Coolant leak on radiator

[4SilverBullet6]

It got down to 10°F last night and I started it this morning then boom, saw a drip coming from the left side of the radiator on the plastic ripples. I have straight antifreeze and it showed no signs that it froze. What do i do? A new radiator is $272 and a headache

 

[moooosestang]

you can try one of the stop leak products, but the correct solution is replacing the radiator. it's not that hard. If your engine overheats you'll be replacing the motor.

 

[GriffX]

I would be cautious with using the coolant leak-stop stuff, I got my heater core half clogged and the replacement is a nightmare, so I just flushed it with a bit of success, but.....

FYI: Always dilute the antifreeze concentrate, because the heat capacity of glycol is less than the mixture with water.
Where I live the temp can go down to -13F and I didn't had any problems with the 50:50 mixture.

 

[pass1over]

from google - Pure antifreeze does not have the same ability to transfer heat that a mixture of antifreeze and water does. Using pure antifreeze inside your vehicle's cooling system causes that system to lose about 35 percent of its ability to transfer heat versus a proper mixture of antifreeze and water.

I knew it was not a good thing to run straight antifreeze, but didn't realize it affected it that much.

 

[JC SSP]

Yeah 50:50 and try to use distilled water if you can...

Regarding the OP... radiator replacement is inevitable and stay away from stop leaks unless your stranded and need to get home or to a shop.

 

[07 Boss]

Replacing the radiator is pretty easy, I wouldn't necessarily call it a headache.

Why are you running straight anti-freeze??? I can see running straight water like me but that just seems silly.

 

[GriffX]

Sorry to be the bad guy, but anti-freeze has a 2nd function, to be a corrosion inhibitor. The steel enforced head gasket, brass pump shafts, different aluminium alloys ........
That's why you have these HOAT, OAT, GOAT, BLOAT types

And I found a 3rd function. To use the old stuff in a spray bottle as glass de-icer. Very helpful these days

PS: My Mercedes has a design fault all head gaskets are rusting through. If you ignore this, you can get rust pits in the engine block which is too expensive to repair.

 

[JC SSP]

WARNING anti-freeze is poison to domestic animals (cats, dogs, etc.)

 

[pass1over]

Sorry to be the bad guy, but anti-freeze has a 2nd function, to be a corrosion inhibitor. The steel enforced head gasket, brass pump shafts, different aluminium alloys ........
That's why you have these HOAT, OAT, GOAT, BLOAT types

And I found a 3rd function. To use the old stuff in a spray bottle as glass de-icer. Very helpful these days

PS: My Mercedes has a design fault all head gaskets are rusting through. If you ignore this, you can get rust pits in the engine block which is too expensive to repair.

which is also why there is a specified change interval for it as well in the owners manual. The corrosion package in the antifreeze has a lifespan.

 

[Dino Dino Bambino]

Yeah 50:50 and try to use distilled water if you can...

Regarding the OP... radiator replacement is inevitable and stay away from stop leaks unless your stranded and need to get home or to a shop.

If you're stranded far way from home with a radiator leak, a bushcraft trick to get you out of a hole is to chew some bubble gum to soften it up and stick it over the leak.
Also when diluting antifreeze, ALWAYS use deionized water and NEVER use tap water unless in case of an emergency. The ions in tap water accelerate corrosion in the cooling system and if your household tap water is hard, the limescale will build up inside the cooling system and reduce its efficiency.

 

[GriffX]

WARNING anti-freeze is poison to domestic animals (cats, dogs, etc.)

That is true. But, the law of Paracelsus is always true, so if you spill it on the ground, flush it with water and dilute it below the harmful threshold.
By not knowing the law of Paracelsus, evil people can and will fool you every day.

 

[07 Boss]

Just to clarify, I do run water wetter in both my engine and intercooler, so technically its not straight water.