Here is an interesting video:

Plastic Radiator Repair - Fix Radiator Leak - YouTube

 

Cool video.

 

thanks Mark

Didnt even know that type repair was advalible

Had a car that plastic tanks kept cracking shop told me the only option was replacment that was maybe 4 years ago

Do you know if this a new method or has it been around awhile

 

new to me also.

 

The concept has been around for years, in the 1990s I did a job building a Coker pit at shell oil refinery building a coker pit. It was basically a huge swimming pool or sump pit.it was constructed from multiple concrete pours, and at each cold joint between pourswe had to install real thick rubber water barrier. The end view looked like this o--------0, round at the top and bottom and 1/2 " thick in the middle . You would set it so the bottom half would be imbeded in last concrete pour and the top half would stand up to be imbeded in the next concrete pour,thus forming a water barrier at the cold joints. To ad to or extend the piece we used a plug in flat iron and held both pieces on the iron until it got hot and melted, then you would hold the pieces together until they cooled and welded themselves together.
so it apears to be the same concept of welding the plastic together. My question is how much the iron costs? I'm firm believer in toss In tossing in another $100.00 an getting a whole new radiator! I would think if that part of the plastic top was exposed to enough heat to crack it the rest would experiance a fail in very short order. But all in all it looks like a very good technology.

 

Might be new to the automotive world but we had a kit similar to this (the rod was thicker) in Army aviation back in the late '80's. The ammo can on the AH-1 Cobra helicopters (S-MOD) 20mm gun was made of thick plastic and prone to cracking. We got a repair kit and some of the guys got pretty good with it (not me so much ). It wasn't hard to make a serviceable repair but it took a lot of skill to make it look good.

 

I have used one of these to repair many different plastic things on autos, but I don't think I would ever trust it for a radiator repair. Maybe in emergency situation only. For the cost of a radiator vs. cost of an overheated engine due to a radiator tank falure, IMHO it's a no brainer. Over time the plastic in these tanks degrade and become brittle due to heat and pressure cycles and will fail. I have replaced many plastic tanks, and if an option, only about $45-80 depending on application. It doesn't take much longer than ten minutes once the radiator is out.

 

While usefull as a emergency repair.... I not sure I would trust it for long term. To many times like people have said the plastic crack is from age and heat cycle and you are just putting a bandaid on a worn out radiator. From the looks of this you have to pull the radiator. If you have the cash I would just put a new one in. Besides just about every plastic radiator I have ever had leak wasn't the plastic. It was at the seam/seal where the plastic and the aluminum meet. I just replaced mine last week for that. The other thing to consider is the radiator itself. Just like the oil cooler and the egr cooler I am sure the casting sand and/or coolant by products are building up a liittle in the radiator.... For peace of mind if it has been more than 3 years or 20k miles I would replace the radiator. To be honest I would only use this if I dropped a wrench on a new radiator and it cracked. You know why it cracked (it was hit with a large wrench) you are reasonable sure it won't happen again (atleast not untill you bang your knuckles and start cussing again) and the radiator is new (you replaced when you hit it with a wrench 2 weeks ago ).

I actually think this is designed and marketed not so much for us as for the shops. I am sure they have to pull radiators a lot more often and accidentally damage radiators by overtightening or accidental drops. If they can repair 2-4 radiators a year instead of replace them..... that is a thousand dollars saved.

 

I personally would get an all new aluminum radiator. They're available now. My trucks been a good one, I'm not going to cheap out at the possible cost of an engine.

 

I looked into that and the 3-5 day wait for all aluminum and the higher price tag ($370 + shipping verse $315 +tax) and I decided to do the OEM one at the dealership with no wait.....

 

For 55 bucks diff. I'll take the aluminum one.

 

If it was just $55 i would agree with you. It was $55 and shipping time.... or in this case time with no truck...

 

Or your better radiator shops can get new end caps. I will go with a new all aluminum when needed.