Hi all,
Earlier I had posted about my blown upper rad hose.

Today I get the part from the local dealer who had it shipped in -- however....

The hose I have in my hand is just rubber, the one that came out of my car was reinforced by an internal spring.

Can someone w/ a parts book that covers the 1992 400E please tell me if the replacement part is supposed to contain a reinforcement?
Chassis: 1240341B
Engine: 119975 12 000089

The replacement part I was given physically fits, but I'm worried about not having the reinforcement. All the other vehicles I ever worked on had reinforced upper rad hoses. (it has been a while since I did my own car repair)

Regards,
Vorpal

 

I cannot give you a definitive answer however it is my bet that the reinforced hose was not an original equipment MB part.
Internal reinforcement can't stop the hose "rupturing", it can only stop it collapsing inwards with vacumn. External reinforcement was used by some aftermarket manufacturers to try to stop rupturing under EXTREME conditions although nowadays it is achieved through the use of specialist "rubber" EPDM etc.
I would also be surprised if the hose doesn't have reinforcement moulded within the rubber. If you look carefully at the end view of the hose you should see little white marks which are the end of the reinforcement fabric fibres.
Does the part have an MB Star on it. If not its likely to be an aftermarket part which may or not be as good as the original. you take you own chance on this.
Stuart

 

A 124 501 92 82 is the newest part number

 

Thanks, sleepwalker...
That is the part number on the tag attached to the hose they gave me.

The hose they gave me however, did not include the steel spring that was inside the original.

I checked today at a used car lot near where I work. The 1992 400E that they had there also had a re-inforcing spring in the upper rad hose.

I'm going to try once more to put the spring from the original hose into the one I just bought.
It is entirely possible that the wrong hoses have the right tag on them, however in all other ways, the part fits.

Regards,
Vorpal

 

Why do you want to fit the spring? What good will it do?
Stuart

 

What good did it do before?
An upper radiator hose is subject to collapse as the engine cools. I assume that the original was fitted with the metal coil inside as a means of preventing this.

I'm further assuming that the hose was supplied without the metal coil because it was intended that the metal support from the original was intended to be inserted into the replacement.

Even if I'm wrong in either assumption, I see no harm in inserting the spring.
The other 400E I checked also had the support.

I have now successfully inserted the coil into the replacement hose, and will be installing it on the car today.

I'm a bit concerned that the anti-freeze in the engine might not be compatible w/ the official MB anti-freeze I obtained to use to refill the cooling system, so in addition to replacing the hose, I'll be flushing the system before putting in the new coolant.

Cheers,
Vorpal