Radiator

My radiator has a medium sized leak.about 1/2 a gallon a day. I can see the leak on the side of the tank at the bottom. It sprays out when it is full with the cap on. I dont really want to try to sauder it because I dont know how well I'll do at it, and what grade it is. I already tried the Bars and it only works sometimes, it must slosh around. I was wondering if the stuff that you put on to patch a leak in a gas tank will work? Does the heat make it not work, shoudl I just try it?

 

Hmm. Doesn't brazing imply brass rod on steel? I would call radiator repair soldering, with lead-tin solder on a brass radiator. Requires a lot of heat like brazing though, and the pros use an air-acetylene flame IIRC. That's more because the radiator acts as a big heat sink, and you need a hot flame to raise the temperature locally and quickly, not becasue something like an iron or propane torch doesn't get hot enough.

 

I can accept that.

 

Couldn't agree more. That stop leak stuff should only be used in an emergency. It does a real good job of clogging up your cooling system.

 

Take it in and have it done. I had mine repaired, cleaned, and pressure tested for 70.00.

 

I am not talking about the stuff that goes into the radiator. I am talking about the stuff that is put on the outside of a hole in a gas tank. It is some kind of Epoxy??? It is in a tube and is put on the outside of a tank to stop a leak. Would this work on the outside of the radiator since I only have a propane torch and it does not sound like that will get it hot enough.

 

I've used Liquid Steel from the hardware store, and that worked for a while. You might also try J.B. Weld, which is probably a high-quality filled epoxy. Clean the surface, make it dry, and it should work for a while if the hole isn't too large.

 

I have seen that stuff work but in my opinion that stuff is more for an emergency type situation. I agree with what was said above, take it in and have it repaired. That way they will pressure test it after and you won't have to worry about it. Just my .02.

 

I took it in, but they would not work on it they said had to put in a new one, get one from a junkyard, or fix it. I found a really goos radiator off of an abondoned car but I would have to make brackets to old it in. Looks like I'll try the liquid weld untill I get a welder and hen I'll make brackets for the good one. Just started my first real job today so that should help towards the welder.

 

A radiator shop WOULDN'T work on your radiator???

 

Mine wouldn't. They said if it is puking out that green color( not antifreeze but copper green) then the rad is too far gone for them to be able to fix and it would be cheaper to just find a different rad.

 

Second opinion?

 

Sure glad I bought that NOS Willys CJ5 radiator from m38a1diesel here awhile back! Still sitting in my attic, in the Willys box, just waiting.

 

Find another radiator shop

 

Brass, copper or steel you can easily solder it your self with a propane torch. I do refrigeration work for a living and have soldered MANY nasty oil covered joints on th above mentioned metals that hold over 200 psi.
If your interested I could either walk you through it, online or phone or if not too much hassle with shipping I could solder it for you. The key ingredient in soldering is a CLEAN surface, degrease, wash then use sand paper then spray with a nonresidue solvent apply solder flux (found at Home Depot or Lowes same stuff used for home plumbing) heat the area evenly and "test touch" the solder until the piece to be repaired melts the solder. you should play with soldering on a similar metal to get the feel for how the solder flows and how to apply the heat to get the solder like a paste. Too much heat and it's like water, too little and it globs, just right and you can fill in a 3/8" hole.

Sounds like the size leak you got I could fix in no time. If you have ever soldered water plumbing then go at it like that.