Silicone hoses on the Esprit..

[rotaryspeed]

Well for the small fuel injector clamps you need a 90 deg or 45 deg bent pliers. Standart pliers will do the trick too but might be awkward in certain situations.

 

For the bigger coolant hose clamps one of these will do fine: (Sorry dont know the english name of this tool)

 

 

Source: wikipedia.org

 

 

[mdw]

Like this,  just google hose clamp removal tool for others.

[Kez]

Just to hijack this thread and mention that Samco said to me they would produce a set of hoses for the 88-92 Esprit Turbo if they had enough interest ( 20 orders, no price as yet) 

Alternatively there is a company in California who produce quality engine and coolant hoses and will post to UK for $80 - around the £200 mark for a set  of engine hoses and slightly less for coolant have a look  http://www.jaeparts.com

[Jacques]

If we can gather enough interest, I am surely for the Samco version. Is that Esprit Turbo? Or the Esprit Turbo SE?

 

1 vote for black hoses for the SE )mine is a 1990).

 

Anyone else can upsate this, and we'll see. Maybe another thread?

 

Cheers,

Jacques.

[Kez]

Jacques I gave them the spec's for mine which isn't the SE unfortunately ! 

[Gibbie]

I just ordered and received this set of silicon hoses for my S4:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Black-silicone-radiator-hose-for-LOTUS-ESPRITS-SE-S4-S4s-300-GT3-910-1989-1999-/111353243218?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:GB:3160

They look ok to me for under £60. Quick delivery too.

Proof of the pudding remains to be assessed tho!

Gibbie

[Cushing]

I found these on e-bay, are they OK for my 88my Turbo ?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201047727191?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%257CR40%257CR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D201047727191%26_rdc%3D1

 

[mdw]

Whilst mine is a 88 n/a I am sure they will be fine as that the set I used from ebay 2 years ago. Still no problems.  You may have to use your original  front rad hose  pipe if your have a ridged curved ally pipe at the front.  This set is made for that cars with the straight pipes through the chassis not the ones with the 90 degree bend at the front.  Either way they work with a little adjustment.

[eeyoreish]

Whilst mine is a 88 n/a I am sure they will be fine as that the set I used from ebay 2 years ago. Still no problems.  You may have to use your original  front rad hose  pipe if your have a ridged curved ally pipe at the front.  This set is made for that cars with the straight pipes through the chassis not the ones with the 90 degree bend at the front.  Either way they work with a little adjustment.

So am I to understand that the ebay kits advertised for SE & Turbo cars will have all the right bits for my '90 n/a?

[glynherron]

I'm trying to fathom out what size clamps to buy for my silicon hoses.  I have taken a look at the parts lists, but some are labelled with just the Lotus part and no hose size.

 

Did anyone make a record of what size clamp fits where?

[Loose Cannon]

Tiny thread resurrection but as more people are tempted by silicone hoses an update might be timely.

Since finishing my engine out job I have been hampered by leaks to the extent I dont trust the plumbing enough to get the car on the road to set everything else up!

All the problems I have had with my build have been when using none-Lotus parts, including the silicone hoses. IMHO these are fine everywhere but not on the water pump.

 

On 20/09/2014 at 18:36, Buddsy said:

Only problem I had after a year and a half was about a month ago when I had a coolant leak. I thought it was the cam sprocket had been rubbing and put a hole in a pipe but turned out that the hose had clean come off the water pump. I remember that was one that I really struggled getting on when I had put the engine in and it all had to be plumbed in. I took me 3 nights getting my arm down the back and getting a jubilee clip in the right place this time, was a nightmare but I think I got it in the end. Im not sure if using the Evans waterless coolant rather then water was not helping as it made the Samco hoses slippy where water would make them a bit sticky? I dont know.

The stub on the pump is simply too short for the slippy silicone hose to grab onto. It is shiny on the outside for the jubilee which just wants to squeeze off, and shiny on the inside so the hose just wants to squeeze off the stub. Blue Hylomar is only a slight help and I don't want to use too much in case it disappears off into the coolant system.

Like Buddsy I have now spent 3 evenings finding an orientation for the clip that can be reached but doesn't rub on the cambelt or PAS belt!

If I had remembered to fit the hose to the pump before the engine went back in (ie the reverse of how it came out) all would have been well. It si sooooo frustrating as I paid great attention to orientating the jubilees so that with the engine insitu they could be slackened with a long extension............. *except* this one! And its biting me in the arse.

 

On 08/10/2014 at 22:16, rotaryspeed said:

When I replaced the hoses with Samco silicon ones and worm style clamps I had leaks for weeks. So I went back to OEM and ordered all new coolant hoses. Needless to say all problems gone.

I agree that if at all possible you should seek the original hoses if they are available (some obviously wont be) and leave the shiny stuff to the Max Power lot.

 

When watching that "Lost Lotus" programme the other night I noticed that the cottage industry company they used, Classic Silicone Hoses, specialise in matt finished stuff. This was stated to be more for the original look, but I bet they grip better too. If doing it again I would approach them, but for now the original pipe may be going back on!

[Chillidoggy]

For the larger diameter pipes I bought the cheapo Chinese ones off eBay and to be honest, they don't fit tight enough over the pipes. They were a bargain at £59, but not all of them are good. I've had problems with the water pump one like Mark, plus both ends of the radiator bottom hose. The rest are OK, but they took some sealing up due to them being slack, and too shiny as he says. I will be reverting back to rubber for any that I think might cause me a problem.

Conversely, I used 16mm silicone reducers, elbows sourced from JJC Race & Rally with plastic barbed connectors from Wilson Lendrum Weir and they're a perfect fit, tight as a duck's arse over the pipes.

[Vulcan Grey]

Here's the tool I use to tighten hose clamps in the Lotus.  I have a 1/4" socket to 1/4" hex adapter, and then I put the 6mm or whatever socket on there.

 

[Loose Cannon]

As mentioned with the engine on a bench I made sure every clamp hex had a "peephole" through the mass of obstructions so a long extension could get to it. For some reason everything is in the way of the pump hose. In the end its oriented pretty mech flat at the botom and tightened underneath but I still don't trust it. I don't think even a Mikalor would do the job as again too wide and would probably snag the spiders web of belts.

I spent a fortune on stainless jubilees which are excellent but in this application a touch too wide, so might have to try a skinny mild steel cheapy. If only I had remembered to put the hose on before the engine slipped back in .

[ramjet]

7 hours ago, Vulcan Grey said:

Here's the tool I use to tighten hose clamps in the Lotus.  I have a 1/4" socket to 1/4" hex adapter, and then I put the 6mm or whatever socket on there.

Nice Travis. If you have read my other thread, I have found that I just don't have an extension in my socket set that has the required 17 bends to get to the clip. Even if it was bent, I don't think it would rotate properly anyway.  

[Vulcan Grey]

The lower flexible extension is a Ryobi ~$11, and can handle a lot of torque for pretty large bolts, but is not as flexible as the other one, which came with a ratcheting screwdriver, though that one is now broken...  Totally worth their weight in gold though!

[sailorbob]

The matt finished silicone hose probably won't be any different to a standard silicone hose when it comes to gripping the pipe as the matt effect is usually because the last tape wrapped on the pipe is a matt finish rather than the entire hose being constructed that way.

[Loose Cannon]

True, the original rubber is going to be better in this application IMHO.

After ANOTHER leak last night from the crossover silicone hose (which was removed to get access to the water pump) all appears well. The leaks were preventing the eliniation of all the little air locks as well, so the engine sounds noticeably sweeter now. Sweet enough for a first tentative drive to the fuel station!

Perhaps once a few heat cycles have gone through it will help bond the parts together. Now the car is mobile to get to a proper lift (instead of squeezing under jack stands) there may be better access to give the clip a nip after a few hundred miles too. I don't think Im ever going to trust that silicone water pump pipe though, its days are numbered.

[Chillidoggy]

I found that heat cycles made things worse. I was monitoring the coolant level and found it disappearing slowly. I kept getting weeps from the bottom rad hose connection, which hasn't got a lot of stub pipe on it, so I ended up replacing the good JCS clip with a slimmer cheapo one, and tightened is as much as I dared to get me by, but it squashed the silicone pipe so much, I feared it could split. I had already smeared the stub with Hylomar when I put the pipe on, but they're just too large a diameter to start with. NB - this is the cheapo Chinese ones, not UK supplied.

 

[Loose Cannon]

Luckily I haven't done the front end refurb yet.

I didn't realise the Chinese kit came with the rad pipes which are still sitting in the bag. It will be interesting to compare them with the much more expensive JAE supplied hoses that have been waiting on the garage shelf for that particular nightmare job.

[sailorbob]

Sometimes a double wire hose clamp works better than a band clamp, especially if the wires are either side of a barb or bead (assuming the barb or bead isn't on the end of the pipe).