No good deed goes unpunished (Volvo content)

Yesterday, since snow was expected for today, I decided to check fluids on the winter car, my 2006 Volvo V50 T5 AWD. I discovered the coolant was below the MIN mark by about a quarter of an inch, which is not where I left it maybe a thousand miles ago. Looking underneath, I saw a very small puddle and a drip from the undertray in the center of the car, directly below the thermostat housing. I dug in this morning and found what I believe to be the leak coming from the so-called "Octopus hose" - the very same problematic hose that I preemptively replaced last year.

These connections, I believe, are plastic couplers with rubber sheathing in place of clamps. My question is: can I simply clamp over the sheathing and expect the leak to seal temporarily (I'll order a new hose from FCP Euro, but I'd like to have the car available until I have time to fix it)? If it weren't such a giant pain to pull the airbox and access this thing, I would just do it and see what happens, but given the struggle that is the airbox, if anyone has an informed opinion, I'd love to hear it before I button this back up.

I don't know enough about the car to make a suggestion, but I can offer a bump before your post gets swallowed up in the forum.

In reply to Colin Wood :

Thanks. I've been going back and forth with a few people over on Swedespeed, but there's no consensus. I know we've got some pros and Volvo guys here who might have thoughts. At this point, I'm inclining toward trying the clamp, if only for scientific purposes (and to have a field fix in mind if I discover a similar failure somewhere other than my driveway). Get it warm and look for residue when I'm back in there to replace the hose (again). I've already got the new one on the way from FCP.

Don't forget that you can do a coolant system pressure test to identify any other leaks. Sucks that it failed so quickly 

In reply to amg_rx7 (Forum Supporter) :

Unfortunately, I don't have a test kit for that. It would be convenient. Probably should look into that.

I test-fitted a clamp just to see where everything settled. It's not bad, but I also don't have much faith in it doing anything useful, as there's very little give in the overmold portion. For now, though, I'm out of time to fiddle with it today. The new hose is on order, and I'm pretty close to FCP, so once they ship, I should have it in a day.

In reply to 02Pilot :

It looks like it is fixed forever to me.  

In reply to Noddaz :

I'd like to think that, but I don't know how much - if any - of the clamping pressure is reaching the affected join. When I snugged the clamp down, it stopped hard, not with the slowly increasing pressure you expect from something that's compressing.

So the part showed up in 24 hours, as most of the stuff I get from FCP does (I'm not far away), so I tackled replacing the replacement today. It requires way more work than any radiator hose should, but here we are. It's in and not (apparently) leaking, so I'll start driving it normally and keep an eye on it until I trust it again (probably not a good idea - trust invites betrayal).

I found coolant residue almost all the way around the same joint I showed earlier (you can see it in the upper portion of the photo below as well), but I also found damage to the hose at the bottom of the connection to the thermostat. This must have occurred during installation last year, but it wasn't leaking until recently, so I don't know if this was a factor or simply damage that was not affecting sealing of the system.

So, is the plastic tee molded around two or three hoses? That's just not right.

In reply to VolvoHeretic :

Yup. And there's two of them. Not my favorite design feature.

Gates makes decent belts but the hoses are a dirty word IMO.  The Gates hoses on my car weep to the point of about going to the low line every six months, and have since they were new.

This is why I ignored the coolant leak that turned out to be a water pump, I figured it was just normal hose loss.  Something something boy who cried wolf.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

I hadn't heard that about Gates hoses, but there aren't many options for this application. The only other one FCP carries is Rein, and I saw negative reports on those over on SwedeSpeed. I wish I had made note of the branding on the new one, but it's whoever Volvo is using as their supplier (both of the hoses in question were OE Volvo in Volvo packaging).