diggerman Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 I ignored a similar warning that appeared in Techtalk a year or so ago. Am currently in Spain and as I drove on to the ferry in Portsmouth the plastic tee in the half inch hoses from the header tank to oil filter nacel and rear of engine, suddenly fractured, dumping all the coolant on the car deck.Luckily there was enough of the tee left to reconnect offending hose and by leaving the pressure cap off I was able to drive to a B&Q look-alike in Bilbao and buy a Husqvana irrigation tee. The replacement is better than the original!When back in the uk I will replace again with brass fittings. Be warned the standard plastic tee is a failure waiting to happenPeter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ. Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Sorry to hear it happened at such a bad time for you I posted the last thread on this after I ignored a warning from a member for a year and only found how rubbish the T was when my radiator needed replacing.Duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andysteele Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 I have a weaping 'T' back from the rad, joins up to the header tank, this is same one? I was assuming pipe not the T itself, better get one ordered! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Domus Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 There are three plastic tees on the Sigma. Replaced all mine with brass when the large one deformed and was weeping coolant. I posted a warning at the time as I found the original part online and the spec for max temp was about the same as the normal Sigma running temp. I'm sure the original post is about somewhere. JK seems to have the magic touch when it comes to using the search facility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian B Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 The search seems to work quite well now: a search for "sigma AND brass" brings up this thread.Unfortunately however all the links no longer work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al7 Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200789728341?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andysteele Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 My weaping T is 5/16" hose just back from the rad. Looks like t piece is metal not plastic. Will check my 5/8" pipes too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouisFeakes Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 I've found the one "T" from header tank but where are the other two?Does anyone have links of where to buy the brass one please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM25T Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 Car builder Solutions do a nice brass tee for 16mm bore hoses. Perhaps they also do smaller ones. Also try any industrial hose supplier like Pirtek, Parker or your local tractor hose supplier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ. Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 I had two T pieces on my Sigma The small one neat the expansion tank and the larger one near the thermostat housing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AristoCat Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 I've just had to replace my 8mm t-piece too ... it had started to weep. Got all I needed from Car Builder Solutions - arrived within 2 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrp Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 I know playing with the cooling system with a K-series car can cause problems when it comes to replacing the water in the system. Is it the same with the Sigmas when it comes to replacing hoses and draining the water system or is it straight forward ?ThanksMrp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted June 11, 2015 Member Share Posted June 11, 2015 As it happens there are three cooling threads near the top of the pile at the moment... the others being one for a VX and one for a Duratec!There is the peculiarity of the thermostat position but I suspect that the usual prevalence of Ks in the discussions is because there are a lot of them around.Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrp Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Hi JonathanIs that yes or no !Mrp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted June 11, 2015 Member Share Posted June 11, 2015 I haven't read about a lot of problems with draining and refilling Sigmas... but I think the same is true for most Ks!I'd take the same precautions about tilting the car, looking for the highest point(s) in the circuit and bleeding accordingly.Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrp Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Thanks Jonathan as I had thought from my own searches.Any Sigma owners got anything to add about the cooling system.ThanksMrp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRL Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 I completed a coolant flush in my Sigma about 18 months ago. It was all straight forward and I do not recall encoutering any problems. Coolant was drained via disconnecting the bottom hose on the rad (plastic top and bottom) and also tilting the car. The car was flushed with water a couple of times and then refilled with coolant. No problems with air locks or anything like that. Should add my car has no heater installed so that probably removes a little complexity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrp Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Thanks KRL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pugwash Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Iirc The build manual for the sigma suggests prefilling the heater if you have one. Apart from that I just filled mine up no problems at all. Non of this tilting stuff that the Ks seem to need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedCat7 Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Radiators are a problem on Sigmas. The standard Sigma 125/150 plastic tanked ones fail at the seams - I went through two before upgrading to the Sigma 140 all-ally version. The problem with that one is that it has no bleed nipple. Caterham just remove the 5/16 T and the branch to the rad. I found that I was forever getting airlocks in the top of the radiator noticable by the level in the header tank rising. The solution was to use an M10 banjo fitting to create a 5/16 nipple in place of the bleed plug.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10mm-BANJO-union-for-8mm-FUEL-OIL-HOSE-10x1-5-bolt-FUEL-HEAD-FITTING-Hydraulics-/281286905449?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item417e018e69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ. Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 I've recently filled my Sigma cooling system, and managed to get almost all the water in without any hose squeezing or bleed nipples. I found the best way is to screw the expansion tank cap on tight and pour the water slowly into the top heater hose. Once the water backed up the hose I was filling, I fitted it back onto the heater, removed the filler cap and poured the rest into the expansion tank. Once the engine is run up to temperature, the system self bleeds and a top up is usually required. Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martyn Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Can someone help with with buying the correct size Tee pieces please. I have two plastic Tees that need replacing.The first small one, joining the radiator to the expansion bottle is connected with rubber hoses labeled "Fuel Hose 5/16". I have measured the outer diameter of this hose at 15mm. Can I presume then that 5/16 is the internal diameter of the hose at ~8mm? Which size Tee does this relate to on the Car Builder Soilutions website? 8mm presumably, or do I need to account for the internal diameter of the tee?The larger tee is connected with silicone hose that isn't labeled. I have measured the outer diamater of the hoses at ~26mm. I have no way of knowing the internal diameter of these, so which size tee should I buy?Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted March 31, 2016 Member Share Posted March 31, 2016 I don't know. But my original factory rubber hose that is 24.2mm od is 16mm id.Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedCat7 Posted March 31, 2016 Share Posted March 31, 2016 Small one is 5/16 (8mm)Large one is 5/8 (16mm) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martyn Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Tees changed over at the weekend. Really pleased I did this because it was a breakdown waiting to happen within the next 300 miles. Before I started I could see that on the larger tee the hoses weren't all entering it at 90 degrees to each other. Up until now I had just assumed this was because of the orientation of the hose. Actually when I took it apart, it was already split half way around its circumference. The remaining portion of attached diameter had bent slightly causing the angle that I could see. The other two connections were both deformed/crushed and the black plastic had turned white in these areas.If you still have the plastic tees then check them for any asymmetry asap. If you can see any then it is likely that the plastic has already split under the hose clip. Even better, change them out to brass ones at the first opportunity.My car needed an 8mm and 19mm tee piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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