WARNING: Beware of Roe Hoses with Bleeder Valve

snampro

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Just the facts:

:curse:

I just finished installing 3.73 gears, Unitrax speedometer calibration box, and Unitrax half shafts on my car. I was out with the wife checking the speedometer calibration I had just set on the box. Getting on the interstate I floored it in second gear through fourth gear. When I shifted into sixth gear we noticed a very strong coolant odor. I pulled over at the next exit and sure enough the entire backside of the engine compartment was covered in coolant (I'd guess a few pints). It was everywhere and smoke was rolling off the engine, firewall, and front of the sidesills.

So, I purchased a wrench and screwdriver at the gas station and started disassembling the car, including wipers, windshield visor, and wiper motors. I still couldn't find the source. I cleaned and searched but still nothing. I decided to start the car and immediately saw coolant streaming out of the base of the bleeder valve on the Roe Racing hose.

Since I was only about 5 miles from my house I stuffed several paper towels under the hose (just above the left coil pack) and wrapped it in temporary repair tape (duct tape). I limped home, keeping he engine RPM below 2,000 the entire ride.

To be clear, the valve was not loose and I have observed no prior damage or issues with this area. The hose was installed almost a year ago (4,000 miles). The car is a '94.

Here are some pictures:

First, the area as it appeared when I got home. Note the area wrapped in black tape with saturated towels underneath:

roe_coolant_leak_01.jpg


Second, a closeup of the area under the leaking hose showing the left coil pack covered in coolant:

roe_coolant_leak_02.jpg


Third, the completely soaked towels that got me home:

roe_coolant_leak_03.jpg


Fourth, a photo of the offending hose and valve. The white crap on the red hose is residual adhesive from the repair tape:

roe_coolant_leak_04.jpg


Fifth, slightly pressing the valve toward the engine block the tear in the hose is apparent:

roe_coolant_leak_05.jpg
 

Purdue_Boiler_Viper

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Appears your bleeder valve failed under pressure. I doubt that many owners who buy Roe hoses have the same defect, or we would have heard of it. Best case, Roe would pressure test each hose, but this would cost us to 100% inspect. I would guess that Roe will make this good by replacing any defective product. Keep us posted.
 
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DAMN YANKEE

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You know, I looked at mine when I first got it and thought "man, is that going to really hold up?" Now, I'm not so sure! Please do keep us all informed.

Now for the next question...Does anybody know of an alternative in red?
 
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snampro

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Like I said, just the facts. I'm not bashing Roe Racing in any way. I'm just presenting exactly what happened to me.

If I found out others had this problem and they didn't tell everyone I would feel this board isn't serving the purpose of helping us properly maintain safe and reliable cars. I just posted this information so others could be informed.

Purdue: I'm sure Roe would replace the hose if I was interested. I've done my fair share of business with them and have been happy with everything to date.

DAMN YANKEE: I'll be replacing this hose with a stock piece. The rest of the Roe hoses will stay since they look nice and I think this failure was isolated to the bleeder valve installation.
 

FrankBarba

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I had the same piece on my Viper for over 10K Road Race miles. Never a problem. Mine held up very good. No Leaks...
 
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snampro

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just went over the car, it was definitely the bleeder valve that failed, and the valve itself was still screwed in tight. I also noticed the entire underside of the car and a substantial part of the back were covered in antifreeze!!!
 

Jerry Colpitts

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I put them on my 97 GTS 10,000 miles no problem and i have a set on my 98 Supercharged GTS 11,000 miles no problems. To bad you got a bad one. But then again anything made by man has a percentage of failures!!!!!!!! :rolleyes:
 

WANTED

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I have the top and bottom hose on mine, over a year now, never had a problem. :2tu:
 

VIPER BAZ UK

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Had a set on my 94 and the new owner still has them..They are now 5yrs old and going strong..
 

Tusc

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At least it's a quick and simple fix. And if that's the only thing to rear its ugly head in discord with so many mods, then that's a great thing.

Glad nothing bad happened.
 
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snampro

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true. if I wouldn't have been so close to home I would have been riding on a flatbed.

most of those mods were simply replacing parts that broke, like old hoses, worthless stock half shafts, and a POS radiator that was built to leak.
 
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snampro

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UPDATE:

here's a closeup of the offending valve. it seems pretty obvious to me that the reason the hose failed is the saw-like washer that is used to hold it in:

pics.jpg


THE FIX:

I went to NAPA and dug through their hoses as Chuck Tator suggested. I bought P/N NBH 8626, the upper radiator hose for a 1985 Ford F600 with a 370 c.i. V-8 for the reasonable sum of $14.29 plus tax. One of the bends in the tube was within a few degrees of being perfect. I cut the hose and installed it on the car. Fits great, no leaks!

Made several full-throttle pulls through the gears and everything is working great (I love these new 3.73 gears).

BTW, the OEM hose costs approximately $140, so that wasn't an option.
 
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snampro

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definitely try this fix then. the whole thing was real simple and you can't even see the hose, so the color doesn't matter.
 
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snampro

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Didn't call him. I really didn't want to replace the hose with the same thing because (this is solely my opinion and is not meant to bash Roe Racing) I think the valve is an unnecessary weakness in the hose. Since I wasn't interested in replacing the part with the same, there wasn't much he could do for me.

I really don't want to hurt Sean's business because supplying aftermarket replacements for expensive and hard-to-find OEM parts is necessary to the future of the VIPER. If people start slamming manufacturers for stepping-up to replace obsolete parts we are all doomed. I am very happy with the other four hoses that came in the kit for my Gen I and they will stay on the car. I'm also happy with the Unitrax half shafts, Unitrax speedometer calibration box, silicone smooth tubes, S&B filters, and shift knob I purchased from him.
 
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DAMN YANKEE

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Snampro, your nice to think that way, but...the call isn't for you...its for Sean. He needs to know this is happening as he has a supplier and customers and a reputation (excellent) and he would want to know that you had this happen. He would want to take all this back to his supplier...especially the washer issue.
 
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snampro

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good point. they are great about responding to emails, I'll forward them a link to this post.

I kinda figured they would have seen this by now, I've seen them posting on here before.
 

Steve-Indy

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Fortunately, our Vipers with Roe hoses are all fine at this point...2 Gen I's and 3 Gen II's.

One must remember that the bleeder valve is there for a reason...ESPECIALLY on the Gen I.

Agree that Sean needs to be "in the loop" as quality problem rests with Sean's manufacturer.

I'll send him this thread.
 

STUGOTS

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I actually have an appointment to have my FIRST set put on my car in 2 weeks (even tho I bought these hoses last year I have been waiting to install my new radiator to put them on) But im sure if there is any issues in the future Dean will be more then happy to deal with them. Sean and the Roe Racing team are GREAT people to work with.
 

Sean Roe

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Roe Hoses with Bleeder Valve

Hi Everyone,
We can have the hoses made with or without the bleeder.
We chose to incorporate the bleeder about five years ago because it helped so much with bleeding the air out of the coolant system.
However, if people are worried about the bleeders, we will start stocking hoses without them.
To date, we’ve got about 476 sets of hoses with bleeders in service and have had (to my knowledge) about 6 bleeders leak. This is the first I’ve seen that actually blew out.
Be sure and check your radiator cap. It should be a 16-17lb one and be functioning properly (I’m not blaming the cap on the bleeder failure, but do suggest you look at it to make sure it’s not a higher cap or bad).
Send us the hose when you can.
Regards,
Sean
 
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snampro

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Re: Roe Hoses with Bleeder Valve

Sean, thanks for the reply. The radiator cap is the anode cap that I bought from you with the hoses. Is there a way to test it? It must have opened because my overflow/catch container in front of the front right wheel was empty (I had just checked the level and slightly topped it off the day prior).

I can send the hose but I'm not sure how much help it will be since I pulled the valve out to take the picture above.
 

pdmracing

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when did you buy them, maybee there was a bad batch? I just put mine on a month ago, but purchased a few months ago.
 
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