Car Radiator leak and this is how to fix it

[MarcoH]

I try to look around if this topic has been here and did not found it, for those handyman who like to fix car's and those who do not know this.

This Radiator leak powder will fix your radiator form inside with out any need to visit fixing garage.
As it's easy, and cheap. In Ubon it cost ฿80 per tube and open your radiator and put all powder inside and close it, it will find the hole and fixing it by it self.

 

I have Chevrolet(Opel) Zafira since day 2003 and driven 325600km and works very fine, how ever just changed engine for it and that is very easy to do and then paperwork's in transportation office

 

And funny part is that it do have english and Thai instructions.
 

[jerry921]

There are a lot of products that do this, I obtained and used one in the US. It worked just fine. I had several very expert mechanic friends tell me not to do it, with all sorts of dire warnings about it gumming up the water pump, etc. The kind I used was plastic beads suspended in an oil solution, but I think the principle is the same for all of them.

 

But the vehicle was 25 years old, and I was planning on moving in just a few months and getting rid of it when I moved, so I figured paying for a replacement radiator didn't make sense and I'd take a chance on the $5 bottle of gunk.

 

For something I intended to try to keep running for 5 years I'd probably pay for a proper fix, even in the US where labor is expensive. It seems to me it must degrade the cooling ability of the radiator at least a little in addition to fixing the leak.

[pgrahmm]

Would rather have it fixed correctly.....

I've had 2 custom made to my specs radiators done here....They cost less than 4k per....Had one repaired due to exploding fan damage - 5 tubes soldered with radiator r&r with new fan = 2300B to get us home.....

Those stop leaks will actually void warranty coverages in the west - partly because they put a film on the sensors & they gunk the system.....

Personally - I don't trust them & wouldn't jeopardise my engine by using/depending on one.....

 

[Kwasaki]

A Raw Egg. ?

[jerry921]

As for trusting it, I didn't really trust it or treat it as a reliable fix. I kept checking underneath the car for leaks every time I moved it for a week. And for the rest of the two more months I had it I drove around with a gallon jug of water and an empty pitcher in the passenger seat. And the vehicle (a '91 ford explorer) had a temperature gauge not just an idiot light, and I watched it like a hawk. And I only drove around town. I wouldn't have been using it at all but I was hauling a lot of stuff to the thrift center getting ready to move, stuff that wouldn't fit in my other car.

 

So while I had a good experience using that stuff, I would recommend it only with a boatload of caveats.

[biplanebluey]

1 hour ago, jerry921 said:

There are a lot of products that do this, I obtained and used one in the US. It worked just fine. I had several very expert mechanic friends tell me not to do it, with all sorts of dire warnings about it gumming up the water pump, etc. The kind I used was plastic beads suspended in an oil solution, but I think the principle is the same for all of them.

 

But the vehicle was 25 years old, and I was planning on moving in just a few months and getting rid of it when I moved, so I figured paying for a replacement radiator didn't make sense and I'd take a chance on the $5 bottle of gunk.

 

For something I intended to try to keep running for 5 years I'd probably pay for a proper fix, even in the US where labor is expensive. It seems to me it must degrade the cooling ability of the radiator at least a little in addition to fixing the leak.

No problem if you drain it out as soon as it stops the leak Did my first one over 50yrs ago and never a problem

[Formaleins]

Depends where it is leaking I guess. If it is one of the copper water pipes then drain the radiator and get it brazed, if it is leaking on the header, which these days is normally plastic - buy a new radiator. There is no way I would put any of that leak / seek / seal rubbish in my motor, you have no control where it is going and it could block vital water paths.

[The Theory]

Side effects are not limited unless you already have given up on your car. 

Replace it and have peace of mind. 

[tandor]

3 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

A Raw Egg. ?

..i can remember my dad using pepper in the leaking radiator of an old Landrover..got us home.

[joskeshake]

4 minutes ago, tandor said:

..i can remember my dad using pepper in the leaking radiator of an old Landrover..got us home.

chewed white bread also fix the leak , did it 45 years ago.

[dotpoom]

In my youth we just put the white of an egg into the rad...worked the same way.

[vogie]

Raw eggs and bread, if it fails you still have scrambled egg on toast.

[smccolley]

Done the raw egg thing more than once, works great. Regardless of what junk you stick in your radiator to get you home you need to repair or replace it immediately.

[weegee]

6 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

A Raw Egg. ?

Pepper...

[tweedledee2]

  This type of product has been around for over 50 years. One brand was Alumi-Seal as well as a copper product. Another brand was Bar's Leak, it had pellets in a thick emulsion. It would also seal head gasket leaks. Bar's now markets an aluminum product. They would work, depending on where the leak was and its size.

   Years ago DuPont marketed anti-freeze with stop-leak. In their TV commercial, they used an icepick to poke holes in the metal can. There would be a stream on liquid that would squirt out then stop. My father ran a repair shop and an elderly widow customer told my dad she had seen the commercial and was impressed with how quickly the holed sealed. With a somber face, my dad told her it worked too good, because you couldn't pour it out of the can fast enough before it sealed shut. The look on her face was priceless as she believed him.

[Eaglekott]

Cinnamon powder, works like a charm, and it last very very long. 

[MINIMIGLIA]

Radweld liquid was the best not sure if still made, pour it in and job done, never drain it out.

[Carib]

Sawdust,  you just need to find a carpenter..

[5633572526]

This is something you do right before you sell the car. The safety of my family is worth more than the price of repairing the radiator correctly 

[transam]

Rad fix stuff is really to get you home or if you are short of a few quid......

[Kwasaki]

6 minutes ago, transam said:

Rad fix stuff is really to get you home or if you are short of a few quid......

Hello buddy where you'se been. ???

Yeah UK many moons ago soldering did the repair after the raw egg, then came along affordable rad exchange places.

Edited July 9, 2018 by Kwasaki

[transam]

1 minute ago, Kwasaki said:

Yeah UK many moons ago soldering did the repair after the raw egg, then came along affordable rad exchange places.

Yep, all brass and tin-mans back then...Expansion and contraction took it's toll...Bit different today with the plastic header tanks and compressed man made rubbery things..

[MINIMIGLIA]

22 hours ago, transam said:

Rad fix stuff is really to get you home or if you are short of a few quid......

what complete <deleted>, it works really well, in fact we used it in all our race cars just in case a stone punctured a rad

[transam]

2 minutes ago, MINIMIGLIA said:

what complete <deleted>, it works really well, in fact we used it in all our race cars just in case a stone punctured a rad

Yes, a get you out of trouble fix....I assume after you soldered it up...? 

[fredob43]

Many years ago I used rad weld for an old ford I had. Did it do the job yes, but it buggered the heater rad ended up costing me bundles to fix. I have never used it or anything like it since.

[transam]

1 minute ago, fredob43 said:

Many years ago I used rad weld for an old ford I had. Did it do the job yes, but it buggered the heater rad ended up costing me bundles to fix. I have never used it or anything like it since.

Correct, slim heater rad veins get blocked by the stuff...

[fredob43]

10 minutes ago, transam said:

Correct, slim heater rad veins get blocked by the stuff...

With most modern Lumps I don't think it could happen? My New Tuna has a heater but I'm sure it works from Either electric or Air Con. As there are no pipes, it's also instant even when the engine is cold. Haven't been to bothered to look into is as I have only used it once on the way back from Chang Mai over the mountains in Feb:

Edited July 10, 2018 by fredob43

[transam]

34 minutes ago, fredob43 said:

With most modern Lumps I don't think it could happen? My New Tuna has a heater but I'm sure it works from Either electric or Air Con. As there are no pipes, it's also instant even when the engine is cold. Haven't been to bothered to look into is as I have only used it once on the way back from Chang Mai over the mountains in Feb:

I seem to recall that there were heaters using fuel.......

[fredob43]

6 minutes ago, transam said:

I seem to recall that there were heaters using fuel.......

Please don't tell me they have a 50thBTU boiler under the dash.

[transam]

1 minute ago, fredob43 said:

Please don't tell me they have a 50thBTU boiler under the dash.

I cannot remember what used fuel.....Something tells me VW, way back....We know that power steering has gone the electric way so I perhaps assume a heater can go that way too...