Are Your Hose Clamps Failing?

Hose clamps attach and seal a rubber hose tightly to a fitting. There are many different systems within your car that use hose clamps to secure hoses, keeping them from leaking where they are attached. The cooling and heating system, as well as the braking system, use hose clamps.

There are several types of hose clamps that may be found on your car’s hoses:

• Spring clamps
• Screw and band (worm gear) clamps
• Wire clamps
• T-bolt clamps (usually used in racing applications)

Symptoms of bad hose clamps

There’s one major symptom of bad hose clamps: a leaking hose. Once that you have ruled out the hose itself as the source of the leak, it is likely that you have a bad hose clamp.

Repairing bad hose clamps

While a fluid leak from bad hose clamps is serious enough, the real danger from bad hose clamps is the possibility that enough coolant could leak out to cause your engine to overheat, or that too much brake fluid could be lost and cause your brakes to fail.

Your mechanic will thoroughly inspect your car’s hoses and hose clamps, to verify that your problem is limited to bad hose clamps. If it is, the bad hose clamps can be removed, and then replaced with a new one (or more).

There could also be damage or wear to other related components in your car’s cooling or braking system, as a result of a fluid leak. Repair or replacement of the affected parts should restore the control system’s functionality. Any other issues uncovered should be dealt with now, before they can cause you problems down the road.

Repairing bad hose clamps must be done correctly

While replacing bad hose clamps is an easy process, it also requires a thorough understanding of cooling system or braking system plumbing issues. If it becomes necessary, draining and replacing your car’s coolant or brake fluid must be done correctly, including properly bleeding the system to eliminate any air bubbles. Your mechanic has the experience and the proper tools to do the entire job safely and cost-effectively.