Radiator Questions.

[LaGuardia]

"When I get to the bottom
I go back to the top of the slide,
where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride,
then I get to the bottom and I see you again"...

No, I haven't gone nuts (yet), but I'm on the way.

So what's happening now ?

After the last repairs, the cooling system is working like a dream and probably I'm getting lots of "good" pressure in the circuit: new pump, a working t-stat, new hoses, no leaks, almost clean jackets, it all says "pressure".

So the rad decided to show up. There are some pinholes on the top cover and some other places around from where small amounts of fluid are leaking. Not much, by now, but enough to be noticed and to lower the level in the bottle (I had to add half a quart in two days).

I know it's bound to get worse, so here are my questions:

1) is there any quick and dirty fix I can use to stop those leaks at least for a couple of months (hot summer ahead), the time I need to spare some money for a new rad ?

2) What's your advice about having the rad rebuilt instead of replacing it ? Anybody did this before ? Results ?

3) Browsing my only new parts source (RockAuto.com, those guys are starting to love me), i found three results:

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1003228,parttype,2172

The first one is "only 1 piece remaining", so I think it won't be there anymore in a couple of weeks, the second one is w/o AC so it's a no go.
It seems I should buy the last one. Looking at it, it seems like the one I have installed now. The only thing I can't see from the pic are the two "nipples" on the base. Mine has two lines (I think they come from and go to the transmission, I might be wrong) on the bottom, with steel pipes attached.

The question is: are they all the same ? do they all have those nipples ?

[Whuntmore]

IIRC, don't ever use 'Stop leak' for the rad, it gums up everything.

The old guys used to tell me use household Pepper (yup, salt and pepper) to stop pinhole leaks.  it doesn't gum up the system, and it actually will plug (or slow small pinhole leaks) and it flushes out easy when you get a better rad.

Now, I've never used it, but that what the older Mechanics used to tell me to use.

[68AMXGOPAC]

If it's a versitile radiator, it would come with plugs where the nipples go.I think you have to put your own fittings in.The plugs would be for a standard transmission car bieng the bottom part will not be used for trans fluid in that application. You should be able to swap over your fittings easily.

[BenM]

None are labeled for a Manual Transmission, so I would expect them all to have transmission coolers. They are small SAE compression fittings in the radiator, and usually come with plugs installed so they can be used in manual transmission or automatic transmission cars.

The non-A/C radiator will have fewer cores then the AC or Heavy Duty radiator, so there will be less surface area to cool the car.

[IowaEagle]

Yeah, you will want an A/C radiator as at a minimum they are two row radiators.

[68AMXGOPAC]

I was thinking those lines are flared at the end, and not the compression type with the ferrul.

[jim]

I hope you don't have to replace your radiator, but in case,here is something I posted in January.  I don't know about shipping across that big pond.

"I just bought a radiator from radiatorworld.com.
It's a 3 core for hd cooling (I hope that means heavy duty).
It cost $275 total, including shipping.  It arrived in about 4 days during the Christmas holidays.
I thought that was pretty good.
It was made in Mexico. Oh, well, you can't have everything."

I have been very well pleased with it.

[eagle503]

I had to put a new radiator in when I got my wagon a wile back I paid $200 for a new one It has the A/T cooling line hookups.The A/C has its own "Radiator" condenser in front of the radiator .If I remember rite when I ordered this one there was a couple choices~a cheaper one with no A/T lines - the one I ordered, radiator only with A/T line hookups - and a more expensive one that was a combined unit radiator and ac condenser. the A/C condenser and radiator are separate on my 85 wagon but just looking at them in the car they look like a single unit.

[tougeagle]

There are two things you can do, one of them a bit cheaper but the other a good long term fix for the cooling system as a whole. First, you could use ginger root... Yes, ginger root. It's the main ingredient in stop leak without all the extra crap and it will work. The second option is to flush your system and use Toyota red coolant. When it finds a leak and is exposed to air while hot, it will crust over and seal the leak. until recently my thermostat housing had, at the last time I had replace the thermostat before most recent, been leaking for a bit but after some time it stopped completely because the coolant had crusted up on the outside around the leak. It will not do this inside the cooling system, only places where it gets exposed to air. It's also better coolant than the green stuff as a whole, it lasts much longer. Problem is you have to go to a Toyota dealership and pay 18 bucks for a gallon bottle, then dilute it yourself.

[thereverendbill]

IIRC, don't ever use 'Stop leak' for the rad, it gums up everything.

The old guys used to tell me use household Pepper (yup, salt and pepper) to stop pinhole leaks.  it doesn't gum up the system, and it actually will plug (or slow small pinhole leaks) and it flushes out easy when you get a better rad.

Now, I've never used it, but that what the older Mechanics used to tell me to use.

a raw egg will stop a pretty good sized leak like a fan comming in contact with a radiator

[LaGuardia]

Thank you all for your answers !

I like the "Eggs & Pepper" solutions, they sound "yummy"

The leak seems to be under control, now, it's not as bad as it seemed before. I'm keeping an eye on it anyway.
Also, the apparent "loss" of fluid in the bottle is not totally due to the leak itself. The circuit was probably still purging itself. The level is now ok, with no need for new fluid.

Glad I have some more time to spare money for the new rad... which I definitely need to buy, anyway !

[captspillane]

A Jeep CJ7 radiator is the same thing. I buy the aluminum ones off the evil bay. There's alot more choices for heavy duty ones and even ones that come with the fans already installed. They're generally much nicer and much cheaper.