Had the upper radiator hose clamp break off from rust -- real weird to me

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78chevolds

Greasemonkey
Jun 25, 2013
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I had the upper radiator hose clamp on the radiator side split in half. The radiator, hose and clamps were replaced in 2016, about 30K miles ago. I drove up an hour North from RI and when I got off the highway onto a road where they closed one lane down causing a slowdown, I smelled coolant and then smoke coming from the drivers side. I drove roughly 2 miles further and pulled over. Opened the hood and the upper hose was off the radiator with no coolant. Luckily a Midas was up the road, I got a clamp and some coolant and got it back together.

I never would have thought a clamp would rust underneath like that. It broke in half and another piece fell off.

Real odd to me. Wondering if I need to replace the clamps more frequently? I use the car yearlong, putting on about 10K a year. Wondering if this has happened to others?

You would think if any water gets between the hose and clamp, the heat of the hose would burn off the water. Maybe now that there is a plastic radiator it does not get hot enough at the upper outlet on the tank to burn off the water? Just wondering.
 

blk7gxn

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Feb 7, 2019
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Only way to go
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pagrunt

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Sep 14, 2014
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I've had the worm gear be involved in the failure in the past but not the band itself. All of mine have been stainless except for the original corbin style clamp on my '86 MC parts car I had.
 

MrSony

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Nov 15, 2014
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Worm clamps break on my stuff all the time. I mainly have rusty crap tho :p
 
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melloelky

Comic Book Super Hero
Oct 22, 2017
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Those spring clamps take years to go bad.the reason they're so popular with the o.e.m's is because they're self adjusting. They build the car,it heats up and it snugs up after it rolls outta their lives. I've learned that when reinstalling them if you don't put them back in their original footprint on the hose,it's gonna leak because now it's not in the smallest part of the hose.
The worm style might need to get tightened just a little after a few heat cycles with a new hose but after that it's pretty maintenance free.
 
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69hurstolds

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Jan 2, 2006
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Those spring clamps take years to go bad.the reason they're so popular with the o.e.m's is because they're self adjusting. They build the car,it heats up and it snugs up after it rolls outta their lives. I've learned that when reinstalling them if you don't put them back in their original footprint on the hose,it's gonna leak because now it's not in the smallest part of the hose.
The worm style might need to get tightened just a little after a few heat cycles with a new hose but after that it's pretty maintenance free.
Agreed. Original hose clamps on the 85 and 87 and none have needed a replacement. It's all dependent on the situation. If you're restoring a car, you gotta use screw clamps, and in some cases, the wire style clamps. If not a restoration, use what you like.

I've used parts-store-special clamps in the past that have flat out broke when I tightened them down. Never got a chance to rust out. Lesson learned- Whichever clamp you use, use a quality brand.
 
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78chevolds

Greasemonkey
Jun 25, 2013
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Thanks. I hope that was an anomaly. I have had my 78 Camaro for 35 years with those clamps and for the first 10 plus years I drove that through the N.E. Winters and have not had any problems with the clamps. However the difference is the Olds has a plastic radiator. I'll consider getting O.E. style clamps and set aside, and keep checking the clamps I have on now.

I can't wait to move down South in a year where the seasons will be less severe than N.E.
 
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