can i use a bicycle repair kit to fix a hole in a radiator hose on a car?

Yeah that would be fine using a punture repair kit for now, the bigger the patch the better! also when youve put the punture repair on you could put a thick U clip on over it nice & tight... it will do till you get another hose ; ) If the hole is right on the end maybe you can cut it down & rejoin it??

ps...you can buy rubber cement too to use with the patch!

Good Luck..I'm sure you can get a hose from the scrappy even if it's not for your exact car.

Radiator Hose Repair Kit

The glue would not be able to get in through the hole and into the coolant system so it wont damage the engine. You can try it (if you are desperate) but you will need to find another way of keeping the patch in place as it will come off within minutes of the water coming upto temperature/pressue. Some self vulcanising tape on top of the patch may work, but again the glue holding that together will be weakened by the heat. Some wide cable ties over the top is a possiblility, but you need to be carefull you don't grip the hose too hard to reduce the flow of coolant around the engine.

Long and short of it is get the hose replaced as soon as you can. If she runs out of water or overheats, the pug TD engines will overheat, and as each cylinder has a shim in it, if the head gasket goes with any heat damage it is quite a complicated job to replace and will cost a lot more than the cars worth.

Best bet is use a bicycle or the bus until its fixed or you will almost certainly destroy the engine sooner or later.

I would not recommend the puncture repair outfit because the water would break down the glue. The only temporary repair may be to put a ball bearing into the hole and use some duct tape. This is a bit hit and miss but may get you to the garage. Suggest if you belong to the AA ring for assistance and the will take you to a garrage that will do the work or they may fit the hose for you if they can get one easily. Better to get it fixed otherwise the damage could be costly if the engine overheats. Good Luck.

The only semi-permanent repair I know of is available at auto parts stores or can be made up of hardware store parts. You cut the hose in two and insert the ends of a plastic or metal coupler into the open hose ends. Put a worm drive hose clamp on each hose end before you connect the coupler. Then tighten both clamps over the hose ends. Any shop should be able to make that repair easily. A metal pipe is best unless the plastic coupler is designed to handle the high coolant temperatures.

Are you talking about temporary repair or a permanent fix? In the first case, you don't have much of a choice - use whatever is handy but a duct tape - as somebody already suggested - is probably the best. If it's a permanent thing, why not to replace the hose for $10 or so? Cheaper than towing or engine replacement due to overheat.

No. The glue is not designed to be used in an environment with hot water - it would seal originally but as soon as the water heats up the glue will become tacky and the pressure of the system will just blow the patch off. Go to your local car accessory store and speak to them, there are products that are designed to rectify the problem you have. Ultimately the only sure fire way is to replace the hose.

Give it a try. Failing that, try wrapping the hose with some kind of hose wrap made of rubber then seal that in. This hose gets hot so it could happen that any glue used might just melt. How hot does a bicycle wheel get? The hot hose to from your radiator gets 'boiling hot'...and water finds the least line of resistance and constantly drips plus it's under considerable pressure.

Here is what you do, I have done this just to get myself home, I'm being for real too and it works, put a couple eggs into your radiator cap, 2 or 3 will work just fine, start your car and let it get out, the eggs will find the cracks or leaks in the cooling system, as you know what already happens to eggs when you heat them up or "cook them" they will seal the leaks or cracks, allowing you get to from point a to b. with out any problems.....

****this is just a temp fix, so just get you were you gotta go,

then also when you have it fixed by a shop or dealer get the system flushed, but FYI the eggs wont hurt your car either.

The patch might not stick since the rubber radiator hose you are referring to is made of synthetic rubber Viton material. Totally different kind of rubber used on the tire. You can try to test a small patch first.

Word of caution, even if it sticks it wont last long. The pressure is coming from inside the rubber hose and not outside. So if you patch from the outside, the pressure of the water would just dislodge the patch. You will need to put the patch inside the rubber tube for this to work.