Hose clamp removal

I was fighting with removing a heater hose from my DD recently. I couldn't get the factory hose clamp off where the hose attaches to the water pump.

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I really hate the OEM spring type Mubea hose clamps that krazykuda detailed in a post a little over a year ago.

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The problem I have always had with them is that I can never get a wrench down there to squeeze the ends together to get them off.

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And if I do get the wrench on it, once I squeeze it together, the clamp usually turns around and slips off at the point where it is completely impossible to get the wrench back on.

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Plus, I'm too cheap to go to one of the box stores and pay at least $30 for the proper cable-style pliers to remove them the right way.

That's when MommaCat came up with a brilliant idea. I'm sure others have thought of this, and use this technique, but I have never seen it mentioned or written up elsewhere (I did search), so I thought I would share and see if anybody else does it this way.

First, I took an old, used screw-type hose clamp. I'm sure a new one would work, but it might get bent out of shape.

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I then slipped the clamp around the prongs on the OEM spring-type clamp.

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Now, all I had to do was tighten the spring-type clamp with either a screw driver or a socket wrench, and it would release the tension on the clamp.

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As a bonus, it would hold that tension, keeping the spring clamp loose while I worked to release the heater hose from the water pump.

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It was really a brilliant solution, and it just reaffirmed the fact that I married a unicorn! Hope this helps somebody else out in the future!