Case of the mysterious melting upper radiator hose...

[Peterv]

I can only assume that without a fan shroud, any debris on the road can fly hit the fan and hit the hose.

[dauchande]

I was doing some spirited driving on the way to work with the ASC-T off. When I got to work after about 45 min of driving, and stopped my car, steam started (lightly) pouring out the front.

I found that there was a gash in the upper radiator hose. I assumed it was caused by the cooling fan as I don't currently have a shroud around it. When I replaced the hose and actually took a look at it, the "gash" looks more like a soldering iron head was pressed against it as there's no tearing or roughness to the gash.

I tried bending back the fan blade (it's plastic) to see if I could get it to touch the hose, doesn't come close. I don't see anything in that area of the engine bay that could have caused this.

Any ideas? I've included pictures.

thx,

-Monti
Orlando

...for some reason, turning off ASC-T on my car always mucks up my cooling system in some way, suk.

[Paul in NZ]

you can see where it gets cut....dont forget that the engines moves side to side as you rev it up..its that edge right there!.are you sure you have the hose fitted so that you get max clearnace from any possible rub point.Maybe asc off also means more spirited and less subtle throttle use hence more engine movement and more stress on the hose

[dt8068]

your engine mounts are bad, particulary the drivers side one. when you rev the engine it lifts up on that side and the fan cuts the hose. Same thing happened to me everytime my mounts went; it wears through the hose very smoothly.

[dauchande]

your engine mounts are bad, particulary the drivers side one. when you rev the engine it lifts up on that side and the fan cuts the hose. Same thing happened to me everytime my mounts went; it wears through the hose very smoothly.

Yeah, this sounds right to me, thx.

Anyone know if there's supposed to be some kind of bracket attached to the aluminum piece that sits next to the hose on the outboard side of the hose (to the left)? The aluminum piece has a hole in it, kind of implying that there should be a fastener or bracket there.

[pingu]

Is that picture taken near the radiator, on the left hand side (looking from rear to front) of the car?

If so then there is supposed to be a clip which holds the hose (presumably out of way of the fan). I got my Indy to replace this item that had also gone awol. Alas I don't know it's part number so have a little fun on realoem.com!

[dauchande]

Is that picture taken near the radiator, on the left hand side (looking from rear to front) of the car?

If so then there is supposed to be a clip which holds the hose (presumably out of way of the fan). I got my Indy to replace this item that had also gone awol. Alas I don't know it's part number so have a little fun on realoem.com!
The picture is actually taken with the left side of the car (driver's) side down and the passenger side up. With the radiator to the left and the engine firewall (and the rest of the car) to the right.

Thanx, I'll take a look around the realoem site again.

[525i winter driver]

Yeah, this sounds right to me, thx.

Anyone know if there's supposed to be some kind of bracket attached to the aluminum piece that sits next to the hose on the outboard side of the hose (to the left)? The aluminum piece has a hole in it, kind of implying that there should be a fastener or bracket there.
i have a similar piece - it was recently pointed out to me by a good mechanic that i should just use some tie-wraps to pull the hose back from the fan blades a bit. it (the hose) is at least a couple of inches away when at idle but there is evidence on the fan blade that they are touching at some point. i don't think there is a specific clamp but i think the hole in the thing is for that purpose as the mechanic spotted it right away.