peckinpah

I had been losing about an ounce a day of coolant, and was really worried I had a bad head gasket or corroded cylinder head. However, there was no trace of coolant in the oil.

The problem first surfaced after I did the timing chain, but I couldn't figure out how that could have caused the problem. But then I remembered that I had replaced all my hoses at the same time.

So I checked all my hoses and sure enough, right under the top radiator hose where it goes into the engine, it was slightly wet to the touch underneath. So I re-fastened the hose clamp, and that should be that.

Unfortunately, I chucked all my original stock hose clamps and replaced them with regular hardware store clamps, which don't seem to work as well. Still some of those stock ones were spring loaded and a PITA to work with. And others were badly rusted and I was afraid they'd bust on me eventually.

But once again I discover that there was a method to the inscrutable madness of those wacky Toyota engineers, because the stock clamps never once leaked.

LITLRED

I've had more than one professional mechanic advise me to junk those spring loaded stock water hose clamps for real hose clamps. They probably work fine when they are new, and speed up the assembly, but like any spring they lose tension over time. I trust standard hose clamps i can tighten with either a 1/4 in or 5/16 in nut driver. They may take a little longer, but I know they are tight. Just my opinion.

abecedarian

Gear clamps, the type you get at Home Depot and other places, have a problem with grabbing the hose on the back side as things tighten up and bunching it up near where the screw tightens them. Stock clamps don't have that problem since they let the hose slip.

peckinpah

You are a psychic abe, that's exactly what happened.

Usually you assume that if you attach a hose clamp and tighten it down all the way, that there will be some acceptable amount of tension all the way around, but not so with these gear clamps I bought.

The only spot that had any tension seemed to be right behind where the screw was. In fact, the clamp was still stuck to that part of the hose even after I backed off the clamp a full inch.

I'm never trusting one of those clamps again, unless I can confirm there's tension all the way around.

shaeff

The stock spring type clamps are heaps better than any worm gear clamp. Stock clamps are for the win.

shaeff

They're even better when you get the OEM tool to install them. Especially in tight places!