I did a search in here for this but couldn't find anything.

Has anybody used any of the radiator sealant products to close up small leaks in the radiator/cooling system? If so, what did you use and did it stop the leak? Are there any reasons to not use these products? Thanks in advance.

 

I tried several diff things when my radiator started leaking a while back. They seemed to work for a while then it would start leaking again. How many miles on your vette? I hear that its common for them to start flexing and cracking on the raised ridges on the plastic side tanks at 100k. Mine did it right on that schedule. I tried the add to coolant leak stoppers, the outside applied products and nothing worked. Well, it turns out they would seal ok but then the plastic would flex and break the seal open again. They add these ridges on the sides of the tank for structural strength but what happens is when the tanks flex from heat those ridges tend to get brittle with age and crack instead of flexing. I finally just pulled it out and found there was a bazillion other cracks that were just starting to leak too. You can have the side tanks replaced. I checked into that and it would have been $80 for 1 side tank, $120 for both and the other end was obviously about to start lekaing too. Or get a whole new radiator for $160. I just bought and put in the new radiator myself. Its an easy job too, just a lot of screws. And you dont have to remove the fans as the books say, just loosen them from the radiator shroud before you lift the shroud off.

 

Bahr's Stop Leak has save my butt on a couple of occasions. I recently read an article in a car magazine that stated the Cadillac used it and recommend it as preventative maintenance on one of their vehicles that had cooling system leak issues.

 

Thanks for that info sraft. I'll take a look at it.

My car only has 62k miles and the radiator was replaced less than 5k miles ago. The leak isn't near the radiator but is somewhere under the front of the engine. I'm getting a few drops of fluid behind the oil cooler, on the frame. See this thread for pics.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=785819

 

Yes, every time I change the coolant I put in a half bottle of Bars Leak just for the pinhole leaks that happen now and then.

 

Bars Leak ! When I bought my 85 about 15 years ago it developed a coolant leak around the intake manifold. Dealer wanted a lot of money to fix. I thought I would try Bars Leak and it fixed the leak and it never leaked for the 15 years I owned the car. Never had any coolant problems even after my yearly radiator flushes without using Bars Leak again. Read that it is installed at the factory by several different manufactures including GM. It is like a powered Bakeite(sp?) plastic and at the leak, where the temperature is higher , it melts and forms a seal for good. It does not clog the cooling system because the coolant never lets it melt - it melts where there is no cool or little coolant like where the leak is. Shake it good and try not to buy old stock.

 

One of the first things I did, when I first bought my vette 10 years ago, was to rebuild the radiator.
Saves in the long run!
tony
:flag

 

I just read your other post. It sounds like you have found the leak when you found that the water pump was wet. I would not use the coolant system sealers they seem to create more problems like a plugged heater core. Don't ask how I know. :banghead: I would get a mirror under the water pump to get a good look at the weep hole. Then go from there. Hope this helps.

 

Ok, I won't ask. Every response is very helpful. I feel alot better about moving forward with this. I think I can actually get this done this weekend.

One last question: Is it true that replacing the water pump on a late C4 (92-96) is alot easier than an early C4 (84-91)? From what I was reading in my Haynes book, it sure looks easier.

 

Get rid of the Haynes and get a Helms-or ask for a forum member to fax you instructions :rolleyes: I have Haynes, Helms, Gordon Killebrew-for your water pump-get the HELMS-read the posts-this is a job :eek: