Simple Solution to Car Maintenance Problem

[Jim Koepke]

When my first car needed maintenance, my memories are of most items being fairly accessible and hose clamps had nuts or screws to turn to set or remove them. Very seldom was some "special" tool required.

As time moved on, it seems more pennies were pinched and these expensive clamps were exchanged for spring clamps that are often put on in such a way it seems to require a special tool to remove or install them. This coupled with all the extra accessories and required additions under the hood in a modern car make it a real pain to work on something like a radiator hose.

It seemed like it would be easy to get back on, but it actually was a bit more difficult to reinstall the hose and clamp to the radiator until the light bulb went on in my head.

The clamp was taken into my shop and clamped on to the biggest round thing available. To expand it a bit more, it was open more with the pliers and a wooden wedge was inserted between the cylinder and the clamp. Then a wire tie (aka pull tie or zip strip) was used to hold the wings of the clamp together. This made it a lot easier to get the clamp in place and then just cut the plastic wire tie. The one used was of a good size that came from a bunch that were saved from an item bought from Costco.

For those who have not worked in the electronics industry, the wire ties are plastic items that have a long strip that has ridges on one side and a head that the strip slips through. There is a locking pawl in the head that causes the ribs on the one side of the strip to work like a one-way ratchet. They can be opened by inserting a small object into the head and moving the locking pawl out of the ribs on the strip.

jtk

[Jim Rimmer]

Great idea, Jim

[Bob Turkovich]

When my first car needed maintenance, my memories are of most items being fairly accessible and hose clamps had nuts or screws to turn to set or remove them. Very seldom was some "special" tool required.

As time moved on, it seems more pennies were pinched and these expensive clamps were exchanged for spring clamps that are often put on in such a way it seems to require a special tool to remove or install them. This coupled with all the extra accessories and required additions under the hood in a modern car make it a real pain to work on something like a radiator hose.

It seemed like it would be easy to get back on, but it actually was a bit more difficult to reinstall the hose and clamp to the radiator until the light bulb went on in my head.

The clamp was taken into my shop and clamped on to the biggest round thing available. To expand it a bit more, it was open more with the pliers and a wooden wedge was inserted between the cylinder and the clamp. Then a wire tie (aka pull tie or zip strip) was used to hold the wings of the clamp together. This made it a lot easier to get the clamp in place and then just cut the plastic wire tie. The one used was of a good size that came from a bunch that were saved from an item bought from Costco.

For those who have not worked in the electronics industry, the wire ties are plastic items that have a long strip that has ridges on one side and a head that the strip slips through. There is a locking pawl in the head that causes the ribs on the one side of the strip to work like a one-way ratchet. They can be opened by inserting a small object into the head and moving the locking pawl out of the ribs on the strip.

jtk

An excellent idea, Jim. I'd just like to clear up one thing.

The industry's move from screw clamps was not due to penny pinching but to improve quality. The screw clamps are prone to operator error and difficult to inspect (are they tight enough or too tight?...). I remember a particular vehicle launch in the 90's where transmission cooler lines were leaking because the installers couldn't control the clamp load. Screw clamps also do not provide a full 360 degrees of clamping (there is a slight pucker or gap where the band overlaps). This isn't so much of an issue on radiator hoses but it makes these clamps worthless in some other applications (like driveshaft boots.)

Spring clamps provide a more consistent clamping load and reduce the chance for operator error. When they were first brought in the installers used special tools (and I'm sure still do in some cases) but usually now the clamps come in from the supplier with a plastic cap or ring over the tabs (just like your strap idea!:D). The installer just pulls the cap and the clamp compresses around the hose. Easy for the end-of-line inspector to verify as well - just confirm the clamp is properly positioned and the cap is gone.

You're not a tooling engineer.....are you?;)

[Norman Hitt]

After frustratingly installing a couple of spring clamps about 20 years ago I griped to a friend about it and he said to buy a pair of "Spring Clamp" pliers, which I did. They are just like all other good quality pliers except for the groove cut in each of the tips that the clamp tabs fit into. They work like a champ, so well in fact that I actually like Spring Clamps better now than the old screw style and they are MUCH FASTER to install. Just open the pliers, insert the clamp tabs, squeeze the pliers then slip the clamp on the hose an inch past the clamping point, then slip the hose in place , squeeze the pliers again and slide the clamp to its proper position and release the pliers and you're done.

The pliers were only a buck or two more than regular pliers, and I wouldn't be without mine.:D

Note: Your installation description sounded much like MY first experience with them, and made me wonder what derned idiot designed them.:D

[dennis thompson]

Jim
If your car is difficult to maintain you need to get one of these, very easy to maintain & only 57 years old
Dennis
169319

[Don Bullock]

Jim, I admire your efforts and fully agree with you that cars today are much more difficult to maintain than those of our youth. I've taken a different direction from yours. While I used to service my first car, a VW Bug, and could even drop the engine alone with a floor jack, I have decided that my time is more valuable than the cost of having someone else do it. Like you pointed out it takes specialized tools and to me I'd rather spend that money on woodworking tools.

Dennis, you have the right idea. I've thought about getting '50s car. If the "right" one comes along at the "right" price I may get one. I have been looking.

[Matt Meiser]

Great idea! Those things can be a pain if you can't get a pair of pliers on them due to clearance. I can certainly appreciate why they are used in the first place though.

[Jim Koepke]

You're not a tooling engineer.....are you?

No, though I have made a few tools for use in my work places in the past.

Many of the engineers in my travels seemed to feel threatened when presented with ideas they missed. They did not except that a technician may have read something they hadn't explored. After all, they had many more years of education. One in particular felt I did not have the ability, or right, to know things he didn't.

He did not understand how aluminum can become nonconductive through chemical reaction.

jtk

[Bob Turkovich]

No, though I have made a few tools for use in my work places in the past.

Many of the engineers in my travels seemed to feel threatened when presented with ideas they missed. They did not except that a technician may have read something they hadn't explored. After all, they had many more years of education. One in particular felt I did not have the ability, or right, to know things he didn't.

He did not understand how aluminum can become nonconductive through chemical reaction.

jtk

Jim,

I hope you took my tooling engineer comment as a compliment because that was surely how it was intended. I have/had no idea of your profession.

Throughout my engineering career I dealt with quite a few tooling engineers and non-degreed technicians - most of which were educated through the school of hard knocks and experience. They have my utmost respect. (In fact, one of my most respected mentors was one of those technicians.) Your process in coming up with an in-the-field way of handling spring clamps was no different than what they would do on a daily basis.

That respect follows thru into my woodworking as I seem to get as much or more satisfaction out of the jigs and fixtures I create doing my projects as I do in the finished product.

My key point in my initial response is that changes are not necessarily made to reduce cost. (There was another thread this week on timing belts which insinuated the same.) In the cooler line case I noted, the issue went from major warranty to zero warranty when we changed to spring clamps. The only issue was that the home mechanic was going to have to either procure a special tool or come up with a creative way to handle the clamp (as you did.) In this case, the customer ended up with the more important thing - a more reliable product.

[Jim Koepke]

I hope you took my tooling engineer comment as a compliment because that was surely how it was intended. I have/had no idea of your profession.

It was taken as a complement. It is just my reaction to the word engineer. There have been a few engineers who make the wrestling with a pig in the mud image come to mind every time the word engineer comes up.

Much of my history is as an electro-mechanical technician and assembler.

Now that you mention it, many of the older engineers were easier to get along with than some of the younger engineers.

It may just be a general attitude among people in general that some feel others have nothing to offer, while there are some who feel even a fool might have useful information to share. The basic difference between an open and closed mind.

Interesting information about the reliability issue. I have never had a problem with the screw type clamps. When replacing the water pump on this vehicle, I changed out the spring clamps for the screw type because they were easier to install in a tight place.

jtk

[Brian Elfert]

Heavy duty trucks commonly use constant tension hose clamps instead of regular hose clamps. They also solve the problem of clamps coming loose, but they cost three to five times what a common hose clamp costs.

I noticed some of the heavy duty trucks now have heavy duty versions of the spring hose clamp.