Volvo 850 heater core o-ring question

[greg850r]

One more comment. I eliminated the whole mess by cutting the top half off the aluminum pipes coming out of the heater core and slipping heater hose over the pipes. Double clamps are advisable here because the lack of a flange on the end of the aluminum pipe where you cut it off makes leaks more likely.

I took the black double hole plastic fitting that sits in the firewall and removed material until the outer diameter of the heater hoses slip fit snugly through the holes. Then removed the stock heater hoses from the engine.

The result is a hose running directly from the clamp at the engine through the firewall to the clamps on the heater core pipes. This eliminates 25 year old plastic fittings and a bunch of o-rings that in my opinion are too expensive and too failure prone.

Just my 2 cents.

[erikv11]

I ran hoses to the pipes for a few years (viewtopic.php?t=46253), has pros and cons, but finally went back to the coupler. Some comments in viewtopic.php?t=98579.

[scot850]

If you can manufacture a swage on the end of the aluminum pipes then there is an argument to going that way. Downside is if you done, there is a chance of a leak, but the coolant pressure is not all that high. The other issue is ensuring the hose does not rub on the surround in the firewall.

Your point Erik is on the '25 year old plastic going brittle' as is greg850r. Put in context, are these car going to be in use in another 25 years time? So the 'chore' of fitting a new part that worked for 25 years (assuming it in OE Volvo) seems to make a lot more sense.

Neil.

[JimBee]

Abscate: not only a veritable font of knowledge regarding the P80 platform, but clairvoyant, too! How else could he know that on my bucket list is a car trip in my 850 to backwoods Egypt?