Ive had the OBX hoses for about 2 years now, got them when I bought the mishimoto rad. They were cheap, I regret buying them now.......... THEY WONT STOP LEAKING for anything...
This was after taking them off, putting them back on 3 different occasions. Buying T-band clamps, still didn't fix it. even applied a little rtv.....still F'Ing leaked. Ill be buying new rubber hoses soon....
Bumping this with more info. I still have these hoses installed, and I'm quite sure they are allowing water to evaporate slowly through the hoses. Silicone hoses "breathe" so I'm told and water vapor can move through them. I actually don't have much leaking going on anymore from what I can tell, but the coolant level in the car goes down while at rest. It seems to be about a quart of coolant for every month or so that it sits.
As it sits right now I have to make sure to top it off a good bit if I've left it sitting for any real length of time. I'd probably have to do the same if I drove it, but it hasn't seen tons of road time recently so I don't really know. It gets out for short trips and the occasional track day, but I'm not daily driving it or anything.
If the silicone shrinks with cold temperature. Then wouldn't that be the best time to tighten it? If explansion is causing the leaking. Silicone is used for intercooler couplings and doesn't leak under large amounts of pressure. It would be strange to think it would allow for seepage. I've personally never used them, so I've never had them leak on me lol
They are as stupid as they were when I bought them. Nothing has changed. I can't wait to get rid of them and stop having to fill up the coolant.
Silicone is perfectly fine for air and even high pressure air situations as it is air tight for typical timelines. But given enough time, water vapor (but not the alcohol vapor) can seep through and you slowly lose fluid. It's like a party balloon. For most purposes, they are air tight, but leave a balloon filled long enough and you'll see it is not actually air tight, it just leaks VERY slowly.
Damn it. I was debating getting them but came across this. I need someone cleaner on the racecar and thought these would be alright. I wonder how the mishimoto hoses are.