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I purchased a new heater feed pipe, see image below. The old pipe in my car has the metal collar from the Spider/Octopus hose Norma connector fused to the pipe. So I bought a new pipe in case I can't separate the collar from the old pipe.
Anyway... I was told that there should be a formed circular ridge (or annulus) at the Norma end of the pipe. The ridge is the stop point for installing the Norma connector. But on the pipe I just received there doesn't seem to be a ridge, only a line of white paint encircling the pipe. Is this what I should expect? Has anyone replaced this pipe and have the same white paint line instead of the formed ridge?
Last edited by TropicCat; Mar 30, 2021 at 09:46 AM.
Reason: Text/image collision
You remove the Norma connector by breaking the plastic fingers with a small screwdriver. The new Norma is held in place by the fingers locking on the rib, so I don't see how that new pipe would work unless the white band is actually raised enough to prevent the hose sliding off.
This is really confusing. I just did mine and had Norma fitting issue questions. On my car a 2000 XK8 the heater pipe HAD the raised ridge and it is original to the car. The hose I installed was a Eurospare and the fingers on the Norma fitting that attach to the hose have a built in "indent" that the heater pipe ridge fits into. In fact when installing the hose I could easily move the hose on the heater pipe back and forth until I got the Norma fingers to "seat" on the ridge.
I have no idea on why the pipe you purchased has no ridge. One can assume the friction grip by inself is the new method. I would look at the fingers on the Norma fitting and see it they have the indent for the ridge to lock it in, just curious.
OK, so I'm REALLY confused. I was able to remove the old pipe from my car & removed the metal collar that was fused to it with the propane torch. 30 seconds of heat, a tap with a mallet & it fell right off. I used emory cloth & a scotch brite pad to clean it up and re-installed in the car; see image below. I'll try and return the new pipe since it doesn't seem to be designed for this application.
Anyway ... How on earth does the NORMA fitting latch into place? I've read several threads and there seems to be some conflicting advice. I realize that the groove in the Norma coupling (see image below) needs to fit over the ridge on the pipe. But is the green 'ring' on the front of the coupling supposed to be removed or is it supposed to remain in place when installed? There was no green ring on my old coupling but I believe there was a black ring that is similar to the green one.
How do you 'close'/seal the coupling? Do you push the back of the plastic coupler (the end at the rubber hose) forward? Do you push the center of the black plastic coupler forward (the part between the rear black plastic section and the green ring)? On my original Norma coupling there was a space between the 2 sections of the black plastic coupler where a blue ring appears when locked in place; see image below.
Do I need to lift the little black plastic tab shown at the front of the coupling (mid way between the ends of the green ring) in order to push the coupler forward? whew!
Even though this is a Vaxhall and a different connector application I think it is the best explanation of the Norma 'Push&Seal' couplers. (The Norma coupler on my new Spider hose has 'Push&Seal' stamped on the bottom side of the plastic housing.)
Well done on recovering your existing pipe. Sounds like someone soldered a plumbing olive or similar over the ridge in an attempt to stop the leak.
Good catch with the video:- GM also must also have thought Normas were a Good Idea...
No, the metal collar is inside the Norma coupling. It's behind the O-ring. I destroyed the Norma coupling trying to remove it. I broke off the plastic fingers at the end of the coupler first but still couldn't move it. So I cut the plastic shroud around the outside and pulled it forward on the pipe and exposed the rubber hose. Then I separated the rubber hose and the metal collar is what was left.
I'm not sure what was fused, the metal collar or the O-ring, but when I pulled and twisted it wouldn't come off. I even put my large channel locks on it and I couldn't budge it. That's why I bought the new pipe. Anyway, the heat did the trick so the new pipe isn't necessary. It also doesn't look correct. The Jag Dealer I bought the pipe from claims it is a design change but doesn't know how or why it's supposed to work without the metal lip/ridge/annulus. I don't know either so I'm glad I was able to re-use mine.
Our kitchen sink faucet/sprayer hose sprung a leak in the under-the-sink cabinet yesterday and made a hell of a mess. After water shut-off and cleanup I crawled under there dreading that the hose would be attached to the plumbing with some sort of Norma connector. I counted my lucky stars when I discovered that there was no Norma connector involved....
New Heater Feed Pipe Question
