Radiator Problems

[rude_life]

Hey guys..I have had a leak in my radiator for a while now and I cant figure out whats going on..Can a radiator become so clogged that the pressure within forces it to leak from the big hose coming out of the top (out from under a well tightened adjustable clamp)? I have a leak which seems to be coming from underneath the clamp that holds the big hose on the top of the radiator. I dont understand it..The hose is less than a year old and when it started leaking it had one of those crappy factory clamps that you have to pinch with channel locks to get it off. So i figured maybe that clamp wasnt exerting the proper amount of holding pressure so i went to Napa and got one of those clamps with the screw on it and tightened that bitch as much as i could. Before i put the hose back on i fingered the inside of the spout which the hose connects to and thouroughly examined the outside and inside for cracks and found none. Seemed to be pretty sturdy to me. So its leaking..Pretty bad, I put more coolant in and the low coolant light comes on in an hour. So at this point I dont know what the heck the problem is. Can anyone help me??

Thanks..
Kris

 

[RIO5.0]

Mine leaks to, has for yrs and yrs...on that same side to...not at the hose but above that somewhere where the palstic/Alum meet...
If its that bad your prolly gonna have to replace it...If money is tight you see them in Corral...look up Jeepman1, he parts SN95s all the time....

 

[Swarzkopf]

Advanced auto sells "Visteon" radiators for our cars for real cheap...when I bought mine, it was $117 shipped to my front door. I think the price has gone up a little.

Mine fit PERFECTLY, does not leak, and the car runs significantly cooler then it did previously. The fit and finish are excellent as well.

 

[rude_life]

Hmm..*Wondering* Is there any other solution?

 

[Swarzkopf]

Changing the radiator is retardedly easy. Why try to mickey-mouse something when you could just fix it the right way?

 

[RIO5.0]

Hmm..*Wondering* Is there any other solution?

Mine appears to be where the 2 pcs are joined/seamed about midway..Its fairly common for them to leak anyway....It doesn't appear to be anything you could fix....Mine usually starts to leak this time of year....I go thru 2 coolant refills during the Summer...Minor stuff compared to yours....
The one Swarz posted sounds pretty reasonable, pricewise...

 

[illwood]

Well, I'm feeling less bad about my slightly leaky radiator. I put a 10lb cap on it and it leaks less.

Planning on stepping up to a Fluidyne either this month or next and won't worry about it (even after I build my motor).

 

[mytight95]

i would replace it the RIGHT way as stated above.......


could be worse you could have a 2 year old 400$ radiator that is leaking from where the fins meet the tank.


jason

 

[ProKiller]

did you ever flush the system? take the radiator out, empty it, flush it a couple times with ?pennzoil? radiator flush then put fresh coolant back in.

try some stop leaks product.

 

[stang302v8]

thats nothin. i bought this POSalumn flow cool waterpump, it puts out so much pressure it blows my water out of the bottom radiater hose, and i have permetex around it and double clamps! i dunno wat to do

 

[Swarzkopf]

try some stop leaks product.

[darthvadervoice]NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO[/darthvadervoice]

This **** is horrible- it often clogs the water passages in your heads, block, themostat, and can created chronic overheating problems.

I tried this with my first car because it had a leaking radiator- yeah, the radiator stopped leaking, but after not driving the car for a week the **** sealed my block coolant passages and the bitch overheated so fast that it blew a headgasket.

It's fine to do on a beater if you don't care about it. But I'd NEVER consider doing it to a car you actually like.

 

[cobra94r]

Must be an epidemic.... mine leaks there too. I thought that it was because my hoses have been rerouted and moved due to S/C install.

I had to replace the RAD last week because it cracked all the way around where the fan mount to the radiator.

I haven't noticed any leaks on the radiator yet. It is a new e-bay junkie that I paid 48.00 for. Money well spent???? I'll keep you informed!! LOL