Yesterday, after a short drive in my Elan +2 S130/5, I found a small fountain of warm cooling fluid erupting from a small hole in the heater hose, between the heater and the thermostat.
There was a kink on the heater hose (blue arrow), which stopped the circulation.
What is the easiest method to change this hose? Can I unscrew the vacuum pipe running from the manifold to the brake equipment (red arrow) without risking the brake function?
What should the dimension of the heater hose be? And where do I find the right hose (with a pre-fabricated bend)?
The copper pipe seen below the vacuum pipe is part of a fire extinguisher…
Not sure if my installation is original but attached a photo. The Plus2 workshop manual is not much help as the diagram is for the Elan not the Plus 2 !!!
It’s not an easy job to get to the heater outlet,did mine last week when the engine was out,I had two hoses (one with a prefabricated 90 degree bend in it)joined together by a piece of 15mm curved copper pipe…have not been able to locate the propper pipe,the best I could find is two pieces(rather like hockey sticks) and joined these together (again with a piece of 15mm copper pipe and a couple of jubilee clips)…
uboat,
Sue Miller sells an Esprit hose which has the bend formed on one end and it’s long enough to cut in two and use for both of the +2 heater hoses.
Fitting it with the head on is a bit of a challenge, especially if the hose clip screws are at an awkward angle. Thin wrists and multi jointed arms are required.
Best of luck.
John
Here is my solution that I have used for some time. 1/2" NB copper pipe and a 90 deg fitting. Works for me. Between the oily red wire and the braided clutch hose is a 1/4" dia hole directly above the Jubilee clip worm drive for a screw driver. It has alway been there on my car since I bought it in 81. Sorry about the mess. I have cleaned it all up now that I have mended the leaky heater core. Note that even with the carbs off it is still a tight squeeze to get your hands in there. My wrist ached for days after. See you at Stoneleigh if any of you are going.
My +2 has a couple of sections of 15mm water pipe with 3 (I think) elbows soldered together to get around the back of the engine - a previous owner must have been a plumber… I thought it looked awful but it does solve the problem!
Be very careful of a coolant leak on the header side of the engine. In my years as a forensic investigator for vehicle product failures, I have examined multiple vehicle fires caused by coolant leaks. As an example, Land Rovers had a massive problem with delamination of coolant hoses causing engine compartment fires. The heater hoses would deteriorate and spray the coolant mixture on the hot exhaust manifold causing many engine compartment fires. They issued a recall to replace a great many coolant hoses, radiator hoses included.
If you want to try a mixture of 50% ethlyene glycol based coolant and water on a hot exhaust manifold over 900 degrees F, you will find the water turns to steam and the alcohol will ignite. A steady, read heavy, stream is less likely to cause a fire, but a fine spray is instant death.
I just fitted 2 new heater hoses over the weekend bought from Mattys. They both seem very good quality, fabric re-inforced. I’m part way through a rebuild and managed to fit both with just the carbs off. Best to use hex head jubilee clips and a small socket on a ratchet screwdriver!
I installed the new hose from Sue Miller yesterday. Really no problem at all after greasing the heater tap. I only had to take away the small vacuum brake pipe…
Matthew