Radiator Stop Leak ?

[Stocker Steve]

Had the second leaking radiator for the year. Tried Barr' stop leak (the powder not the beads in a solution) and it did not work on this time.

Any other brands or approaches you would suggest ?

 

[dun]

The only one I ever had that worked was the silver powder kind. I used some stuff once that had what looked like tar beads in it. Stopped the leak and a month later destroyed the waterpump. Turns out the tar beads where some kind of sticky crap with find string in them.
The only time the silver powder didn;t work the crack was so big that it took resoldering, turned out it was cheaper to get a radiator from the junk yard.
I had a crack in the top seem of thr tank once, fixed it with JB Weld and it lasted the 3 years I kept the truck.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Two table spoons of black pepper in the radiator will do a better job than all of the stuff you buy off of the shelf. Probably won't clog up a darn thing as much as the other stuff either.

The pepper tries to get pushed out of the hole and it swells up just like wetting wood.

That's all my Grandaddy or Daddy ever did and it is all I have done all my life.

 

[Anonymous]

Dont try any of the stop leak stuff or pepper on anything that has an egr cooler like the new diesels. This passages are so small that even pepper will clog em

 

[JSCATTLE]

In my experience stop leak does more harm than good . It clogs the small ports in the block and just about everything but the hole in the radiator. You might not notice it until the summer time when it's hot .

 

[kerley]

When I was a kid my dad use to pour in the radiator "Elixir of Egg" purchased at the local pharmacy. I don't have a clue what it's chemical properties are but it will seal leaks in your cooling system. My dad was born in Crocker, Missouri in 1896. Possibly it was a poor mans remedy.

 

[Ouachita]

I'll second the black pepper