Non-pressurized Radiator Woes

[hunterguy92]

I have a 1941 Farmall H with an original unpressurized radiator. I m in the process of a full split restoration and have already rebuilt the water pump and thermostat. Because removing the radiator was such a pain I took it to a local shop to have it tested before reinstalling.

The owner of the shop told me that he tanked the radiator and it had a few small leaks, but he wasn t willing to re-core it. At the time I did not realize that it was an unpressurized system.

Question is: will every non-pressurized radiator fail this test? And if so, what would be the best way to check for leaks? The tractor has sat for the last 20 years with the radiator filled to the top with antifreeze and never leaked.

Thanks!

 

[wore out]

One would hope an experienced radiator man would have known from it's application and from the style of filler neck that it is an non-pressurized application, and accordingly, used very low psi to test it.

You say he didn't want to re-core it, did he at least solder up the leaks?

 

[hunterguy92]

One would hope, but I m not so sure. He didn t even want to repair the leaks. Also it was just about at dirty as when I took it in, so honestly I m not even sure it was tested. Not a guy I ve ever used before but the only one around that will look at radiators.

 

[M-MAN]

Any radiator shop that won't do a recore
isn't a real shop. Find someone else.

 

[showcrop]

Gov't regs drove a lot of radiator shops out 10-15 years ago. Don't be surprised if you have to travel a distance and wait a while and pay a lot.

 

[buickanddeere]

(quoted from post at 16:41:45 05/02/20) I have a 1941 Farmall H with an original unpressurized radiator. I m in the process of a full split restoration and have already rebuilt the water pump and thermostat. Because removing the radiator was such a pain I took it to a local shop to have it tested before reinstalling.

The owner of the shop told me that he tanked the radiator and it had a few small leaks, but he wasn t willing to re-core it. At the time I did not realize that it was an unpressurized system.

Question is: will every non-pressurized radiator fail this test? And if so, what would be the best way to check for leaks? The tractor has sat for the last 20 years with the radiator filled to the top with antifreeze and never leaked.

Thanks!

Recore or wish that you had.

 

[tractorguy2]

Where is it leaking at? If it's the top or bottom tank. You could repair it yourself just need to get it really clean, heat and solder. My 1940 9n Ford has a non pressure radiator. It has had several leaks repaired before I bought it. A split seem was repaired with blue silicon. Don't know how old that repair is. I've had it for 21 years and it's not leaking.