Leaking return line

[taskswap]

I have a Huskee 22T and I've had a few good years of service from it, but it's by no means old - I keep it covered, there's basically no rust except the usual surface discoloration on the wedge itself when it sits for a while, etc.

Last weekend I went out to do a little splitting ("wood heats you twice...") and noticed I was getting fluid leaking from the return line. It's happening RIGHT at the fitting where the hose clamp holds the hose on to the valve. I checked it pretty closely and didn't see any cracking but I suppose it's possible.

Now it was pretty cold (15F maybe?) and I know hoses get brittle in the cold... but still it was weird to see it leaking at that spot. Part of me wonders if the fitting itself had just shrunk JUST enough to let a little fluid leak out. So I'm wondering, should I:

1. Heat it up (gently) with a hair dryer and see if giving it some flexibility back helps,
2. Torque the worm clamp down a bit more with a wrench - at the risk of maybe cracking the line just by doing that, and/or causing trouble in summer,
3. Run it gently for a while - it's leaking very slowly - and just keep an eye on it, hoping as it heats up the fitting will expand again,
4. Cut an inch off the end of the hose (it does have enough slack to do this) and re-attach it,
5. Something else?

 

[svk]

As a temporary fix I'd warm the thing up either by using it or in a heated garage and then try to tighten the clamp. Trying to tighten metal against rock hard rubber in the cold is a recipe for broken stuff.

Then let it cool outside and try it again. You can always reattach/replace the hose if this doesn't work.

 

[farmer steve]

heat it up to make it flexible enough to pull it of and cut an inch off. reclamp. these cold temps bring the worst out in anything with fluid in it

 

[svk]

Looks like we were typing at the same time.

 

[Rookie1]

I didn't really read all responses so I may be repeating. It's probably a cold weather leak. Lots of times radiator hoses seep also if an engine sits for a while in really cold weather. I'd tighten the clamp and wipe off and run it.

 

[GVS]

I didn't really read all responses so I may be repeating. It's probably a cold weather leak. Lots of times radiator hoses seep also if an engine sits for a while in really cold weather. I'd tighten the clamp and wipe off and run it.

I'd wipe it down,run it to warm it up and see what happens.Of course if it really is leaking then take corrective action.

 

[taskswap]

Thanks all. Following in my father's footsteps, I listened to the advice that matched what I wanted to hear and just torqued it down. (I figured if I cracked anything it would be the hose, not the fitting and if that happened I'd just be cutting off the last inch of line anyway and making it up again - so why not?) It worked out pretty well. I ran a cord of wood through it and it only leaked a few drops the entire time so I figure it's OK for now. I'll keep my eye on it...