Saturday, September 24, 2022

Mini Cooler Lower Radiator Hose Dragging


I have a 2010, R55, Mini Cooper Clubman.

This seems to go for all 2nd generation Minis.

The plastic bracket that holds the lower radiator hose, sags due to age and heat, exposing the hose to be scraped when going over speedbumps, driveway aprons, etc.

Some people replace the brackets on a regular basis.  There is also a undercar belly pan*

* this is one style, I have not tried it so do not know how it fits.

Because of the cost, I went for the cheap fix.  I took a piece of .065" aluminum, 2" x 5" with a slight kick up at one end.  Wrapped it is duct tape and placed it between the spoiler and radiator fan housing and drilled for a screw to keep it in place.  


It cradles the hose in the right location, all the pressure is on the clamp and not the hose.

This should keep the hose where it belongs and away from any obstacles.




To improve on this you might make a larger part that would go under the existing plastic pins that hold the spoiler on.  This could be made to protect the entire length of hose, but just holding it up seems sufficient.

 

Monday, September 19, 2022

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Lower Radiator Hose - Hose clamp

 I have a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee that developed a slow water leak.

It seemed to be like this leak here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbNvvRXk-Fc

Here is the discussion about this specific video

https://www.jeepgarage.org/threads/coolant-leak-at-lower-radiator-hose-radiator.224081/

As a quick fix I put a hose clamp next to the existing clamp:



Now this would have been right on the "nipple" of the radiator. So I did not put it on very tight.  It was enough for me to do a 200 mile trip with no leakage - probably would have gone for longer.

To replace the clamp I made sure there was no pressure in the system, in fact took the radiator cap off and then back on to create a slight vacuum if it did leak.  Went to take the clamp off and it broke - had to use a Dremel to CAREFULLY cut part of the clamp and then it came off.  You can see were it was broken - it was not completely broken on the car, but was enough to release pressure.




I put the screw hose clamp on where the old clam was.  Later when I go to change the antifreeze I will probably change the hose.

I will be reporting this as if it had happened on a hot day I would probably have lost all the fluid and maybe the hose would have come off the radiator.

If you see a leak here, by leaving the cap loose so no pressure would build up, and continually filling it, you might be able to limp it to a repair shop.



Wednesday, September 7, 2022

What is going on with Auto Parts?

 In the last few months I have had more defective parts than in the last 5 years.

1. A Steering box for a VW Beetle had a defective machines pitman arm splines.

2. A Shock absorber had a scroll grove in what was supposed to be a polished shaft.

3. Brake pads needed ears ground down to fit in a caliper.

And when you go to the web, many mechanics are complaining about part quality:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJWaTJgMciM



iPhone wants you to log into iTunes.

 iPhone wants you to log into iTunes.

Password Not recognized

Cannot update and App

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I was trying to update my Apps on my phone when the phone kept asking me for a password.

It did not like any of the passwords I put in, but it kept asking me to log into iTunes.

After changing the password several times,  I went to the Internet to see if anyone had the same problem.

Actually they did.  The App that was trying to update was from someone else's  phone profile.

How did that happen?  The last Apple OS update erased all my active passwords and caused my SETTINGS app to disappear.  To fix this they had me do a home screen reboot, which restored all the Apple icons.  In doing so, this picked up all sorts of icons, which were probably from when my wife had the phone.  I had deleted most of them, but this snuck through.

Now it should NOT have been there to start with.

To fix I deleted the app from my phone - if I want it back I would have to re-purchase it from the App Store under my account.

A simple fix but took an hour to figure out.  There was no message as to which account it was purchased under.  Most of the time it just said the Password was invalid.

And at the same time the Apple Store was shut down due to the release of the Apple iPhone 14.

What a perfect storm.

Link to Apple Discussion.