Small crack on radiator plastic! Repairs done! Results posted soon!

[hairball]

Well, it's that time of the year again! Winter, when radiators seem to decide to start leaking most often! I just discovered a very small crack yesterday when I saw light steam at stops. Nothing big. And of course the usual anti-freeze odor. Ironically, I made a 150 mile drive yesterday and it NEVER moved about "normal" on the gauge. This morning, I opened the cap and overflow tank. The plastic tank was dry, but the radiator on took about an inch of water. Well, needless to say, today I discovered where the leak is: just below the top hose but above the seam (thank god!). I talked to my brother (an auto body tech for 30+ years) because knows so much about sealers and puddies and epoxy he probably eats the stuff! He said that the small crack can be repaired but it is tricky. He stressed over and over the importance of getting it super clean with brake cleaner, then even sanding the surfacing and cleaning it again. He said the problem is that NOTHING will stick to the glycol from anti-freeze, so the radiator has to be as dry as it can possibly get, then dry it again the clean and dry it again. He said most decent epoxy will work but ONLY if the plastic surface is extremely clean and dry and free of any trace of glycol.

SO... I'm getting ready to tackle this job. This is the first major thing that has failed on this car since I got it, so I'm doing pretty good. I just hope I can repair it without pulling the radiator.

I would take everyone's advice in other threads and just replace the radiator, but I'm out of work and can't afford to at this time. I just want to see if this epoxy will work. The crack is only about 4 inches long. If it won't hold, I guess I'll be driving the Seville until I can afford a new radiator for my Camry.

Well, out to the garage I prance...

I'll repair it tonight and let it dry in my spare bedroom overnight where it will be warm.

The only thing worse than finding a hairline crack on top of my radiator? Finding out today that my new phone number is only 1 digit different than a local Les Schwab tire store! GREAT! Now I'll get wrong number calls all the time.

[hairball]

OMG! Everyone was right about how easy it is to remove the radiator! Top hose first then 2 fans with a total of 7 bolts (10mm socket) then bottom hose and 2 tranny lines. 2 top mount bolts and BAM, it's out!

I figure it will be so much easier to repair this radiator if it's out of the car. No bending down for hours. More like standing at my kitchen counter so I can see and get it cleaned up really good.

It sure is nice how the tranny lines just have clamps instead of requiring a tubing wrench and hoping not to damage anything.

[hairball]

Okay, my radiator is out. 9 bolts and 4 hoses.







I'm letting it dry out for a couple hours before I start cleaning the crack for repair.



Is this the sign that this radiator is rebuilt? I didn't know the factory did this...

I bought the Epoxy today, but forgot I had this other stuff. I'd appreciate opinions on who thinks which one might hold better. The Epoxy is only good to 200 degrees but the steel stuff up to 300 degrees.

[hairball]

Well the guy at AutoZone was trippin! He suggested I "inject" this Epoxy into the crack, when actually you MUST mix it first with a stir stick. You don't just pump it into a crack!

Anyway, I cleaned and sanded the area I needed to repair, then decided on the Epoxy after 46 views of this thread and nobody offered any advice or their opinion. I then tried to call 4 friends and my brother and not one person answered their phones! I couldn't sit around for hours and hours waiting for a reply. I want this stuff to cure and set overnight so I wanted to get it applied.

Well, I'm thinking it's going to be a success! It went on thick and was hard within minutes.

I'll let everyone know on Sunday how tonight's repair went!

[mcx]

i've done it to a Nissan Stanza plastic radiator where it leaked in the same spot right at the crimp seam...anyway, it lasted for a couple months before it sprung again...i think it just spreads to the next area,,,i ended up buying a aftermarket radiator that was all brass/copper...no plastic at all....100 bucks or so....everytime i pop the Camrys hood i check that seam because its the original radiator and 165000 miles now!!

[hairball]

Yeah, you're right MCX, I figure it will simply spring a leak in a different spot before long. But if it just lasts another month I'll have money to afford a new radiator. But then again, I'm working on buying an 87 Camry Wagon with 20,000 original one-owner (female) miles on it. If she accepts my offer and I get it, I'm scrapping this current P.O.S. or might just park it in the back yard and cover it with a car cover or tarp and save it as a back-up car. Not sure what to do with it, but I barely have room for this car and a Seville, but I won't have room for 3 cars.

Again, if the repair lasts for another month I'll be smiling. I still can't understand why it even sprung a leak! The car never, ever climbs above the "normal" area on the gauge. In fact in 15 months it has never moved above 1 exact point. And my fan always comes on.

Any idea why the spring leaks? The pressure is not super-high. Any added pressure just goes into the reservoir. I'm baffled by this but not stressing too much.

[dem2757]

Its just the nature of plastics. They become more brittle over time and repeated flexing and stretching due to heating and cooling. Metal does the same thing, just has much higher tolerances and is more flexible. All it takes is a slight jolt from a bridge joint while going 55, or hitting that annoying speed hump to cause the plastic to finally give way.

[hairball]

Originally Posted by dem2757

All it takes is a slight jolt from a bridge joint while going 55, or hitting that annoying speed hump to cause the plastic to finally give way.

OH! Ya mean like that big-ass speed bump I hit behind Safeway the day before it started leaking?

[hairball]

A few people suggested this Epoxy, so I used it. But now I'm starting to worry it won't hold as long as the steel stuff because is says "Not recommended for use above 200 degrees (93 celcius)"!

Now I'm starting to wonder if I should remove what I applies last night, then apply this Magnum Steel stuff? Or apply the Magnum Steel over the epoxy for a bit of additional holding power? This Magnum Steel stuff contains a mixture of epoxy and amine resins, and clearly states on the package that it will resist most chemicals including anti-freeze. It also specifies uses and lists "radiator repairs" as one of the things it works on.

Dang it!

Well, I'm about to go out into my cold garage (it was down to freezing last night and we got a light snow) and put the radiator back in. If this stuff turns out to not hold, I'll just try stop leak!

[dem2757]

Yep that jolt could have cause the radiator to crack. If it doesnt hold up very well, you are only doing a temporary job for the radiator. So say you get 2-3 months out of the epoxy, you should be good to go for a new radiator anyways.

[hairball]

You're probably right on all your points. Thanks.

The guy at Auto Zone got me all worried by saying if I didn't actually get it forced into the crack, it won't hold and would spring a leak right away! Well, he might have just hoped I would say "Screw it! Sell me a new radiator!".

Yes, if it holds for ONE month I'll be good to go!

Good thing I have an attached garage! It's 35 outside my house right now, but 46 in the garage. Wow, how "toasty". LOL! 46 degrees and a warm jacket certainly beats working outside and wearing ski gloves!

[hairball]

The guy at Auto Zone probably didn't know what he was talking about. He probably never used epoxy on a plastic radiator. He was either "pretending" to know what he was talking about, or maybe he used it on a metal radiator. He said there is a very slim chance this stuff would work. He was totally wrong. It works just fine. I'm all back to running and smiling again!

But I started to wonder two things after I got everything back together and topped off and to operating temp:
1. Why the coolant only went to a max of 150 degrees after idling for over 20 minutes. I figured it would get a wee bit higher than that.
2. I'm wondering if I applied a little too much epoxy. But I had to dab it on as quickly as I could because it starts to set in less than 15 seconds.

But hey, as long as it holds, I'm happy!

[sayers74]

kind of funny how it broke near the inspected by tag..lol

[mcx]

you might want to epoxy the full top seam as a precaution since you have it dry and clean....its a bitch to drain the set up a second time...epoxy is cheap,your time is expensive!!...i believe i use JB Weld epoxy on mine...good luck.

[hairball]

That makes a ton of sense. BUT, it's already back in! It's not too late though because the rest of it will be easy to spread stuff on. I only pulled it to fix because the crack was below the tube and I couldn't see very well or clean it too easy.

So, ya think I should spread some more? I still have plenty of epoxy left!