Radiator stop leak

[grandpa Love]

The radiator that came with my B had one good leak low on the front, I put a little JB Weld around it and stopped it up. Filled it up and discovered a couple small oozing leaks fairly high up and about half way in the middle of the radiator. Local radiator repair shop said they don't want to fool with one that old. Any recommendations on a magic sealer? I've had good luck on Ford tractors with Aluma-seal powder, comes in a small tube. But the ford has a water pump.... If I fill the tractor with hot water, then run the tractor up to temperature then add powder, it should seal up? Then I drain the water, add 50/50,will I need more sealer ? Or , once holes are sealed it's good? Go easy on the criticism..... I'm looking for advice.

 

[NDIHC]

I'm not a big fan of stop leak. And I would share your concern with using it in a thermosiphon system because it wouldn't circulate like a tractor with a water pump. That said, there's also probably not a lot that could get damaged by using it. Maybe somebody else would know more about that than I do. I have used a permatex spray on leak sealer and also the seal all liquid in the yellow tube. Both are low pressure leak sealers. The surfaces just have to be clean and dry before using it.

 

[wore out]

Sounds like the leaks are in the core tubes and should be fairly easy to solder with a little practice.

CAREFULLY trim the fins out of the way (a Dremel with a cutoff wheel may help), shine up the brass, apply acid-based tinning flux and solder with a VERY small torch flame, or even an HD soldering iron with 50/50 solder.

A tiny wire brush wheel in a Dremel may be of use in cleaning up the damaged area of the tube.

I would NOT use the powdered ''silver'' stop leak, if you feel you MUST go that route look into some of the ''water glass'' radiator and block sealant products.

 

[Cmore]

Try Black Pepper first! About 1/4 pound.

 

[crsutton81]

We have a very large radiator on a piece of equipment that would be a nightmare for 3 men to pull it to replace that was pouring coolant out of on the bottom third of the core. What I did in a bind was while it was drained below the leak level, I initially poured 3 of the Alumaseal tubes in, then immediately filled with a 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze. It holds 6.5 gallons of water. 2 gallons drained out fairly quickly then it dried up. It is still leak free 6 years later. It will leak until the flakes pool and start to collect at the effected area then stop. I think the trick to this method is to not drain the coolant out to allow it to keep pressure against the powder so as it will not dislodge. Normally I will replace one instead of patching, especially on heavily used equipment, but I think you would be fine to do this on a thermosiphon system, especially being it will probably not see really heavy use like lugging a plow all day.

 

[504]

I have used Bars Leak, the original style with great results.

 

[Jim in NC]

I would try black pepper first then Bars Leak.

 

[Papaw8]

Years ago an old guy told me horse manure works better than anything.

 

[caterpillar guy]

A can of pepper cheap and easy. IF that don't work then pinch the tubes off and solder them. One or 2 tubes will not matter for cooling if the system is clean.

 

[FBH44]

I had a leak on the water jacket cover on my H. Two coats of spray-on red Case-IH spray paint stopped the leak, has held for 10 years now.

 

[rustyfarmall]

That "Aluma-seal" stuff works very good. Had a tiny leak in the radiator of a 1940 Farmall H. AlumaSeal cured it. Has held for many years.

 

[riverbend]

You need to find a radiator shop that actually fixes things. DJs in Buffalo MN makes his living on old radiators. He says the new stuff is all junk, especially the ones with plastic tanks. Sad to say, all repair shops are getting thin on the ground.

 

[teddy52food]

I have used a product called mendtite with good results. I don't know if it is still made. It has cotton like fibers in it that will plug a good sized hole.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

(quoted from post at 20:40:55 02/05/23) Try Black Pepper first! About 1/4 pound.

That's all the stuff you buy pre-ground is good for anyway... Tastes like pencil shavings.

 

[Russ from MN]

I have had good luck with Barr's stop leak, and my dad left me some Silver seal that worked well on the JD M that we had. I would flush the cooling system, put in the proper anti-freeze, and then follow the instructions on the whatever you use.

 

[560Dennis]

Eggs and pepper best you can get ,see you tube

 

[redforlife]

I always figured stop leak would be more apt to work in a non-pressurized (thermosiphon) system, than a presurized system. Takes more to stop the water from leaking if it is pressurized.

The down side is, the thermosiphon doesn't have a water pump. So it will take longer for the stop leak to work (stop the leaks). You won't see immediate results, but when you do, you should have better results in a thermosiphon system.

I used a stop leak in an F-20 (thermosiphon) 29 years ago. It still don't leak. I don't remember the brand of stop leak I used, it's been so long ago. You won't know if it will work until you try it. If it stops the leaks, you might be good to good. It's one of those deals, you won't know until you try it and see.

If I was doing it, I would put straight water in, and add the stop leak. Might mix up the stop leak in the water before dumping the water in would be the best. Use straight water for your trial process. If you can get the stop leak to work, then drain the water, and do the same thing only using a 50/50 water antifreeze mix and another deal of stop leak.

No need in wasting antifreeze while getting the leaks to stop. And antifreeze is incredibly hard on paint, especially fresh paint. It'll dis-color paint, and perhaps make it peal. Especially cheap paint. If you use water until the leaks are stopped, you could maybe avoid this, and also not be wasting antifreeze. Antifreeze has gotten a little expensive along with everything else.

If the stop leak don't work, then go to a plan B. But as cheap as it is versus something else, it's worth a shot.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Gp
I used a stop leak in my car and the heater stopped working.
I had to replace the heater core.
I stopped using a stop leak.
However, aluminum is the second best conductor of heat next to copper.
I would recommend using anything with aluminum or copper in it.
I may have used something with iron in it and iron is not a good conductor of heat energy.

 

[redforlife]

My guess is, the heater core had small enough passages that the stop leak actually plugged up the passages in the heater core (likely smaller passages than the tubes in a radiator).

Grandpa's B doesn't have a heater core. Unless he has gotten pretty elaborate in hauling Granny Love around in one of them double seaters.

 

[grandpa Love]

Unfortunately no heater on the B! Lol