Anyone else experienced a slight coolant smell while running samco radiator hoses?

These are the hoses from when I originally put my build together several years ago... I’m not losing coolant.. I can’t visually see any leaking, seems like I smell it more prevalent when the fan comes on.

brand new Go autoworks radiator and fan shroud..

It’s mildly annoying..

 

I don’t know how you would smell it through the hose if it’s not leaking.
I would wait a few days and see if the smell goes away.
If there are no leaks I think you’re alright.

 

No personal experience with them, but glad to see you knocking the dust off the Integra.

 

I don’t know about coolant, but I do know when I use silicone couplings on the intake side you can still get a faint smell of air outside the motor.

 

All my radiator hoses are silicone including my second radiator hoses too. No coolant loss but 100% smell it. Something about the silicone and sweating or something. If you Google your question you’ll find a more “scientific” answer but I’ve experienced it for like 2 years now. All is well Though

 

I Have BWR hoses that have been emitting coolant smells for 5 years now. Recently, I did develop a leak and almost didn't catch it because I am so used to the smell. I have a new set of OEM rubber hoses going on next week while I fix the leak and swap my trans out.

 

It's not much, but silicone is absolutely more porous than EPDM - it's one of the main reasons that they're not supposed to be used fuel or emission hoses. For coolant lines in race cars, it's fine because the cars are looked over much more frequently than street cars but the water loss rate of silicone is something like 20x the rate for EPDM (which is effectively zero). Totally not a big deal as long as you're aware of it but it adds a maintenance point and you should also likely be periodically testing the mix since it's the water that's leaching out but not the glycol.

 

I have nothing BUT Samco hoses, and I've never smelled actual ethyl glycol or Type II coolant through them. They do have a unique smell, and are wonderful hoses. (After using several aftermarket companies, I went back to either OEM Honda or Samco).
So, as mildly annoying as it may seem, to me, at least, I don't think they're worth changing out if there isn't a problem present.

 

I have a different brand silicone rad hoses on my civic. I haven't been driving the car this winter but I've been moving it in and out of the shop to work on cars. I'm always smelling coolant. I had it up in the air yesterday doing some work and found the hoses leaking in 3 places, the only one that wasn't leaking was the connection to the top of the rad that I discovered previously stuck a worm clamp beside the spring clamp I've yet to remove. It looks at tho the silicone is much more rigid than the rubber rad hose it replaced, I had to really crank down on the worn clamps in order to stop the minor leaks. I would say the OE spring clamps would have zero chance of sealing these.

 

100%. The spring clamps are by far the ideal clamp for the EPDM hoses but don't have enough tension for the stiffer silicone. It would be nice if there were stiffer spring clamps available for the silicone but that'a not a thing.

 

Because everybody I know that has ANYTHING to do with auto maintenance or modding hates those spring clamps with a ******* passion. Lol!

 

I love them. They don’t pinch or cut and you can’t overtighten them. I also love that people hate them lol. They’re not hard to deal with if you use the tool. BUT they don’t have enough tension for silicone.

 

Hybrid racing makes t-bolt clamps for radiator hoses. More even pressure than worm gear clamps and more pressure overall than the spring clamps