Radiator leak

[Bri7man]

I was just putting fluids in my car and about to fire her up for the first in a couple months and the radiator has a small hole in it.

Apparently it fell over from being propped against my workbench at some point when I was tearing into my engine but anyways I can see the little hole and the water shoots a weak stream out.

Unfortunately I'm broke from replacing every other part on my engine so it's gonna have to be an oem replacement.

Are epoxy, jb weld, or radiator stop leak products strong enough to hold it together for a couple days or should I just sit her out?

 

[Poodles]

Try calling a place that would fix it, might be cheaper than you think...

 

[Bri7man]

Good idea I'd much rather have this one repaired then drop money on another stock radiator.

 

[89supra7mgte]

in my experience i have fixed them myself when in a jam like a road trip for instance if its a stock radiator (not aftermarket aluminum), there are two ways you can attempt to fix it. ONLY SUGGESTIONS IF YOU CANT AFFORD TO HAVE IT FIXED:

1. Pull radiator out clean and dry thoroughly, grab the soldering iron and solder the small hole up. Best would be to take it in though cheap fix for a small hole.

2. If its oe and not the greatest condition, with it out and cleaned up, take a long pair on need nose pliers push through fins through radiator but do not damage anythin else or other cores, and pinch it off. This is a temp fix sometimes permanent, only downside is you will get no flow through that core.

I have used both steps #2 when in a jam on road trip, replaced radiator in future. #1 will work great if you do it correctly. Before attempting try and get a price first then weigh out your options.

 

[Bri7man]

That's really interesting I would of never thought about the needle nose trick even if I was in a jam in the middle of nowhere..

Thanks for that I'll definitely remember that for when it counts.

Looks like I'll be getting a quote on monday when specialty shops are open.

My radiator is in not so great condition I mean there's no rust on the actual cores and top/bottom but the fins are definitely old mangled bent and corroded.

Still I would like to see my money go towards a koyo racing or mishimoto radiator if anything. I know once this is repaired properly it will last because the cores and inside are decent condition, its just the fins which I can straighten and be delicate with until then.

 

[Drake69]

Please, PLEASE don't use any Stop Leak products. What they do to heater cores and radiators is not good. You will more than likely end up replacing parts of your coolant system you didn't have problems with before you poured in that crap.

 

[Bri7man]

I'm really curious if my car will start... I had my engine out for a couple months replacing oil squirters shimming oil relief springs and replacing a bunch of old parts like water pump, installed a permacool ps cooler and all new hoses/gaskets. I'm really curious if it's payed off.

Is it okay to start my car just to see if it will run for about 30 secs at most with no radiator installed?

I'm wondering if this would damage the water pump at all..

Edit, sorry you posted while I was typing this

Definitely not gonna do any stop leaks mainly because this guy at Kragen recommended it and basically this is how it works:

This guy and this guy only is the guy I base my decisions on that I'm on the fence about.
The answer he gives me to what I ask that I am not sure about, is the answer I know is best to stay the hell away from. And he recommended the barrs radiator stop-leak this time.

I know it's kind of fucked up but he does dumb stuff like uses the worst no name Oreilly's oil because "it's all good stuff but castrol gc is bad because it isn't made here" and uses stop leaks on his cylinder head... somehow.... He's a good guy and I chat with him sometimes cause he's always there but man... I know to never take his word on anything.

 

[89supra7mgte]

most shops will even straighten fins boil and paint the tank along with the repair . i have sent a few out that were 40years old (66 mustang) came back looking right out of the box. Def stay away from anything that says FIX or REPAIR on bottle. its like placebo for your car, it might seal but it also plugs things that need flow, and in some cases eat certain types material, plastic rubber etc....

The only real repair is what you do manually

 

[Bri7man]

most shops will even straighten fins boil and paint the tank along with the repair . i have sent a few out that were 40years old (66 mustang) came back looking right out of the box. Def stay away from anything that says FIX or REPAIR on bottle. its like placebo for your car, it might seal but it also plugs things that need flow, and in some cases eat certain types material, plastic rubber etc....

The only real repair is what you do manually

Wow dude I'm glad it's busted because I wouldn't of known about this if it didn't.

Lookin forward to a clean radiator :biglaugh:

 

[89supra7mgte]

its always good, plus the coating or paint they put on is more of a protectant style as well, resists heat and keeps from corrosion

 

[CyFi6]

Those epoxy radiator tank repair things dont work for shit either. Honestly theres no point in trying to get it repaired, especially if its the plastic tank thats broken. Just find a local with a used stock radiator for cheap, flush it out real well and put that in until you can afford to upgrade.

 

[Bri7man]

Those epoxy radiator tank repair things dont work for shit either. Honestly theres no point in trying to get it repaired, especially if its the plastic tank thats broken. Just find a local with a used stock radiator for cheap, flush it out real well and put that in until you can afford to upgrade.

It's a small hole in one of the cores from falling on something. Not even really dented in just a little hole.

Not sure what you mean by plastic tank but everything is solid besides where it hit.

Are you saying that taking it to a rad shop to get repaired doesn't work or the fix it yourself products?

 

[Poodles]

Think he's assuming you have a stock radiator with plastic endtanks.

 

[Bri7man]

It's a stock 89 radiator. So if it has plastic end tanks that's bad?

Getting another used stock radiator wouldn't be any different than the one I have except a small hole being in one of the cores.

Don't really understand the reasoning. Getting it repaired would put it in better shape than any used stock radiator and shouldn't cost too much ya?

 

[CyFi6]

I thought you broke a plastic end tank, which would be very difficult to fix, but if its just a core tube its not as big a deal. If i were you i would do what someone suggested earlier and try pinching off that core, one less tube isnt going to really hurt your cooling ability. If you know how to braze you might be able to just fix it yourself as well

 

[Bri7man]

Hmmm yeah I'm thinking I might do the pinch technique.

Think the pinch technique would last a couple months till I can afford a performance rad because I need suspension too my shocks and springs are stock and my cars like those rubber bouncy balls so I have to drive real slow pretty much all the time.

Edit,
Nvm new rad is gonna have to come before suspension. Gonna get it repaired properly at a rad shop.

Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[Bri7man]

So I dropped my rad at a shop that seemed legit, they do rad repairs along with everything else and had the cleanest shop I've ever seen.

They called me later and quoted me $180 to block the core and would have to ship it out to be done....

So I went to another place that just did radiators and they charged me $65 dollars and they really had me sketched out by the time I left.

They said it was not a stock radiator and so there is no warranty and all they did was repair the hole with some sort of soldering. No fin straightening, cleaning up or painting. Well he took a hose to it...

He also says he can't put the shroud back on because of liability.... So I ask for tools to do it right there since he won't. I'm in my good clothes and shoes too since I had just come from school..

I start a convo with the guy just to see where his head is...

He said aluminum radiators are only good for quarter mile runs and the stock one is more than what I would need w/o knowing what my mods were. He said to look for the plastic aluminum radiators. Also that 50/50 products are bad and to use concentrated prestone then fill the rest up with a hose.

He also gave me this stuff folded in a piece of paper and tells me to put it in when I put coolant in to make sure everything is sealed. I asked him to show me the bottle and it was from a can that looked like it from the 70's.

I made sure to get him to agree that if his patch job in the area he repaired leaks he is going to fix it after some persuading.

I was always sketched about going to specialty shops but this brought it to a whole different meaning. I don't think there are any legit radiator shops in my area that are anywhere near reasonably priced. Mainly because the one that wanted to charge $180 was the only one basically on the beach in a nice area the rest are all in not so great areas where I just had mine done.

I haven't put it in and filled it yet but hopefully it holds.

 

[Poodles]

LOL @ "not a stock radiator"

I have yet to see an aftermarket replacement with plastic endtanks...

 

[89supra7mgte]

^^^ very true.

B- that guy is blowing smoke up your ass. Aluminum radiators only good for quarter mile? man i might as well take mine out then no good for any sort of cooling if i am not on the strip right? BS.

Def post the name and location of that place and forewarn others not to go there. you got hustled. As for whatever he gave you it is probably no more than a seal tab like gm uses. i would not put it in. As far as coolant goes, i have never seen any problems from straight 50/50. It all depends on where you live and what the weather is like. Sometimes more concentrated stuff can take its toll on plastic parts but thats about it. just read the bottle and dillute and mix as you see fix for weather temps.

It looks like it is sealed which is good, but for the customer service they provide you should not have been charged that much. I have seen some of the most run down lookin buildings, turned radiator repair, do more for less.

 

[Bri7man]

^^^ very true.

B- that guy is blowing smoke up your ass. Aluminum radiators only good for quarter mile? man i might as well take mine out then no good for any sort of cooling if i am not on the strip right? BS.

Def post the name and location of that place and forewarn others not to go there. you got hustled. As for whatever he gave you it is probably no more than a seal tab like gm uses. i would not put it in. As far as coolant goes, i have never seen any problems from straight 50/50. It all depends on where you live and what the weather is like. Sometimes more concentrated stuff can take its toll on plastic parts but thats about it. just read the bottle and dillute and mix as you see fix for weather temps.

It looks like it is sealed which is good, but for the customer service they provide you should not have been charged that much. I have seen some of the most run down lookin buildings, turned radiator repair, do more for less.

Yeah the place was pretty run-down. The dude who spoke all that bs was a 300llb mexican and had a "don't worry I'll take care of this so no need to explain what I do" attitude.

What looked like his dad did the actual work using the back of a truck converted into a radiator station... What blows my mind is a newer porsche was actually up on a lift being inspected by pedro from Napolean dynamite.

I say pedro because he looked absolutely clueless and the shop was run-down in every way with no name trashed equipment other than managing having 2 lifts.

The place is called "Radiator Repair" but advertises in paint on the side of the building tune-ups, etc located at 1601 W. Carson St. in Torrance CA.

Should I ask for any amount of money back for the repair you can see the quality of work in the pics above.

If so how much and what should I argue? I know off the bat he will say "I say no warranty you have after market radiator I can not guarantee" but that does not cover his quality of work or what the service included correct?

BTW what is it he repaired it with? it looks like solder. If it is, I could of done that myself and is not worth even half the amount I payed..