Bent flange on transmission cooler...too much water in bilge. Easy fix?

[SoldTheBayliner]

I've only had this boat for one full season and the end of the one before... I've noticed that it's been picking up a lot of water in the bilge when it's running...figured it had a loose hose somewhere, and I went around and tightened all the hose clamps everywhere, only to have the problem continue...I couldn't see any obvious drips with it running...

But when I was winterizing it this past year I found what I think is the problem... the inlet flange on the transmission oil cooler has been sort of crimped, or creased...probably by overtightening of the hose clamp... so it's not a perfect circle to clamp a hose onto anymore...I'm assuming that this is letting water squirt out of the little gap created there, right into the bottom of the bilge, when the motor is running. That's pretty thin metal... is there an easy fix for this without replacing the cooler? Any sort of a plastic or rubber product I can use to sort of fill that space?

[TX-Foilhead]

You could try to work it back round, but just changing it would probably be the easiest thing to do. You might want to make sure the end of the hose is good. I've noticed older hoses tend to be flared at the end, I guess that's from being taken on and off over the years.