Fixing a cars radiator

 Recently I got a crack in my radiator and found out its going to be $300 just to buy a new one, and thats If I installed it myself, it was going to be around $500-$600 to have someone do it for me, I looked into other ways and here's what I came up with. Total cost $16, time 15min. lasts forever.

Step 1 Materials

 I went to a local napa automotive store, and found a kit that is designed to fix cracks and holes in plastic parts on cars and containers. It's a fiberglass repair kit and only cost about $16. 

Comments

[dbtk44]

Nice tutorial! I used this same procedure, very successfully, on a 4" crack in my radiator. A year and a couple months later, it's still holding like a champ. Even being severely heated ( due to a bad thermostat ), it's held just fine. Of the 5 other products I tried using to patch it ( JB weld, epoxy putty, etc.), this one is the only permanent solution; the others just flaked off or leaked.

Just a little piece of advice for anybody who has a cracked radiator..try and patch it ASAP, because the intermittent low coolent level, and the heat, will effect your water pump and your thermostat. Thermostats are easy to change out, and probably not a bad idea just to do it if you've been overheating anyway. Water pumps, depending on your vehicle, can be a nightmare to DIY or very expensive to have it done.

Anyway, again nice tutorial! I highly recommend this stuff

[radmanaa]

You can't fix it. You can replace the cracked tank with a new one but that is just as expensive as buying a new radiator. The tanks are made from injection molded plastic and there isn't a product on the market that will vulcanize with it. Epoxy, glue gun, zip ties, and other things people have come up with here are temporary fixes (one or two days if you are lucky) because your radiator expands and contracts causing any substance you try and fix it with to crack loose as soon as you run the vehicle a few times. Also don't use stop leak as this will plug up everything but the leak. Sorry for the bad news. The best answer is to just keep adding water till you can afford to replace the radiator. www.intermountainradiator.com

[johnny3h]

Good job on the tutorial. I have used this technique in the past, and it worked well. However, it was years ago, and a different brand of kit, but I suspect that today's products are better due to technology improvements. The only addititional advice I would add is to BE SURE the surfaces to which the epoxy is to be applied are TOTALLY CLEAN and dry. That means no grease, oil, fingerprint oil from your hands, or any other contaminent. These will prevent a good, uniform bond. When I repaired my radiator tank, the first thing I did was to thoroughly wash the entire upper tank with Dawn Dishwashing Liquid [an excellent detergent, but 'gentle.']. After thorough rinsing, I allowed it to fully air dry before then following all the directions on the package.

[IfWeChoose]

Nice instructable. JB Weld fixes anything

[Vikking]

 it isn't JB weld, JB weld doesn't work on plastic, I used fiberglass and epoxy

[IfWeChoose]

 Oh sorry, I should have read the first page. Well JB Weld does work on plastic but your alternative is more secure.

[Vikking]

 I did try JB weld first because thats what I already had but in about a month it flaked off, so far this has held strong.

[IfWeChoose]

Yeah the same thing happened to me, it opened back up a few months later.

[StarBlades]

hahaahahah is that a nissan altima lol

[Vikking]

 it's a 98' Nissan altima, the crack in the radiator is the first problem I've ever had with the car

[StarBlades]

i have the same, nissan altima 98.
i have 200,000+ and no problems. i have a small oil leak but thats no problem. i do all the maitenance myself, im an auto apprentice first year.

[IfWeChoose]

Don't worry about any other problems coming up either. How many miles you got? Might want to flush the radiator, the coolant gets chunky when its old and can cause cooling issues.

[Vikking]

 i have around 130k miles, I'm actually going to keep looking for a new radiator just so i dont have any future problems, but so far this fix has done the trick, if anything changes I'll post another comment letting people know what to expect

[IfWeChoose]

Yeah that's a good idea. Good luck!

Sometimes buying a used one and having it rebuilt could be cheaper than buying a new one. For a car I had in the past, I had the radiator rebuilt. It's usually hard to find local places to do it. Cost me $100 to make it brand new. Depending on how bad the opening was on your current radiator, they MIGHT be able to make an internal and external patch to make it brand new, leveled and everything. Just thought I'd let you know! ;)

[pillow3971]

P.s. Never pay any one to replace your spark plugs, all you need is like $4 worth of tools from an auto part store, and 4 new plugs, and the whole job cost you maybe $25 and 10 mins. Just realized I have that exact same care (98 Nissan Altims)

[pillow3971]

I have a Nissan Altima with the same exact crack. Gonna try this tomorrow when the auto part store opens. Thx for posting, I found a radiator for $130 online, but don't feel like spending more money to fix this damn car..

[dombeef]

 You could also put an egg in it...

[eight]

Yes an egg can work as can MUSTARD.

Rumours that if you fill your radiator with milk, you get a free Cappuccino frother are debatable !  ;- P

Nice post by the way !!

[dombeef]

 Yeah!
Gave me a good laugh today thanks!
But how mustard? Does it gelatinize (Is that even a word?) in the hole?

[eight]

Mustard swells up like a sponge to fill the gap... in theory. Just a temporary fix until you can get it fixed or do this instructable.

[dombeef]

 Oh ok Thanks!

[eight]

It is my pleasure Dom !

[dombeef]

 Yeah  My username is odd...

[eight]

Um yeah, but hey, I'm not gonna say a word, my friend... ;-D

[dombeef]

 Ok...
And what is your picture of?

[eight]

Glad you asked Mr Beef...
The awesome 1969 TV series from England called UFO !


    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063962/mediaindex 

ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTU2NjY3NDQ1NF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMTU4MzQyMQ@@._V1._SX338_SY475_.jpg

[dombeef]

 OK now you are calling me a cow
Thanks...



lol
 But Yeah that is a cool show

[IfWeChoose]

 :O

[Toxictom]

Old school mechanics would dump black pepper into a radiator to fix small pinholes.   

[Karletto555]

i tried it with special liquid which you pour into the radiator and it closes the hole(s)
.. didn't help but  the hole was quite big

[ths]

 Stop Leak only clog your radiator, don't put that in your rad.  When I replaced my rad, I had to drain the coolant by removing both input and output pipe from the rad (the rad itself was clog)

This instructables at least doesnt clog your system

[Vikking]

 stop leak only works if you have a pin hole in the metal part of the radiator, for large holes and cracks you need to do something like this for the plastic parts or if it's metal use JB weld