warning re: oil hose and fittings!
 

the hose that connects to the fitting from on my cooler slipped off today as i was driving on the freeway. i saw a lot of smoke coming out and immediately, i thought, "oh crap, i hope it's not one of my oil hoses". i got off the gas and pulled off right away and sure enough the hose just slipped off the fitting and all the oil spilled out and covered the entire bottom of the car, wheels, tires, everything. i was shocked to see this b/c these fittings are made so that you fit the hose over them and they are NOT suppossed to come off or require anything else to hold them on. (see pic)

maybe these setrab fittings are just a tad bit smaller than my previous fittings from aeroquip? i've been running this setup WITHOUT zip ties or clamps for the past 2 years. the only thing different is that i just changed out the tru-cool cooler to a setrab and used their fittings.

well, now i have it zip-tied on all the hose to fitting points. i'll probably replace the zip ties with clamps soon just to be extra sure. imagine if this happened on the track coming into a corner and oil spilling everywhere onto the tires and everythign else!

MAKE SURE YOU GUYS USE ZIP TIES OR CLAMPS ON ALL YOUR HOSE TO FITTING POINTS! (and wipe off all oil from teh INSIDE of the hoses before putting onto the fittings)

Setrab and Aeroquip do not recommend the usage of "Worm-Type" hose clamps. If you are attempting to secure the lines to the socketless style finttings, I recommend either a strong zip tie placed in between the bumps (where the peaks of the hose barbs are). Or installing a set of Otiker (pinch type) style of clamps.

I have a set of Otiker clamps sitting in my passenger seat of my Z32 with Aeroquip socketless lines. I have NEVER had an issue with the lines moving or slipping off, but for that added piece of mind I am going this route.....eventually.

Or just buy an oil cooler kit from Z1 Motorsports

Def scary... I'm wondering if you gave it enough slack... hard to see from the small pic alone but it looks pretty tight. <--that's what she said

Will these work?

Help/16 pcs. 1/4 in. pinch style fuel hose metal clamp for GM 1961-2005 (90099) | Fuel Hose Clamp | AutoZone.com

Oil pressures in our cars max out at 100-105 psi. Those pressures are fine with socketless fittings but not if they're incorrectly installed. Unless you completely screwed up on hose to fitting sizing, then pressure didn't cause the problem. More likely there wasn't enough slack in the hose and engine shift during acceleration gradually pulled the hose off. This is why I had a local hose manufacturer fabricate 5,000psi rated lines with stainless steel crimped fittings and I installed an oil pressure gauge for a last ditch early warning system. Now I drive without worry.

^ same here went to napa and had some high pressure high temp hoses made up with crimped fittings after mine blew apart.

NAPA makes hoses? I had no idea.

I'm sure it varies by store.

:tup: Agreed....I am a little partial to our kit. But I do enjoy seeing people attempt their own DIY style oil cooler kits. There is ALOT more creativity and experimentation that can be used with a DIY kit that may not be cost effective or applicable in a kit like the one we sell.

It does depend on the store. Some NAPA stores have full service centers with garage bays while others do not. You will have to check your local area stores on this.

i've been using my own diy kit for the past 2 years without problems. and you're right about being able to be creative and flexible with a diy vs. a commercial kit.

when i changed out my tru-cool for this setrab unit, i had to use new fittings from setrab and i'm suspecting that there was some oil residue on the inside of the lines and when i put the lines over the new fittings, that bit of oil made it slippery enough to come lose under high pressures.
and i did leave enough slack in the lines. it must have been a huge amount of pressure b/c i remember i could not physically remove the lines after putting them on the fittings, no matter how hard i pulled and tugged!

but regardless, it's a good idea to use zip-ties or clamps or whatever to secure your lines to prevent this kind of problem. in a way, i'm so glad it happened to me now b/c if this happened on track, it could have been disasterous.

As I found out first hand. I just say stay away from the press on fittings altogether. Mine were too tight to even budge also, yet slipped off after 3000 miles and sprayed my front brake down with oil going into a turn at VIR. Lots of nastiness ensued.