Small radiator leak....if there is such a thing

[MisterAdam]

After cruising for about 90 minutes this afternoon I noticed a tiny radiator leak. Do I dare add radiator gooo or pull the whole thing out for repair1829.jpeg7

[Papa]

After cruising for about 90 minutes this afternoon I noticed a tiny radiator leak. Do I dare add radiator gooo or pull the whole thing out for repair1829.jpeg7

Get it repaired! That radiator stop leak stuff will do bad things to your water jackets, sensors, etc. Ask me how I know! I used it a long time ago in my old hot rod and then spent hours at a shop getting the crud flushed out of the system. I could have repaired the radiator for what I spent flushing the system. I ended up replacing the radiator after the system was cleaned out and all was good.

[MisterAdam]

I knew that was the correct reply but was hoping.......

[steno]

I tried the tablets that Are made of organic matter in my car. It was just a weeping hole that just bugged me. Just dropped one in instead of the recommended amount and it did the trick! Your mileage may vary a bit.

[michael everson]

GM cars come with it from the factory. I saw first hand a LS crate engine with the tablets in the water pump inlets.
Mike

[Papa]

I tried the tablets that Are made of organic matter in my car. It was just a weeping hole that just bugged me. Just dropped one in instead of the recommended amount and it did the trick! Your mileage may vary a bit.

GM cars come with it from the factory. I saw first hand a LS crate engine with the tablets in the water pump inlets.
Mike

I've never heard of the tablets before, but the stuff I used 15 years ago looked like ground up rubber. Perhaps technology had advanced a bit.

[GFX2043mtu]

Did something hit a tube and rupture it, or did it start leaking on its own? Also if the radiator is new FFR might help you out. Personally I would not attempt to repair a nocolok brazed radiator in the tube area unless the hole was due to a external hit. I design these things for a very large German company and I can tell you if it’s leaking down in the core there is no sure fire way to repair them. This is because it’s almost surely due to tube erosion (manufacturing defect) and if you do seal that leak up it will more then likely just leak some where else later at a very inconvenient time. If it’s a rock hit you can clean the area with a good grease and was remover and then reapir it. We use this a lot for repairing coolers https://www.delo-adhesives.com/us/ad...-2-part-epoxy/. Also the organic tablets / powder along with aluminum powder are common in the military industry as a precautionary measure for in the field small punctures. How ever if any of the OE’s know there is a radiator leak they send the parts back to the manufacturer. The organic stuff likes to coat stuff and to much causes reduced system efficiency and the aluminum stuff that doesn’t coat can be rough on water pumps.

[MisterAdam]

The magic stuff might work but it will always be nagging in the back of my head. I don't think it will too bad a job to remove and replace/repair. Toughest part is burping the system when refilling it.

[rich grsc]

Go buy genuine StopLeak, looks like liquid silver. It absolutely works, has an additive that increases cooling effectiveness, designed to be used in aluminum engines. Have used it several times, always with great results.

[cobrajj]

I used 2 of those tablets to seal up a weeping gasket leak and it caused overheating issues. Removed the FFR AFCO radiator and took it to be cleaned out. The shop measured the coolant flow before and after cleaning and found a 30% flow reduction because of the powered material sticking to the aluminium core. They said the stuff sticks like glue to aluminium, but not much of a problem for cast iron or brass parts.

[MisterAdam]

Dont know what caused it. I have a sheet of nomex to protect it so I don't think it was a stone. 3 years old so I don't think factory five should do anything. Doesn't look too bad a job, should be able to drop it down and out.

[GFX2043mtu]

Sounds like Cobrajj understands the trade off of a organic stop leak. Most of the stop leak products do so by coating aluminum and copper. Great for fixing minor sealing surface leaks but it can harm your heat transfer. And it’s not a fix all, especially for radiator holes. The heat transfer reduction may not be a issue in a mild build but if you start pushing some decent power or run in the hot summer it may be a issue. To be fair a lot of the places you see this still widely used is the HD diesel market where they design the system to over perform as a trade off for sealing minor issues. But that trend has been changing to cut costs. The aluminum stuff is a more common gm thing. They went through a phase in the early 2000’s where the new high out put v6’s mainly in the Cadillac’s where using it to seal problem with a sealing surface. So they made a note that every coolant change required so much of it because it didn’t coat parts and would be flushed out with a coolant change. The trade off to this was accelerated water pump wear if the wrong bearing in the pump was used. They still use it from time to time but it’s not a preferred solution. Bottom line is that the market is going away from these stop leak products where they can for a reason and they never intended it as a permanent radiator fix. If you have a leak that suddenly appeared and it’s not a rock hit then it’s probably from tube erosion either from to much cladding on the base material which caused erosion when the cladding flowed out in the oven. Or improper brazing due to flux or oven issues that left some thin spots in the cooler. It can then fail from improper water in the coolant or just from thermal wear. Either way the radiator is far better off being changed out. The tow bill if it has a issue a ways from home alone may cover the radiator cost. Make sure the new radiator gets good coolant with distilled water not deionized water or get the pre mixed stuff.