Do you retorque your radiator hose clamps?

[Brady]

I replaced the radiator about a week ago and replaced the hoses at the same time.  I had been driving it all that week and I thought everything was ok and had just parked in my garage when I heard my coolant spraying out on the floor.  I know I had tightened that clamp when I installed it; it was a screw type clamp that is commonly sold in auto parts stores.  I had this happen a few years ago when I replaced the hoses, but that time I caught it when it was just a drip and retightened the clamps.  When I took those hoses off this time, I could see that the clamps had squeezed the hoses way down and I wondered if there was any danger of causing a failure by overtightening.

Do you guys go back and retighten the hose clamps after a few days?  Is there a danger of overtightening them? 

TIA,
Brady

[Canadian 4X4]

Yes you can over torque the worm type clamps

[Lt.Del]

in my nearly 3 decades of using those clamps, I never go back to retighten them, and have never had any problem.  And as mentioned, you can overtighten them and cut the rubber. 

[N2TRUX]

I double check them if I installed a new hose. The hose is prone to compress a bit after a few heat cycles, and can leave a bit of slack in the clamp. Maybe its just me, but I would rather be cautious than have sticky antifreeze all over my motor.

[jaredts]

I bet you got a cheap hose clamp.  I've never had a problem with these, but I've had a rash of clamps that stripped out before they were tight enough or came loose just in the past couple of years.  I think the ones I had a problem with were from Autozone, so I've bought my last few from NAPA.

[Brady]

Thanks for the responses.  This is the second time I have had this happen, but before it was just a leak; this time it was a torrent.  I think I will be rechecking them after this.  The one that is hard to get to, I doubled up on the clamps.  It could be that with rough clamps I wasn't getting them as tight as I thought.

[VileZambonie]

Do you have the right hose? If you're squeezing the hose down to make it fit you may need a different hose. Different radiators have different diameter outlets.

[78 Chevyrado]

I've never re-torqued any of them, though I have ruined  a few.  i tighten them up until i think they are tight enough and if they break they were inferior to begin with. 

[Brady]

Do you have the right hose? If you're squeezing the hose down to make it fit you may need a different hose. Different radiators have different diameter outlets.

Yes, it was the right hose.  It took a little bit of twisting and effort to get it on.