radiator Leak

[andrewbuch]

Hi all,

So this morning After driving a bit, i stopped and noticed a hissing coming from under the hood.

Its a leak in radiator as shown by the yellow arrow, its between the plastic bottle & radiator:

What I need to know is something like this repairable? or will I need to get new radiator?

 

[freerider]

dude I had the exact same problem beggining of last month.

I got some JB Weld Perm o seal from minimike19 (mike@liquimoly) and I havent lost another drop of coolant since.

 

[andrewbuch]

got to then try some of that stuff..

 

[sykotic]

repairable no worries

 

[andrewbuch]

u meaning by the use of above mentioned product?

 

[andrewbuch]

could I not just repair it with something like pratley steel and coat the area well with it?

 

[sykotic]

yep if you coat it well it should hold. is it a small hair line kinda crack?

 

[andrewbuch]

its a tiny tiny tiny crack/hole. like a very small amount of steam & water leaked out.

I have PM'd mike too see if he can get me some permo seal by this weekend cause I got skidpan day sunday. if not then I will try pratley steel for now

 

[Stiffler_PE]

Just had that problem on my moms e36. There is a gasket between the plastic and the radiator. The parts are seperated by loosening thise crimps ( tabs ) and replacing the seal and an O-ring at the bottom.

Was quoted between R350 and R390 from local radiator repair shops here in PE.

Decided that it was worth it as they also flush and clean the radiator.

Unfortunately the radiator had suffered some damage at the bottom and the expansion bottle was leaking too.

I had a new radiator and expansion bottle fitted for R1100. Not bad i thought.. considering i just paid R1200 for the flipping expansion bottle alone on my e46

It would be worth fixing soon though, a leak like that allows air into the cooling system and that puts increased pressure on the system.
For the sake of R350, get it sorted properly. Then you know the Radiator has been checked and flushed and you dont need to worry when driving.

My 2 cents

 

[sykotic]

if its that small, just pratley it. but if it bigger, then get it sorted properly. but i dont think its that major.

 

[TheKing!]

What about Radiator Stop Leak? Worked for me on some very minor leaks - just seals it up nicely.

 

[andrewbuch]

thats what permo seal is, just better

---

Just replaced the radiator rubber mounts as I had lost one after my crash & the one Gizmo made out of an energade bottle was just a temp fix.. So now I have 2 new rubber mounts Hopefully it will absorb some of the shock from driving now

 

[andrewbuch]

put in some radiator stop leak, drove for a while, did not help. next day covered the area with pratley steel, let dry for a few hours, drove car, leaked again . covered with more pratley steel, drove for the day on friday and no leak, just checked today and small leak still (skidpan is the culprit)

When I have time I will pop off the radiator & get it checked out

 

[sykotic]

dam, sorry mate.... hope you can get it sorted out. freakn small little leak must be annoying cause its not getn covered!! but the skidpan must have contributed too haha

 

[andrewbuch]

well only lost like 100Ml water from the skidpan & yesterday. so its not too bad. will get it sorted after the holiday

 

[andrewbuch]

checked this evening and it still seemed to be leaking (dirty water marks running down from where The leak was) so I peeled off the pratley steel (they lie, its not like steel ) and it starts shooting out coolant . Will strip the radiator out sometime this next week & get it tested..

 

[clutchplate]

DON'T PUT RADIATOR STOP LEAK IN YOUR CAR.. dude.... so bad..

just fix the damn thing with pratley putty. otherwise take it to silverton radiators, they will test it for free for other problems.
also take it out, flush it NICELY... now that you have screwed up half of it with stop leak :/ dude... naught.

you won't believe how nicely stop leak blocks your passages .. better flush your engine out too, just incase.

lol, saw this thread too late .. btw, use garden hose on full..



I used pratley to fix my DSC hydro unit, lol, trust me it sets like STEEL, pratley FTMFW !

 

[andrewbuch]

DON'T PUT RADIATOR STOP LEAK IN YOUR CAR.. dude.... so bad..

just fix the damn thing with pratley putty. otherwise take it to silverton radiators, they will test it for free for other problems.
also take it out, flush it NICELY... now that you have screwed up half of it with stop leak :/ dude... naught.

you won't believe how nicely stop leak blocks your passages .. better flush your engine out too, just incase.

lol, saw this thread too late .. btw, use garden hose on full..



I used pratley to fix my DSC hydro unit, lol, trust me it sets like STEEL, pratley FTMFW !

Dude the stop leak was just a temp fix to try and last until my holidays.. FAIL..

Then the pratley steel was also meant to make it last until my holidays... FAIL..

So in my most busiest week my car has been sitting, then the E46 clutch packed up. so instead of spending time workign I have stripped my radiator off/out the car. taken it to silverton & just this morning got a nice shiney new one.. Will flush my system out with garden hose and then fit & fill with water & canti freeze stuffies

all sorted

 

[clutchplate]

lol, too late for that. if that stuff is in there somewhere. its rock hard by now :/ ....

but cool bananas.. hope u get back on track dood

 

[andrewbuch]

when i removed the radiator, i put the garden hose on full into all the pipes that go into the motor, did it until the water ran clear.. so hopefully that was good enough