Technical Radiator Repair

Anyone know some east coast shop that can repair an aluminum radiator. Looks like the lower tank seam is leaking as far as I can tell.

 

Sometimes, for what you pay for repair, you can replace with a new aluminum one.

 

Is it a custom fabricated aluminum unit or an OEM aluminum unit with crimped on plastic tanks?
An off shore "furnace brazed" unit with tigged tanks may be able to be fixed depending on where the leak is by a welding shop.

 

Unfortunately, radiator repair, like shops that rebuild starters and alternators are a lost art. The radiator repair shop we use in St. Louis will not repair aluminum.

 

Aluminum radiators are not easy to repair according to the gay I have done business with since I was a teenager, he just replaces aluminum radiators. HRP

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that . . .

 

If the leak is where the radiator tubes connect at the header on the tank, replace it.

 

Many times attempting to weld
aluminum , thin sections in a radiator or a cylinder head , problems occur due to impurities in the material, as the tig welding bead is started these imperfections can make a pinhole or crack much more difficult to weld successfully, ( labor dollars ) . In a tight spot you might try a repair with regular JB weld, not the 5 minute quick stuff, let it cure 24-48 hours, clean area with emery or stainless steel brush, clean with acetone wouldn't hurt.

 

One other thing I did was to pinch the tube carefully with needle nose pliers, however this patch fix will not work with A/C condensers and the radiator JB patch worked fine, until the radiator starts leaking somewhere else.

 

I bought a handful of aluminum brazing rods at the Portland swap meet this year after watching the guy "weld" up holes in an aluminum pop can. He drilled a 1/2" hole in the bottom of the can, heated it with a propane torch and then added the rod, building a dam all the way around the hole and then closing it with a swipe of the aluminum rod. He then took a steel awl and tried to punch a hole through the repair and it wasn't possible, went through other spots in the can but not that weld.

I may be the ****er born that was born that particular moment but he got the sale. I haven't had the chance to play with them but if it was my radiator and replacement is likely...why the hell not try it?