How often should the beast hose be changed?

 

As often as you need to unleash the beast.


In all seriousness, what hose are you talking about? What Jag do you have?

 

I wasn't going to ask.

 

'04 XK8, 90 K. The expensive hose that runs behind the engine and has 5 branches (2 are quick disconnects). Heater hoses under the intake manifold feel soft to me so I'm replacing them. One radiator hose already replaced, other feels/looks a little soft, so I'll go ahead and do it too. But I'll put the beast/octopus/whatever off for a while if I can. Just wondering if/when people do it/have it done.

 

I just pulled mine out (2000 XK8 with 95,000 miles) the hose looked "ok" but the Norma connector was in terrible shape discovered only after pulling it apart. By the way it may be "quick connect" when the factory is assembling the hoses, but you will likely find it is a brittle and corroded mess which will not disconnect easily. I bit the bullet and am replacing all hoses as I figure any one on its own can cause a problem.

 

It is the Norma connectors that fail on the octopus hose more than the hose itself. I don't think I can remember a post about the hose itself failing. If the connector is not leaking . . . .

Once started on a restoration project . . . even one on an 11 year old car it is hard to find a place to stop.

Found your post about restoring the brake switch contacts (https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...5/#post1241747). Understandable and a lot easier than replacing the switch itself. Great idea!

You show signs of a great contributing member of the forum!

 

Wish I could take credit for the brake light switch restoration - it was a brilliant idea, and worked just fine for me. I saw it on another forum (very clunky one) - I'd give credit where it's due, but I was unable to find the post again unfortunately. Why are those connectors called "Norma" connectors? I'll leave the beast alone as long as it sleeps well. As for the manifold removal, I'm thinking about cutting the engine harness wires on the drivers side and just soldering them back together when I'm done - there's a connector down below the head that I can't see or even feel, so how can I possibly disconnect it? What a pain in the butt it is to work on this thing! I thought Saabs were bad (and they are). Also, the fuel temp connector (also in that part of the harness) had been broken previously and someone epoxied it back on, so it's not coming off. At least two connectors have broken when I disconnected them - heat really ravages all the plastic in the engine compartment, and there's a lot of plastic.

 

Norma is a company specializing in connectors, hundreds of connectors, for all sorts of applications. The use of the snap in coolant connector makes the engine to body marriage very easy on the assembly line.

NORMAQUICK® V2

And, yes, the plastic parts of this car as well as the electronics, and lots of other modern vehicles are very difficult. Imagine trying to restore one of these 40 years from now even if it is good shape. Need a transmission control module for a 50 year old XKR? Go fish.

 

If you still have the intake off, you might consider eliminating the Norma connectors. As stated that is usually the location where leaks start and after cutting mine apart to get them off the tee and the heater feed pipe, I can understand why. You can get short sections of tubing with beads and run a short section of heater hose at each connector. A replacement for the Tee connection should be fairly easy to find also.