Radiator Leak!

My 60 Bel Air has developed a radiator leak. Does anyone know of any of the stop leak products on the market that work? If so post them up.

 

Alumaseal.

 

I've used Bar's Leak with a limited degree of success. I used it to fix a leaky heater core (late model Camaro, the whole dash has to come out) that I didn't feel like dealing with at the time. It held for about 2 years, and the car was driven daily.

That said, why not pull the rad, take it to a shop, and have it fixed right? Those stop leak products are designed to fill small holes, they don't care if the small hole is the leak, or a coolant passage inside the block or head.

 

That said, why not pull the rad, take it to a shop, and have it fixed right? Those stop leak products are designed to fill small holes, they don't care if the small hole is the leak, or a coolant passage inside the block or head.[/quote]

You are better off just keeping it full than using stop leak until you can have it fixed at a shop. That shit usually plugs up everything but the radiator leak.

Having a good spare radiator is not a bad idea to shorten downtime, and you wont need any stop leak..

 

We had a small leak and actually had success with egg white. Not a permanent fix, but it lasted for a couple months until we had all the stuff for the rebuild (of the whole motor of course, when the radiator had to come out to pull the motor), then we fixed it right. No problems with it gumming up anywhere it shouldn't or anything. Kinda tried it as a fluke. Also a good way to pinpoint a leak.

 

put an egg in there no..., I have used stop leak and it did work for three days because the leak was in a coolant hose. I have heard good stuff about the product but iam not sure if there is any harm it can cause. If its a nice, restored ride then I would break down and take it to a shop for repair. Good luck.

 

always heard about the egg thing. never believed it until i saw the guys on myth busters drop a whole egg into a radiator with a leak... plugged it right up.

pull you radiator and have it fixed... save the eggs for omlets.

 

it does work for some time but gives you smelly coolant

 

May sound dumb but a handfull of black pepper will get you home in a pinch

 

Try some Konklin Dike...It's hard to find, but it works like a dream.

 

I seem to vaguely recall ground ginger working for something like this...anyone else ever hear of this?

 

Had three leaks, good ones. I had to add about a half gallon of water daily, or more depending on how much I drove it.

I don't like that goop you can buy just for it, that radiator stop leak shit? Yeah it sucks and it's a bitch to get out of the head. Egg is the way to go. I used it for a year and only had to add more egg once and that was about 6 months into it. Never had to add more coolant after the egg.

The trick is to get it to operating temperature, go cruise the shit out of it then add the water/coolant you lost. Leave it idling and add 4 egg whites and about a teaspoon of black pepper. I'm not fucking with you here, even though it sounds like some kinda recipe. When you get around to flushing out the system it comes right out and as for the head, it flakes off with your fingernail if you see some in there.

It never had a smell and I checked a lot. I was surprised but seems the coolant makes it so the egg never really gets rotten. The black pepper helps hold it together longer. No yolks, it speeds up the breakdown of the egg.

After about a year I decided it was about time while I had the radiator out for an engine rebuild (nothing wrong, just 50+ years old) I went ahead and patched it with lead. That's also easy, just find the leaks, lay it down, and throw some lead on it. I had two leaks in the radiator and one on the neck.

For those of you curious about the whole egg thing, it's more than true and it could be a permanent fix if you wanted it to be. It was real easy on the motor, doesn't have a smell at all, ya never even know it's in there. It patches perfectly and takes it months and months to finally break down enough to add more. So yeah, you could keep adding an egg white every 1/3 of a year and never have to fix it. I think you should get around to it sometime though, lead works great. (A little rosin core solder and cool flame - patches better than lead and not as lethal)

 

Some crazy tips, but whatever works! I think I will take it to the shop and get it repaired. Didn't want to fork out the cash right now. Was going to put in a genie shifter in the 47 Ford. But things happen!