kevlar rad hoses

[jag68]

A friend of mine with a Ser III E Type installed "Made in England" "Kevlar" rad hoses. These were purchased from XK's in California about seven years ago. The car was undergoing restoration at the time. Since then it's had about 2000 miles of driving. One of the two top hoses blew apart on a cruise. On inspection the hose had no internal cording - it was just "rubber" or whatever it's actually made of. The other top rad hose was the same though it is still intact. (since replaced as well) I've never felt such a flaccid hose when not under pressure. Has anybody had similar experiences with these hoses, or any knowledge of them.

[iani]

In the Triumph Stag world Kevlar hoses have a very bad name for failing just as you described, I certainly wouldn't have them on my car.

Ian

[Heuer]

Kevlar hoses are a CMO (cynical marketing opportunity) because they confer no improvement to the operation of the cooling system, in fact they introduce a weakness. The original rubber hoses were reinforced with a cotton weave matrix which resisted expansion whereas the Kevlar hoses rely on chopped Kevlar fibres chucked into the rubber mix in the vain hope they will aid longevity. As the fibres are random they confer no structural rigidity whatsoever. Avoid, go for standard rubber/cotton hoses or consider silicone hoses (watch out for shiny or funky colours which look crap). Angus has found a supplier of sensible hoses so may be give him a call before proceeding further. http://www.mossjaguar.com/

[vee12eman]

Hi,

My Series 3 was rebuilt with these Kevlar Hoses. JUNK them. I could not get them to seal and when I gave up trying and replaced them with only around 1000 miles on the clock, they were swollen, soft, impossible to seal, leaking and seeping and tightening the hose clips worked for a few miles before they leaked again. The hose clips would go tight, the leak stopped, then shortly afterward start again, the hose clips were checked and found loose and the kevlar hoses were just yielding more and more each time.

There are something like 25 hoses in the V12 system and they were a pain to replace, but it was worthe the effort. No more Kevlar "reinforced" hoses for me. I fitted a set of cotton reinfoced hoses from SNG.

Regards,

Simon