Anyone know ?

[RonH]

Hi,
does anyone out there know of any commercially available product that will bring back to life rubber hose that has hardened and lost its' flexibilty..ie. hose used on air supply on idle circuit, rocker box to air filter, on vacuum circuits etc.Is replacement the only option or is there some "mechanics trick" that someone would like to share with me.

Many thanks.

 

[rajinder_1]

dont know if this will work on those parts, but i found that vasaline sofetns rubber window seals allowing it to seal better????

Rajinder

 

[Ubique]

Greetings,
Vaseline is a petroleum by-product. Rubber and petroleum do not mix. If the 'rubber' is cracked, it is past it's sell by date. Renew is the only solution.
Neil

 

[television]

Greetings,
Vaseline is a petroleum by-product. Rubber and petroleum do not mix. If the 'rubber' is cracked, it is past it's sell by date. Renew is the only solution.
Neil

Correct, Rubber starts to age once exposed to air, kept in a sealed bag it last almost forever, not that info is much use, why not replace with plastic or neoprene. Silicon grease is very good on rubber seals, etc and helps stopping the porosity and sealing.

Malcolm

 

[RonH]

Thanks for your replies, but i may have been missunderstood.
Was not referring to just lengths of rubber hose but the various "moulded" rubber pipes that are used around the air intake, idle, and vacuum circuits (as on my 190's).
These have, in no way , cracked or perished just seem to have lost their flexibility.The pipe from rocker box to air filter is a fine example.The end to the air filter should be a push-in fit, but because the rubber has become so hard, the air filter has to be taken off totally....the pipe fitted.....and the lot replaced as one unit.When new, and flexible, all you need to do is lift the air fillter up, to get access underneath, and push it on in situ.
The other end to this pipe, that goes to the rocker box cover, is another example.It should push on to an approx. 13mm metal "tube" on the rocker cover.As the rubber is "hard", it will go on alright, but doesn't "grip" so you get a fine mist of oil around that area, under the air filter, where the connection isn't airtight.
There are about 7 or so various configurations of moulded rubber pipe.They are not large items individually, and I was thinking maybe they could be immersed in some form of "substance", known to resoften rubber.
Even at "stealership" prices, replacement wouldn't be extortionate, but must admit that repair would be a better option than replace.

Many thanks.

 

[turnipsock]

There used to be a spray to soften rubber. It was for tyres so that you could soften the compound for competion. I'm not sure if that would help in this situation as there is a it of heat in the engine area and the rubber will harden anyway.