Identify this car part!
May 4, 2008 10:07 AM Subscribe
Please identify this part pulled from a car.
Go to this link.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2846935870053978507vMEIMA
That is a part that was wrapped around a hose in a 93 Honda Accord LX. I took it to four different auto part stores and they had no idea what they were looking at. The part originally wrapped around 360 degrees but was cut in order to take it off.
Can anyone out there identify what that thing is and where I can buy one?
Go to this link.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2846935870053978507vMEIMA
That is a part that was wrapped around a hose in a 93 Honda Accord LX. I took it to four different auto part stores and they had no idea what they were looking at. The part originally wrapped around 360 degrees but was cut in order to take it off.
Can anyone out there identify what that thing is and where I can buy one?
Response by poster: It was wrapped around the power steering pressure hose.
posted by kaozity at 10:20 AM on May 4, 2008
posted by kaozity at 10:20 AM on May 4, 2008
Have you tried taking it to a Honda dealership? It makes sense to me that a Honda mechanic who spends almost all of his time under a Honda hood might have an idea about a small random part that came off of a Honda engine.
Once you have it identified, wander down to your local pick-a-part junkyard. Hondas are fairly common, which means you may find another one for cheap. If it's not something that is acceptably pulled off another old car, bite the bullet and buy it from the source.
posted by phredgreen at 10:25 AM on May 4, 2008
Once you have it identified, wander down to your local pick-a-part junkyard. Hondas are fairly common, which means you may find another one for cheap. If it's not something that is acceptably pulled off another old car, bite the bullet and buy it from the source.
posted by phredgreen at 10:25 AM on May 4, 2008
It's just an extra piece of rubber hose wrapped around to protect the inner from chafing. Any old piece of hose would do the same thing. Usually the inner hose in question will come with the extra piece already made around it.
So you either need to buy the inner hose assembly from Honda, or (if it is perfectly ok) just add an extra piece of off the shelf hosing to the old hose and zip tie it/tape it on. That'd do the job perfectly well if you got a good fit for size and split it (in a spiral style is best) and wrapped it around. You don't need a 'proper piece' for this.
posted by Brockles at 11:03 AM on May 4, 2008 [1 favorite]
So you either need to buy the inner hose assembly from Honda, or (if it is perfectly ok) just add an extra piece of off the shelf hosing to the old hose and zip tie it/tape it on. That'd do the job perfectly well if you got a good fit for size and split it (in a spiral style is best) and wrapped it around. You don't need a 'proper piece' for this.
posted by Brockles at 11:03 AM on May 4, 2008 [1 favorite]
there's more than one power steering hose/tube. this diagram help any? i would take a wild-assed guess and say it's the foam wrappy stuff around part #5 in that diagram.
if that is in fact the insulating foam wrap from around the feed hose, then odds are you won't be able to buy that by itself. not if you want the original from-honda part. you'd have to buy all of part 53713-SM4-A11, which is all of the hose and connectors and etc. you can get that foam stuff in generic form at any parts store though. phredgreen's suggestion of pulling it off a junker sounds like the best idea to me though.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 11:04 AM on May 4, 2008
if that is in fact the insulating foam wrap from around the feed hose, then odds are you won't be able to buy that by itself. not if you want the original from-honda part. you'd have to buy all of part 53713-SM4-A11, which is all of the hose and connectors and etc. you can get that foam stuff in generic form at any parts store though. phredgreen's suggestion of pulling it off a junker sounds like the best idea to me though.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 11:04 AM on May 4, 2008
I have no idea what the heck that thing is, and I'm not a mechanic.
But it looks like some kind of anti-chafe measure to keep the PS hoses from getting abraded and failing.
posted by popechunk at 11:05 AM on May 4, 2008
But it looks like some kind of anti-chafe measure to keep the PS hoses from getting abraded and failing.
posted by popechunk at 11:05 AM on May 4, 2008
No mechanic here, but I'm with those who see it as some form of insulation.
Have you tried tossing out this question in the Car Talk forums? Might be a good place to get an answer.
posted by the luke parker fiasco at 11:55 AM on May 4, 2008
Have you tried tossing out this question in the Car Talk forums? Might be a good place to get an answer.
posted by the luke parker fiasco at 11:55 AM on May 4, 2008
What Brockles said. Measure the outside diameter (O.D.) of the remaining hose, and buy a section of new hose with that as its inside diameter (I.D.). Cut the new hose to the desired length, then slice it lengthwise and slip it over the existing hose. It is just a precaution to prevent chafing or help insulate it from heat.
posted by mosk at 1:49 PM on May 4, 2008
posted by mosk at 1:49 PM on May 4, 2008
The short (less than two ft., I'd say) piece of hose sergeant sandwich points to lists for more than $200, making it the most expensive part of the "P. S. Hose-Pipe" assembly by almost $50, and ~$140 ahead of third place.
I'd say insulation, too; Honda design engineers thought the temperature of the power steering fluid was critical enough that they give power steering its own special little radiator. I'd guess the piece in your photo goes over the hose in a place where it passes near a part of the engine which gets hot.
If that's the case, do not replace it with a piece of ordinary hose. You need to put something on there with equal insulating power. And be careful with cable ties; if you constrict that hose you could make your power steering less than powerful.
posted by jamjam at 2:04 PM on May 4, 2008
I'd say insulation, too; Honda design engineers thought the temperature of the power steering fluid was critical enough that they give power steering its own special little radiator. I'd guess the piece in your photo goes over the hose in a place where it passes near a part of the engine which gets hot.
If that's the case, do not replace it with a piece of ordinary hose. You need to put something on there with equal insulating power. And be careful with cable ties; if you constrict that hose you could make your power steering less than powerful.
posted by jamjam at 2:04 PM on May 4, 2008
Looks like the stuff they use to wrap around the air conditioning lines.
posted by gjc at 2:54 PM on May 4, 2008
posted by gjc at 2:54 PM on May 4, 2008
I had lots of these little hose-wraps goin' on in my '89 and '93 Civics. They occurred in clamping locations (I assumed so that the "actual" hose inside would not chafe or crack over time due the clamps), and where hoses would but up against metal parts, to prevent same. Over time, this stuff would indeed crack and crumble, so I guess it was working.
posted by turducken at 8:02 PM on May 4, 2008
posted by turducken at 8:02 PM on May 4, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by pjern at 10:15 AM on May 4, 2008