Radiator hose blew off

[jojo]

My son was driving my 2001 PT Cruiser and he said about 10 miles from home there was a "gush of water" He says he was careful and the temp gauge never went beyond the middle of the dial....

Looks like the hose came off at the top, into the radiator. Looks like a clamp may have fallen off. He thinks there is now clamp, and we should just be able to slip the hose back on and go on our merry way....

Was there a clamp there? If so, can I go to a local Kragens or PepBoys and get another clamp - or do i have to special order?

thanks, in advance, for your help...

JoJo

[CREWZIN]

JoJo,

Welcome to the forum.

Sure you can just buy a clamp and put the old hose back on, but do you really want to do that?

Take a good look at the hose for wear, hardness, cracks or anything that takes away from being a good hose. Also inspect the neck of the filler tube on the radiator for anything unusual that might have led to the hose coming off.

It is a small pain to take the upper intake off to replace the hose altogether, but you might take that time to also put in new plugs and wires. Do you know the history of the car, when the last time a tune-up was done?

Are you or your son mechanically inclined to do auto maintenance? We can walk you through the procedure but you do need some special tools (torque wrench) to do it right.

[Cartman]

agree with crewzin, replace it. tune up's a good idea too.

[jojo]

Thanks for the help, all.

Neither myself or my son are mechanically inclined, for engine stuff, at least.

I change my own headlights, tail lights, fuses, etc, but I don't know or mess inside the engine - even the hoses (tho i did replace my battery about a year ago. THAT ended up being much more difficult on the Cruiser than any other car I have ever done a battery replacement on...)

I do, however, have a good mechanic, one that I trust. Last time I was in , I had him do a complete check on the car, asked him to pay special attention to engine, hoses, belts, etc. Everything looked good then. Guess it's time to take it back for another "look see".

By the way, I have had my 2001 Cruiser since October 2000, after ordering in Feb and waiting 8 months for delivery. These forums have been part of my life for that length of time. But , as I'm not mechanically inclined, I am more of a lurker than a contributor.

JoJo

[CREWZIN]

JoJo,

October 2000! Well, we don't have a picture of your Cruiser so I'll have to use mine......

I officially welcome you to the PT OLD TIMERS CLUB dedicated to the YEAR 2000 ORIGINAL OWNERS.



Here's the official web site. Click on it to see the list of members.

Welcome to the PT Cruiser Old Timers Club

[bobs turbo pt]

i agree with crewzin also the hose shouldn't just fall off have your friend take a good look at it

[slartyblarfast]

The hose is held on by a constant tension type clamp. I have known them to break over time. Not real common but I have seen this happen. Replace the hose and use regular hose clamps and you should be fine. Don't reuse the original hose because the new clamp may not seal the old hose. I have seen hoses leak just from moving the constant tension clamp to a different position.