Pesky radiator leak...can't decide what to do

I've got a '90 Mazda Protege (173K miles) and it's still in
amazingly good condition, and runs like it did when one-
day old. It's been very well maintained all these years,
which is why I still have it. Here's the deal: I put in a
new after-market radiator last July; last month I noticed
a rather slow leak in the fins somewhere. This radiator
has a two-year warranty I think (still have the paperwork
somewhere), but I can't decide whether to just pull the
thing and take it back to collect on the warranty (assuming
they don't try to dance about something), or just pour a little
of the stop-leak stuff in and hope it seals it. It's been many
years since I used one of these products, and it seemed
at the time to gunk up the radiator some. What would
you guys do? Thanks!

 

Replaced the radiator on my accord last summer - had a shop to do it -
was busy at the time - took them 3 radiators before they got one that
did not leak - Hecho in Mexico - Bumper to Bumper product - replace it
cause if you overheat an aluminum block you will also probably warp the
head - really hard to get a head gasket to stay on after the head gets
warped - even if you have a very good machine shop "mill" the head. I
would not take this risk. Oh - carry a couple of gallons of water with
you in case your leak becomes bigger and you get caught on the road.

 

I know you'd like to save a little work, but forget it. Go for the
replacement ASAP. A defect is a defect. It won't get better. You will
feel better and canmove on to the next thing.

 

I agree with you, Butch.. Get another one.

 

replace it. That is what the warranty is for and you don't want to
fight it until the warranty is used up. Chances are it will get
worse.

I replaced my '90 accord last summer. radiatorbarn.com. very good
price, perfect fit, delivered in two days, and no leaks (so far).

 

It's under warranty. Replace it. If the stop leak doesn't work, then
you've given the shop a reason to void the warranty and you'll have to buy
yourself another radiator. The stop leak stuff isn't a great idea to use.
If it doesn't stop the leak in your radiator it will eventually find some
place to solidify and whether it's in the radiator or engine, it's blocking
flow either way.

-Bruce

 

No question - replace it under warranty. If you use Barrs Leaks or
something similar you might void the warranty completely.

 

Alum-A-Seal is great stuff for small coolant leaks.

 

return it. if you use stopleak and it doesnt work perfectly and forever,
youve just invalidated the warranty. if they dick you around about the
warranty, then do whatcha like.

 

Yep, I'm in agreement with you guys. I'm gonna pull it and take
it back. If they try to dance, I'll just politely leave with it and
buy one
somewhere else....and send a letter to headquarters because
I have done nothing to void the warranty. BTW, does Prestone
only sell 50/50 now (at roughly the same price per gallon as they
used to sell 100% before)? I was at K-Mart recently and that's
all I saw. Great gig they've got, i.e. sell half-gallon of anti-freeze
mixed with an equal part water, and keep the price the same!
Thanks!

 

You have to watch those sneaky SOB's and their mixed junk!

You 'cannot' use that pre-mix to fill up a system after a water flush if
you live anywhere that goes below -25F. It is only good for topping up
a properly filled up system.

I see folks buying it and killing their engines/heater cores, etc....

When you flush a system, normally close to 40% of the water is still
trapped in the heater core and engine block. You then need to add the
correct percentage of pure coolant first and then top it up with water.

On my Jeep that takes 12 quarts to fill, I add 6 of pure coolant first,
then water. Normally I can only get another 2 quarts or so to go in
before it is full. That means 4 quarts of water was left inside things.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
Aug./05 http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=2120343242
(More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)

 

try to collect on the warrenty but check you have done everything
correctly first.

Bars-leaks and similar I have found to be a temporary patch which tends
to blow on long drives.

Top up with mixed antifreeze only - not water.

A radiator I replaced recently had a disclaimer in the installation
instructions that use with water only voided the warrenty. It seemed to
be something about aluminum corrosion.

 

YES! Thank you! Finally!

The first time I measured what I was able to remove and compared that to
the spec for cooling system capacity I was amazed; about 35% stayed in
the engine.

 

id imagine they carry the regular version as well. whatever you get,
make sure its silicate and phosphate free, aka: "safe for aluminum engines"

the orange dexcool prestone in the silver jug has been a safe choice for
me over the past 15+ years. mixed 50/50 with distilled water, of course.

zerex supposedly makes a "red" colored universal coolant that id like to
check out some time if i ever run across it. its supposed to be what
toyota uses, so that would be safe as well.

 

Finally, someone in the whole wide world who loves DexCool..
Hip Hip Hurray

 

I bought into the hype when Dex-Cool first came out, flushed the cooling
system in my Scirocco real good and filled it with Dex-Cool. The
radiator leaked like a seive within a year. :/

Lesson learned; if I feel like being nice to my car I buy the Pentosin
stuff, otherwise Prestone.

nate

 

Per the manual's directions, if one takes off the engine
block drain bolt (not just the radiator drain bolt), then
all the coolant comes out of Honda circa 1990 engines. No
calculation is needed for dilution.

I checked quantities carefully while changing the coolant in
my 91 Civic this past summer and confirmed this.

 

This newsgroup has several posters who drive Hondas, use
DexCool, and are finding no problems with it. My 91 Civic is
on its third year with Dexcool. (I put new Dexcool in after
2.5 years. That's a bit early, according to other posters
and Dexcool's advertising, but I am being careful.)

 

Wow!

You are the first one I have ever seen that has ever 'read the book and
done it right'.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
Aug./05 http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=2120343242
(More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)

 

'Cause I got lucky or smarter with tools, and so this past
summer got that now-and-then-damning engine block drain bolt
off quite easily.

I have done the dilution trick in the past, when the right
tools were not available and I couldn't free the bolt.