Radiator stop leak?

BigClay

BigClay

Knower of useless ZJ things
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Location
Winston-Salem
I am heading to URE tomorrow and today I am going over the jeep and realized I have a pin hole leak in my radiator. I know I need to replace it, but would some of that auto parts store stop leak get me through tomorrow? The over flow is still full, I just want to get through tomorrow without a problem.
 
Bring water with you. Avoid leak stop unless you absolutely don't want to spend money on a vehicle because you are junking it soon.
 
i have used an egg a couple times and it worked well. Also, once when the fan got into the radiator and really messed it up, I used Bondo. IIRC, PJ taught me that one.
 
upnover said:
JB weld, my old jeep was more JB Weld than it was copper!
Do it today and let it set up over night
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This^^^

or the 'radiator/gas tank' putty that you put on the exterior of the radiator.
 
drkelly said:
This^^^

or the 'radiator/gas tank' putty that you put on the exterior of the radiator.
Click to expand...
I've done that, and JB weld.

As mentioned get started so you have plenty of time for it to set.

From what I've heard of the stop leak, it clogs the radiator passages and causes more harm than good.
 
Stay away from stop leak! Like the Guy from lab of rats said, it clogs passages and can ruin what's left of your radiator. JB water weld is the ticket.
 
i screwed my aluminum radiator up, tigged it back as best as I could, but could never get the last pinhole to clean up. I JB Welded it, and it's been fine for several years now.
 
I've heard that ground pepper works on small holes. Anyone tried this?
 
Thanks guys. I drove it around the street today and it didn't leak. I picked up a small thing of radiator stop leak just for emergency purposes and threw a gallon of water and a gallon of 50/50 in the back of the jeep just incase. Hopefully that will get me through tomorrow and the. I can replace the radiator next week
 
It could leak a bit for six months and not cause any more of a problem than that. But if you put a can of stop leak in it, you'll have to replace the heater core before winter.
 
Alumaseal/solder seal is tiny, like glitter. It will not stop up anything. I have used it for years as a stop gap and once it stopped a head gasket seeping for over 50K miles. It comes in a little tube/vile and is about $3. It is not like big chunky stop leak brands and is a good product.

aecx.images_amazon.com_images_I_51Z9C_2BtLqpL._SY355_.jpg
 
ponykilr said:
Alumaseal/solder seal is tiny, like glitter. It will not stop up anything. I have used it for years as a stop gap and once it stopped a head gasket seeping for over 50K miles. It comes in a little tube/vile and is about $3. It is not like big chunky stop leak brands and is a good product.

View attachment 189484
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I've been using this stuff for four years in my wheeling rig after the third radiator with a seep at the tank (copper/brass) under a side strap where I couldn't resolder or job weld it I said screw it and dumped in a tube. Radiator quit leaking until the fan went through it. Heater never stopped up but it may have larger tubes than a more modern core too.
 
Had the radiator welded in the buggy but a pin hole didn't seal so I dumped a tube of that alumaseal in and it worked great. Stopped leaking as soon as it got up to temp and has stayed leak free.
 
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