How the hell do these hose clamps work?

[chrrris]

This is probably a dumb question. I am absolutely hopeless with cars...

My car has an oil leak from the brake vacuum pump. I've bought a rebuild kit for the pump off the internets, but obviously I need to remove the pump in order to rebuild it.

I thought this would be relatively easy, but I need to undo an intake hose from the turbo to get to the bolts for the pump. Again, I thought this would be easy but my car is full of these weird hose clamps (pictured) and I can't work out how to get them off and on. I'm familiar with the normal "jubilee" style clamps with a rotating worm screw -- dead easy -- but these things are weird. Can anybody tell me, or point me at a video of, how they work and how to get them off. Perhaps they are single use? If so, am I okay to replace them with normal jubilee clamps?

IntakeClamp1.jpg (106.74 KiB) Viewed 732 times

Here's a different clamp, which I don't need to remove, but it's the same type and may be a clearer picture:-

DifferentClampButSameTime.jpg (33.96 KiB) Viewed 732 times

[chrrris]

I doubt anyone's that interested, but just in case, here's an update:-

I ended up putting the bits of engine I'd removed back together and spending the rest of the evening on google. It transpires that those hose clips are Caillau VISA E clamps, and they're factory-fitted, single-use clamps, crimped together with a hydraulic tool. The bit in the pictures I posted isn't even the crimp -- it's a spring designed to maintain constant pressure on the hose as the turbo heats/cools. It looks like they're a complete pain in the a**e to remove, by prying apart the crimps using a screwdriver, but remove them I shall, at some point, and replace them with jubilee style clips and threadlock.

I don't know how independent mechanics manage these days. Modern cars aren't designed to be taken apart easily it seems. I'll be glad when this job is done, assuming I manage to do it without completely knackering the car.

[fin]

the brake servo on my vans knackered. brakes are hissing. its in the garage tomorrow. sod messing about with it myself. let them do it. ill supply the hopefully correct part and go from there

[chrrris]

the brake servo on my vans knackered. brakes are hissing. its in the garage tomorrow. sod messing about with it myself. let them do it. ill supply the hopefully correct part and go from there

Yep, there's a lot to be said for that. I'm only doing this myself because the place that looks after my cars and van had a look at it and is really busy and they said they can't deal with it for 8 weeks. I'm not putting up with an oil leak for 2 months, and I don't really trust anyone else so I'm doing it myself. Fortunately, I have other transport options so even if it ends up taking me several days to put it all back together after I get cracking on it (and it probably will to be fair, as I'm really sh*t with cars) it's not the end of the world.

My trouble is, I understand all the principles of how a car works (let's face it, it hasn't really changed much since the 1970s) but the actual wriggling around on your back waving a spanner around under a tiny, cramped, engine bay is frustrating, messy, and bloody hard graft and I'm not getting any younger!

[dewaltdisney]

The problem with new cars is that the fittings are designed for automated assembly and usually you need to pull the whole front end off to get to anything as there is no room. These hose clamps are a nightmare and a good old jubilee clip is still best but the manufacturers want cheap production costs and these clips are one of many cheap solutions.

The absurd costs of car insurance these days is all down to the cost of OEM parts and the difficulty in doing the least little job. That and every Range Rover being easily stolen and shipped abroad or stripped for parts.

DWD

[Nos]

On my 2022 Hilux to change the sidelight bulb you have to get under the wheel arch and take off the plastic protection wing to get behind the headlight assembly, was going to upgrade to LED didn't bother, to change the other bulbs its just as normal from inside the engine bay, technology !!!!

[chrrris]

The absurd costs of car insurance these days is all down to the cost of OEM parts and the difficulty in doing the least little job.

Yep, even screwfix want 20 quid for a pack of 10x 80mm jubilee cllps! I don't like relying on amazon but, I've just ordered a pack from them for a fiver. Chinese made, but then so is pretty much everything now. I'm sure they'll be fine with a dob of threadllock on the threads.

[chrrris]

On my 2022 Hilux to change the sidelight bulb you have to get under the wheel arch and take off the plastic protection wing to get behind the headlight assembly, was going to upgrade to LED didn't bother, to change the other bulbs its just as normal from inside the engine bay, technology !!!!

Mate of mine had a TVR Chimera many years ago. All very fancy and nice looking, but one of the headlight bulbs went on it and he couldn't work out how to get to it. Took it to a TVR dealer and they smugly informed him it was a 4 hour job that involved removing not-only the headlight assembly, but also a load of engine gubbins in order to get the headlight assembly out and back in. He sold it not long after that!

Even my Transit Connect was pain for some things. I replaced the battery in it, which involves removing the airbox and a pushing a load of wiring loom gubbins out of the way to get to it (it's right at the back of the engine, near the rear bulkhead). A simple 10 minute job ends up becoming a good half an hour or more. They do it deliberately I think. Same as fitting water pumps in plastic housing -- they know full well the housing will crack after a few years of hot/cold cycling, but by that point it's well out of warranty and they've saved 3 quid on the manufacturing cost and kept their dealer network in business.