A few weeks back I asked around to see if others knew what to do about
the fact that my coolant pipe was contracting in the cold, expanding in
the heat and eventually working itself far enough out of the hose that
it leaked. This happened each cold season, and I could tighten the
clamp and stop the leak. Until this recent episode.

I dropped the spare and removed the hose, draining the coolant. What I
saw was bizarre, though I had heard about it. A ring of plastic came
off in my hands, leaving a metal insert with a formed flange sticking
out of the end of the plastic pipe. The rubber hose had obviously been
clamped to the broken-off piece of tubing, which was sliding freely the
length of the exposed metal insert between the good part of the pipe
and the flange.

I cleaned everything up nicely with sandpaper and brake cleaner, then
applied one-third of a stick of gas tank sealer (a stick of two-part
putty available at your flaps). I've had a couple of quarter-sized wads
of this holding the diesel in the tank of my westy for several years
now, and it was applied with the diesel pouring out. I figure there
will be no problem with the coolant.

I smoothed the putty around the metal, and formed it in a slight bulge
to act as a flange to resist slipping inside the pipe. It acts as a
single piece of plastic again, covering the insert as it originally
did. Next morning I tightened down the clamp, filled the coolant and
fired it up. Everything has been fine since.

Jim