Pressure testing showed me that one of my water leaks is the small hose that runs from the top of the radiator to the coolant bottle. I have a spring clamp on the coolant bottle but the radiator side has a worm drive clamp that does not really fit. What clamps are on this hose on your car?

I can't tell what clamps were used by the factory because of an error in the parts database. I'm trying to decide what clamp to use when I replace the hose.

Volvo used the same hose on later cars, but experimented with different clamps as time went on. Some cars kept the spring clamp on one end. In other cases they tried a worm drive clamp, then a 15.3 mm oetiker clamp, then a 14.5 mm oetiker clamp.

To go along with the dealer hoses and a spring clamp, I am going to buy a bag of 14.8 mm oetiker clamps from the hardware store and a new blade for my hose cutter. If you replaced this hose, what clamps did you use?

 

I use worm drive when I replace clamps. It might just be in my head but I trust them over spring clamps and I have less trouble getting them on and off.

 

Worm gears here. I didn't put them on, somebody before me did it.

 

That car had sprig clamps when new. They get loose over the years, can be swapped for gear ones. That particular hose is not unnnnnder very high pressure but if it leaks, change it!

 

Thanks! I found the part number for the spring clamp and got one, but decided not to use it.

I noticed the spring clamp that was on the coolant reservoir provides a 360 degree seal like an oetiker clamp.

I noticed a crack in the nipple on the coolant reservoir for this bleeder hose, i thought the hose would seal it but maybe this is a problem. I'm still losing coolant but at a slower rate.

The new hose that volvo supplies for the bleeder hose is 1/2 mm smaller than the one used in the car factory. It is basically a 6mm ID hose. I hope I can get it off the coolant tank and radiator without cutting it in case the need arises. I used 14.5 oetiker clamps... the gear clamps might work but the indentation it left on the old hose showed it wasn't compressing the hose uniformly all the way around. Because this was leaking when I used the pressure tester I didn't want to use a gear clamp again.