sensor so if it starts to get hot, wrap or not, coolant leak or not, it is time to shut her off.

If it's really worrying you, how about some fiberglass wrap and epoxy resin to fortify it? Just make sure you identify the plastic type and its compatibility with the resin... maybe test a scrap junkyard part.

In some cases, like elbows to the heater corehose, you might find someone like Dorman that makes a cast aluminum replacement. That what I ended up using on a GM 3800 engine for example. Then again, you could just replace the plastic parts every few years with new plastic so they aren't yet getting brittle enough to fail.

 

[tranmkp]

thanks for the reply - buying a new part every 50k or 5 years is probably the easiest, Its a JLR v8-v6 - infamous crossover pipes to the head - spring a leak - you have 5 seconds to shut down after temp light goes on - otherwise,,,,, not good - not good at all. The final solution would be a custom aluminum solution,,,, not cheap

 

[willbur]

Perhaps it just too much trouble, but I open my hood in the garage to let heat escape and have had no plastic cooling parts problems after 12 years. Takes about 5 seconds.

 

[tranmkp]

actually Ive been doing that when I can

 

[Trav]

plastic parts fro cooling systems on some v8 and v6 engines will crack at seam welds or junctions after X years or after 3-5 years. I was wondering if these pieces would last longer if wrapped with something like exhaust wrap and gold foil to increase life?

Would be wise to install a coolant pressure sensor,,,, wrapped part would not show a leak until its too late.

I don't think there is much that can be done to prolong their life, when I service something that has an aftermarket aluminum part available I swap the plastic out.

 

[Gixxer8989]

I own some Bmw which are notorious for plastic parts disintegrating. Whenever I have to do work under the hood, if I'm going to disturb those lines I order new ones in ahead of time and just replace them.

 

[doublebase]

I think plastics have really improved over the last 10-15 years. I don’t see nearly as many failures as I used to. I used to see coolant pipes cracking or intake manifolds leaking. Don’t really see that anymore...I really was against the switch from aluminum to plastic, but I’ve got to say, it’s really not a problem I see anymore.

Guess if we’re talking about older vehicles, yeah it’s something you’re going to have to worry about every so often, but look on the bright side...at least you don’t have to worry about direct injection, carbon buildup, misfires, oil consumption and high pressure fuel pumps costing you $1,500 bucks. Or having to tear the top of your engine apart to replace a high pressure injector (that you can’t get out of the head).

 

[Trav]

Lot of truth there!

 

[tranmkp]

wow all good info - if I wee to wrap - rather that use something like a exhaust wrap what about a heat shield and gold foil?? The part is now insulated but not the plastic flange to the head... that could be a failure point...