this is probably an age old question...however im currently doing a bit of tidy up of the engine bay..and have seen on ebay silicon hoses for the TT and silicon radiator hoses as well as the aluminum ones..which is better to use? does one have an advantage to the other??
I'm also interested to know if anyone has had any issues with the cheapo ebay ones as I'm considering throwing out my old OEM rubber ones.
The hard pipes are much harder to remove because the silicon joiners grab onto the metal pipes. Otherwise it just comes down to prefered look.
Contact Caz at Cazracing! She has both great quality silicone hoses & hardpipe kits! If you go silicone make sure you buy good quality stuff! - don't skimp on a few dollars for the sake of your Z! it's just not worth it! Something to keep in mind though.......hardpipes look great but these require silicone couplers! - which means a lot more hose clamps than just the one piece silicone hose! - & this means more potential for air leaks? - just something to consider??
Make sure you get some T-Bolt clamps to use on the silicone joiners/hoses and not the traditional worm drive clamps, T-Bolt clamps won't lose tension over time.
I had hard pipes and sold them and bought Silicon. The Ebay Silicon ones are actually quite good and very cheap. It takes 10 mins to pull the hard pipes off and prob 20 to put them back properly. The silicon takes 2 mins each way. You choose
I haven't used the ebay radiator hoses, and will stay away from them as they have no liner to protect the silicone from chemicals in the coolant or oil, this is why the Z1 turbo drains leak, silicone is midly porous. I have used the boost hoses which are quite good in my opinion and have always fitted well. If you use T-bolt clamps make sure they are not too wide, I have seen alot of cars with clamps too wide and they just don't fit properly. You can buy clamps specifically for silicone hose, they have a stainless liner on the inside so they do not dig into the hose. As part of your on going maintainence you should be retensioning all clamps any way.
12 months with ebay silicon no issues I've had my "Chinese" ebay silicon hoses for 12 months now and no issues. I've kept the old OEM hoses as a back up set in case these fail. However, so far so good with ebay ones.
I have the hard pipes which I purchased from the usa via ebay.com Never had a drama and the silicone is still okay... The silcone is a little thinner than others but I will be replacing mine soon as I bought a thicker blue set a while back then picked up some more black one from z1 as I went back to original engine bay plan.. So the blue thicker hose will be up for sale sooon..
No I have had mine for about 3 months off Ebay, chrome with the blue silicone sleeves no probs and do alot of driving but I like chrome as well instead of the stock rubber ones..
Interesting cos I bought the silicon radiator hose - how much does it weep? I guess I'll just have to top up the overflow tank every now and then...
It's nothing that you'll be able to notice over the short term. Keep an eye on your overflow tank and make sure it doesn't drop too much, or just switch back to the good ol' OE rubber hose.
Whether they weap or not is very dependant on the hose. Not all products are created equal. If you are prepared to take the risk you may be lucky and have a set that dont leak, but then again you may be unlucky, as usual ebay products are luck of the draw.
I have silicone top and bottom hoses and i think the hose for the header tank is silicone as well. All good quality turbosmart stuff and no issues yet. I wouldn't use ebay gear full stop, but especially not where i can't afford leaks...
The Ebay silicon radiator pipes are JUST fine. Too much gobbaldygook round here. They are at east as thick as the OEM pipes, and you should be putting aviation sealant on wherever the touch Alloy anyway. They dont leak if fitted properly and I expect them to last a lot longer than rubber.
The chinese pipes ARE quite good quality. The ones I bought for coolant are 3 ply. IF you look at many front Alloy coolant pipes they have been eaten away by coolant entering under the pipe clamps and corroding them away. If you put Permatex non hardneing aviation sealant on these connections it stops the pipes from getting eaten away and seapage doesnt occur. I also get rid of the crap Nissan wire clamps and use band clamps for all these.
