Radiator leak
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 60
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Radiator leak
Hi everyone I have a c3 with a four year old radiator and it has a less than pin hole leak that, is hit and miss but it does come out of the face of rad. about a inch below the top tank. you cant see it unless you put some thing in front of the leak the spry is that fine. MY question is if I change the Rad.cap to a lower pound rated cap and put in a 1/4 cup of Barrs leak do you think I can get by for awhile. or am I just outa of luck. Rich outtt: THANK FOR HELP
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,241
Likes: 4
From: Okinawa Okinawa
If it were me, I would get it fixed correctly. I stay away from all the "stop leak" stuff on the market. Don't want it to get in the engine and gunk anything up and reduce coolant flow.
If you do use Barr, it will work, I just wouldn't do it myself.
If you do use Barr, it will work, I just wouldn't do it myself.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,118
From: Crossville TN
If its an aluminum-finned radiator, you might be able to carefully use some needle-nosed pliers to pinch-closed and/or fold-over the fin that has the leak. You can only do this if the leak is located very near the outer surface of that fin. If the exact leak is deeper into the face of the radiator, that technique won't work. If you try it, be advised that those fins are thin and you could make the leak worse, if you're too aggressive or not careful.
Racer
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 386
Likes: 1
From: Grafton WV
DO NOT use Stop Leak. I just did some work on my 81 and had used stop leak previously and it worked too DAMN good. Took the intake manifold off and some of the water passages were almost completely plugged up. Take the radiator to a shop and get it fixed right.
