3/1/2010 @ 8:29am CST

To Eaton:

I am contacting you about one of your hose products that put me in a very dangerous situation recently. I purchased the AER-FBN1000-10 Aeroquip Socketless Hose and installed it on an oil cooler on my car. I followed these instructions and it was performing admirably.

http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...ttsa-pics.html

However while driving on Friday (2/26/10) the hose connecting to the front of the oil cooler let go and dropped all of my car's oil onto the road. As you may know, this could have been the end of my engine, but I recognized the problem and shut it down before any damage occured.

What I'd like to know:
1) How could this have happened if I installed the product correctly?
2) How to keep this from happening again (add clamps?)
3) Why should I trust clampless hoses (especially your products) now that one let go and cost me $175 (tow & parts) and a full day of labor to clean it up and put the car back together?

I will be posting our correspondence on www.the370Z.com forum so the folks who are purchasing your products (including me) can be reassured that we are working with a upstanding and reputable company.

Thank you for your help and prompt response.

Kevin Kelley
kelleykm@gmail.com

Describe "let go" better.

Did the hose pop off of the fitting?
Did it rip/tear?

How clean and flat were your cuts?
How much tension was on the hose where it failed?

Here's what Racer Parts Wholesale had to say:

"The FC5898 number refers to the color only. The FC332 is the blue
socketless hose. If you look on the hose it will also be labelled as
-10.

The hose must be cut square and the fitting pressed into the hose
until it bottoms under the collar. Do not use hose clamps."

So if you don't use clamps then you worry about the hose slipping off. If you do use clamps you worry about the inner hose getting messed up. :confused:

Maybe my approach created a failsafe. I snugged up Ties in the valley areas, not tight enough to cut the hose on the ridges, but snug enough that the hose could not expand over the ridge areas on the fitting. Dunno. Just seemed like a logical fail safe to me. I'll be pulling the lower cover this week to do my first change since the install (3500 miles) and will report back if there is any hose creep...

More than a few have installed this very set-up with no issues..

http://images43.fotki.com/v1505/phot...MG_1708-vi.jpg

http://images43.fotki.com/v1505/phot...MG_1717-vi.jpg

I talked with Aeroquip to get a better understanding of the differences between the FC598 and FC332 hoses. I was concerned because their catalog show the FC598 as a crimp connection hose. Apparently they are the same hose other than color. The crimp connector has to be used for industrial, high pressure applications and is OK for socketless connections for the oil cooler.

i believe a while ago i told you guys you should go with crimped fittings. it is not just the pressure rating you need to look at it is the temperature swings that it sees that willcause the failure. trust me I work on equipment that runs at 5000PSI and is worth millions. for the little extra cash crimped is the way to go.

Was the second post with extra pic the followup, Modshack? Interested to hear how your hoses are holding up.

I spent 23 years in aerospce testing jet engines and we used aeroquip fittings but we used the braided stainless lines with the crimped fittings. I know they cost more but I would have more peice of mind knowing that the fittiings are going to hold. I am in the process of puting mine together. I have seen installations where the fittings are pointed down so that you can drain the system. I am going to put a tee at the bottom of each port. Pipe thread to 90 deg and 180 deg fitting, hoses will attach to the 90 deg fittings and a AN cap with saftey wire hole so I can saftey wire the cap to the tee so it will not come loose or loose it, I just may saftey wire all the fittings. When I drain the oil off comes the cap. I don,t want to lose a motor. The problem may be with the inside diameter of the hode you are using. I would check aeroquip guide for proper inside diameter of hose to use. They need to feel as they will not go on at all, you need to lube it up to get it on. You may get some expansion on the hose from the heat but I would think it would be minimal. Don't get me wrong but there are a few things that I would not DYI and this is one of them.

Could you post photos before and after installation!

I'll give one (1) rep point to the 370Z owner who actually does a video for others on the oil cooler install! Generous ain't I?

Seriously, if you have the aptitude to do your own wrenching, then you can install an oil cooler. If not—don't. Not being sarcastic or condescending...some people have it, others don't.

A lot of people must be doing a lot of oil cooler install. Why? I ordered parts from Parts Racer and the 90 deg fitting is out of stock! :)

I missed your post in all the updates somehow. The same thing is what happened to me and caused my wreck at the track. 2 in one week is odd 

Modshack,

Parts Racer saw the 3 ties. They did say that those are NOT recommended. FYI, I am in contact with them regarding the hose(s) separating. They are supposed to be calling the vendor for input.

Interesting as that was an intuitive guess on my part and not in any instructions..

FWIW, I dropped the pan today and this is what I found: No hose creep at all. A small amount of sweating from the fitting into the Mocal (wiped off here), but not so much as a drop onto the cover below.. Perfectly dry on the cooler end. This at 3500 miles since the install..

http://images51.fotki.com/v174/photo...MG_2343-vi.jpg

http://images19.fotki.com/v285/photo...MG_2344-vi.jpg

My mistake! They are NOT (repeat NOT) recommended.


....This can cause the inner tube to be destroyed.....

Sorry. My lasik and fingers are not working right today.