I've got a tiny pinhole leak at the bottom of the radiator in our recently-purchased '30 roadster. The previous owner says to tip in a little Silver Seal. I've heard this stuff can plug up engine water passages but the previous owner says "Pffft!" and the guy at the local NAPA says he's heard it works and has never heard of any problems. What's the skinny?
I used Silver Seal before on a couple cars, BMW, 36 Ford, and had good luck with it... I'd use it again,
I never use radiator stop leak of any kind. After seeing the gunk it builds up behind freeze plugs it wouldn't even think about it. How about heater cores and other water passages? I'd remove that radiator, have it boiled out, pressure checked and repaired. If you've got one pin hole there could be more just waiting to follow. A radiator is this last thing I'd mess with doing a half assed repair. Do it right or don't do it at all. Gary
POR15...or chassis saver , may take 2 coats. can you see the hole. I repaired a honeycomb rad this way. so far still holding.proof will be time. haven't used car many miles yet. $2000 for new rad, made me improvise. stop leaks have never worked well for me. have used por15 for gas tank repairs too. only thing I found to hold back gas. jus remember....its a oneway ticket. once you use it, no more able to solder. good luck
The brand you mentioned is probably a lot like Alumaseal that I am familiar with (little flakes of aluminum that melt into the hole and seal it up) It is the least of the evils as far as damage, but ones like Bars Leaks and some of the others are really bad. I used some Bars Leaks in a car one time, and later, when I tore the engine apart, all the cooling passages had this solid concretelike mass that I had to chisel out to reopen them. Never again. Have a radiator shop do it right. Don
I use to work at a Chevy S10 assembly plant and the last thing they did before start up was drop 2 pellets of stop leak into the radiator, fill it with antifreeze and start it up for the first time.. I've never had a problem and have used it plenty of times in my old beaters.. Maybe I'm just lucky...
Justice Brothers Stop Leak will not plug up anything and can be flushed from the system. Take a look at this video. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...&mid=8066A790B53B91AA7BE88066A790B53B91AA7BE8
I've heard pouring a tablespoon or so of black pepper (as in, the shit from your kitchen..) into the radiator does the trick.
...................................You have to add it with a whole egg.......seriously. It's gotten a lot of people home before.
Yep ^^^^^ I have used silver seal and Bars even pepper but nothing beats a little dab of solder on a pin hole. The egg is not necessary, just pepper it and go on and yes it is temporary. I kept the Pusher going that way for a year once when I was working too many hours to make a repair, pepper about once a month and keep on truckin'. I eventually had time to drain it and solder up the hole and that fixed it. I didn't even use silver solder (the solder of choice) a propane torch and a little soft solder did it. here is a quick tip for everyone reading this thread, if you do not know how to solder it is a skill that you should have. Lots of things get soldered on these old heaps that we drive. You can even solder up a fuel tank with a soldering iron and some silver solder, and using a soldering iron instead of a torch you won't blow yourself up. Get some tin or copper and some solder and learn.
My Grandpa told me that back in the day folks used horse shit to fix a leaking radiator. The oats swell up and plug the leak. I've never tried it though. Gary
Doesn't work on a pressurized system. Common fix for the Ts was oats in the radiator. My granddad said he tried it on a later pressurized system and it blew out the tank.
Ive had good luck with Silverseal and Alumaseal. I would never recommend the Bars leak stuff, I used that stuff and it created a world of problems until I flushed it out. Along with the mess it made when my radiator puked.
If it is just seeping and not squiring out clean the area real good and apply a little JB Weld. It worked for me as a temporary fix over a year ago and is still working fine. That way there is no need to worry about clogging up the inside of the radiator.
If this is the same stuff, Cadillac sold these pellets 6 to a box for use in HT4100 V8s. Hit up a local Cadillac dealer, preferably one that's been in business through the bad years (HT4100 era). Cosmo
If the previous owner is so proud of silver seal, why didn't he do it himself and you would never have seen a leak? I used aluma seal and it sealed- the core of my radiator. Ended up having to pull it and have it professionally done anyway.
Nothing at all wrong with bars leaks, silver seal, and such. I've used it in dozens of cars. I really prefer bars leaks copper, it is a little better quality thus more permanent. If you plug a radiator with recommended amount, you were due to pull the radiator anyway. Pepper will work temporarily too but don't tighten radiator cap all the way tight. I've heard more than a few new manufacturers factory install a stop leak. I have had no problem with air conditioned units either. I have used it successfully in diesel engines but know what you have. Some of the new diesels have a coolant filter so that will not work good with a radiator sealer. Leaking head gaskets have also been fixed but if you have a valuable engine it's time to pull the head and do it right.
I caught a rock in the radiator of my daily driver 68 chevy shortbox out on the interstate. I knew as soon as the fan blew anti freeze up through the hood louvers all over my windshield. Pin hole in a tube back in the middle of the radiator and I was 40 miles from any town.....I put the tobacco from 2 cigarettes down the neck and the leak sputtered to a stop in 15 seconds. I finally had it repaired 2 years later when it began to seep. I also had a leak in my brand new 34 ford Walker radiator [self inflicted] and had it repaired immediately...taped thick cardboard over the core like I should have in the first place. I'd remove it and have it professionally repaired now.
throw an egg in it, when you brought it to our shop in the 70's, the egg was like a rubber plug.. At radiator school, they told us it was temporary fix, to get the car to the shop.. B.S. It worked long than that, many times..