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radiator leak

S

scottsxj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
richmond va
im buying a wrecked xj for really cheap, the only catch is that when it got in the accident the radiator hit the ac fan and now has a small hole in it, and im not going to be able to make it home with this leak in it. So im going over tuesday to do some work to it. I am either going to put a radiator in it, or i was wondering if there is any way i could get some sort of putty and put on it as a temp fix, until i can get it home. Or should i just put another one on and not have to worry about it later. Thanks

scott
 
anybody else, im kinda low on funds right now, is there any trick i could do to just get it home. Some guy at my work told me a could just bring lots of water and leave the cap loose on the radiator so the system doesnt build up pressure. And just watch the gauge as i drive home. The drive is about 15 miles, most of which are on a major highway.
 
A bad motor mount made my fan clutch eat my radiator like you are describing and I had to limp it home. I made it home 20 miles (all interstate) by taking it easy, (55-60 mph) and keeping a close eye on the gauge. It never over-heated and I only had to stop and add water once half way when it started to climb a little bit past the middle of the gauge. I think I got lucky though, your leak could be worse and I never got caught in any traffic which surely would have made things worse. I also had a new Modine two row radiator that worked a lot better than the stock one row. If its not a bad leak, you could try some of that radiator stop leak. I've heard it works pretty good in a pinch.

Btw, when I tried loosening my cap like you suggested, for some reason, it made the leak much, much worse. It went from a slight leak to spraying coolant everywhere.
 
If the rad is the only damage you have, then i would say go ahead and replace it it, but if their is some other things here and there on the front of the jeep then you can use a radiator powder/metallic seel the leak. The only downside to those is once you get it home be sure to flush it out of the system quickly.

pete
 
Take some needlenose pliers and crimp the tubes that are leaking, this should slow the leak enough to go 15 miles. If you have enough room or if you pull the radiator out you can follow this procedure, LINK it is good enough to get you off the trail and probably drive home too.
 
Ground black pepper. Really! If it is just a pinhole size leak then the pepper will fill the hole. A couple of teaspoon fulls should do it. I've tried it and it works. :chef:
 
thank you all for the replies. I bought some heavy duty radiator stop leak today so hopefully that will work. I have also heard of putting an egg in there, anyone know if this is true
 
for only 15 miles I'd just take a couple gal of extra water and drive. Find a route where you can stop to refil a few times if needed. Stop leak is a mess, avoid it and if you must, flush the system good before installing a new rad.

If the front end is bent up from a collision I wouldn't want to be fitting
a new radiaton in a junk yard either..
 
desertjeeper said:
Take some needlenose pliers and crimp the tubes that are leaking, this should slow the leak enough to go 15 miles. If you have enough room or if you pull the radiator out you can follow this procedure, LINK it is good enough to get you off the trail and probably drive home too.
Click to expand...

thank you for the idea , that is what i ended up doing. It didnt leak at all on the trip home and the temps stayed well under 200. And thanks everyone for the suggestions. Im just glad i got my new baby home safely.


ohh and this is post number 500, woohoo
 
scottsxj said:
thank you all for the replies. I bought some heavy duty radiator stop leak today so hopefully that will work. I have also heard of putting an egg in there, anyone know if this is true[/QUOTE
No egg but evaporated milk works good and only collects at the leak and hardens

.
Click to expand...
 
langer1 said:
scottsxj said:
thank you all for the replies. I bought some heavy duty radiator stop leak today so hopefully that will work. I have also heard of putting an egg in there, anyone know if this is true[/QUOTE
No egg but evaporated milk works good and only collects at the leak and hardens

.
Click to expand...
yeah i heard about the egg on myth busters and they said it worked
Click to expand...
 
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