I'm getting my Deuce Roadster ready for a car show this Sunday and I noticed about a 2" puddle of anti freeze under the car. Upon further inspection I can see a line of anti freeze where the bottom of radiator meets the grill shell. Debating if I should put in a sealer or not. I have heard of "Bars Leak", but don't know anything about it, any suggestions.
Eh, how far is your drive to the show? Cooling system sealants can work, but they can also create a mess and cause problems. On the other hand, having a m***ive leak spring when your on the road ****s pretty bad too. The best case would be to have the system pressurized and checked for leaks, than have the leaks repaired (if the radiator is repairable, most copper/br*** radiators are, aluminum radiators not so much). Maybe get a can of sealant and take it with you, keep an eye on the leak when you stop for gas, etc, and if it becomes a problem add it them. The problem with this is once the system is hot you'll have to relieve the pressure before removing the cap. It can be very dangerous to remove the cap from a hot system. Note, cooling systems can leak/weep when cold and not when hot. My A tends to leak coolant out of the thermostat housing when it sits cold, but never when hot. You might have a similar situation.
"always happens at the wrong time" bars leak can work - follow label - "Traditional" method is to use whole pepper
It's a local show 2 miles at the most. I really don't want to take it apart until winter. Whole pepper? How much?
Alumaseal, safe and work's great. Pretty much the same as the GM tablets but powder form.http://www.acehardware.com/product/...MI05Kxkvrn2wIVR77ACh1jcw-xEAYYBCABEgL83vD_BwE
Radiator sealants can create bigger problems,they will stop a leak but they can also clog up water p***ages. Regular ground black pepper is a good temporary fix to get you home or to a shop but not a cure all,drive it to the car show if it's just a minor leak but if it were me I wouldn't put it off too long, repair it before it gets worse. HRP
I have never been the greatest mechanic around but I used to be able to get my radiator drained, removed, soldered and back in place in quick time. Granted today, I'd try some sort of sealant or get a new one.
I wouldn't use any stop leak. Messes up water p***ages in heater cores and backs up behind freeze plugs causing corrosion. Fix it the right way without causing other problems down the road. My Grandpa told me back in the day they used horse **** to fix leaks.
I use alumaseal if need be. I've heard crushed up cigarette tobacco works (remove paper and filter) but with the price of cigarettes, probably cheaper to buy a new radiator.
....................Guys , I've always heard that it's one egg and a couple of s****-fulls of ground pepper as a "get you home" fix. And that is usually only if it is a pin-hole or two. If it is a split or separation where the core meets a tank, the only fix is a proper repair or new radiator.
I'm having trouble imagining what exactly is leaking. Is it a tube? or the tube to header connection? or the tank to header connection? or a hole in the tank, where a bracket mounts? or what? without knowing more, I can't make a good suggestion. also, is it a copper/br*** or aluminum radiator?
If it is a visible leak, and you just want a temporary seal, you can clean the area with some sandpaper, and put a drop of silicon on it. Once cured overnight, it can handle the heat, and then be s****ed off before a permanent soldered repair.
Right above the inner piece of the grill shell, the area that the crank hole is in, their is anti freeze from about 2" in for about 6" long. The only way to tell if it's a tube or the bottom seam is to remove the grill shell. Too early in the season to pull it apart. If it's bad, it might force the issue Sunday. It has 56K on it so I really can't complain.
Real parts stores used to sell that silver powder at the counter. It almost always worked and not as nasty as Barrs. Look for something made by Solder Seal, may come in a small can or cardboard tube.
I agree. Fix it right the first time. Left unchecked, since you don't know what's leaking, it could go from a major h***le to a MAJOR h***le and never at a convenient time or place. As for Grandpa, I have trouble picturing if the horse product goes inside the radiator or outside. Seems a bit farfetched, but folks then were a lot more knowledgeable about their machines and a lot more resourceful. Since you could repair a leak with oatmeal and horses eat oats-well, there must be a better way.
Probably should just fix the radiator and be done with it but that being said.....I've done this and it works. You know the small rectangle black pepper containers at the grocery store? Pour one of those in the top of the radiator. The whole thing. It'll stop a ******* leak and it'll flush right out unlike a sealer. A friend told me about it after doing the same on his t bucket mustang radiator. I did it on a 67 Chevy pickup and ran around like that around town for like a month. Seriously. Knowing what I know now I would really just fix the radiator. Id throw up if I overheated cause of a leak I knew about but that's me.
My go to stop leak is Zecol Mend***e 10412. It will seal the leaks under pressure and won't plug the heater core. The first time I used it was in a stock car radiator in 1971 that we got back from the radiator shop just in time to install it. It leaked right away and a guy at the track gave us a bottle of Mend***e. Put it in and ran 11 more nights that season with no problems. I usually keep a bottle in each of my vehicles. I've given it to friends and relatives who had problems so they could get home and get it repaired and heard that they never have repaired it years later. There may be others that work as well but I've never needed to try anything else.
This is real good to use. Doesn't gum up the heater core. https://www.raksonline.xyz/other-c-...luminized-formula-all-anifreeeze-p-18159.html My son's OT foreign car had a head gasket leak into the coolant, we used Solder Seal Block Saver on that and it worked well.
I'll see how it goes tomorrow. I think I'm just going to order a new radiator from Walker. I go to Columbus, Louisville, York, etc. I need reliability, last thing I need is to be stranded 500 miles from home.
there is one major drawback to adding egg with pepper....the smells as you drive it, makes you want to stop at every breakfast diner you p*** by... ...it gets expensive, but I've met some cute waitresses.. When I built my 32 with the early Olds Rocket motor, I used the stock 32 4 cyl radiator, with stock Olds fan ...and now I found out that all the repro radiators have thicker cores and lower tanks??, and my fan will hit right there? I'm not sure what I will do, but it still leaks at the very top of the core, and the top tank has ''age cracks", so I don't think a shop can recore mine. .
Well my Hudson radiator has a seep kind of leak. It had the wrong cap on it so it never pressurized thus didn't leak. I took it to a shop to fix a different leak and was informed I had the wrong cap. It was a shallow cap and radiator had a deeper neck. So after he repaired the radiator I put the correct cap on and the aforementioned seep leak revealed itself and the water pump started leaking. I replaced the water pump and put the old cap back on. Hasn't leaked since. The only time it overheats is on the "Oh my God road" at the Hill climb. Long story to say just loosen the cap to go to the show and then fix it right.
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