Just before leaving to work during Hurricane Dorian...I noticed the radiator had started to leak in my 1964 F100 • 223 IL6.
This weekend I'll be able to check it out...if the leak is coming from the radiator and not the hoses...do the radiator leak products like Bars Leaks work? Should I stay away from them? Any recommendations, links or hints are welcome.

 

Is the leak from something hitting the radiator or just random from being old? Anything you put in will coat the entire system and not always a good thing.

 

Stay away from "stop leak", those products are really only for getting from point "A" to point "B" in an emergency. I was told this by a longtime radiator shop guy. He may be biased, I suppose. He did say ground pepper was OK.

 

If the radiator is just old and tired time to do something. If you want to maintain originality a new core is the way to go, but expensive. New aluminum radiators are cheaper and work well. Stay away from the plastic tank and ones and get the electric fans to clean up the engine bay.

 

Electric fans? Heresy!!

 

That's what I think about all that Blue Tooth stuff.

 

I've used these in a couple of desperate times. I've also opened the cooling systems after some thousands of miles on one of them and didn't notice anything abnormal. I did not do a full tear-down of the engine, but replaced the water pump and timing belt as part of the maintenance interval after having had this stop leak in the system for thousands of miles and didn't see anything that concerned me. Don't call it an endorsement, just sharing my experience.

https://barsleaks.com/product/radiat...k-tablets-hdc/

If you're wondering, the first desperate time was a minivan I had finished putting back together after getting the trans rebuilt and resealing the engine (not very well apparently, my first go-around with that big of a project on my own). After a couple months it just puked coolant everywhere and for the life of me I could not identify the source. The parts guy told me GM recommends these whenever cooling systems are opened on some cars - I do NOT know if that is true and it seems dubious at best, but what the man said. Threw some of these in figuring I was going to have to take it apart anyway but it would be worth trying as I was in no particular mood to tear it back down (it was the winter). They worked. I never did find the source of the leak, but in the end I didn't have to. Drove that thing for a couple years, never had any problems.

Second one was on a Neon. The suspected leak location was the water pump, which you may or may not know is a huge chore to access on this car. Without any certainty that was the actual source I had a great deal of reluctance in tearing into it. Gave these things a try since they worked for me once, and they worked yet again. In fact I still have this car on the road. Serviced the water pump an timing belt about 15k miles ago (preventative maintenance). Pump seemed to be in good condition, radiator is fine. Car has close to 190k on it.

Might not fix the issue, but in my limited experience haven't noticed any long-lasting harm from using them.

 

I would stay well away from any $5.00 quick fixes for anything.
Spend the time and money and fix it right the first time.
Determine where it is leaking and then make the appropriate repairs. If the radiator is leaking, take it out and take it to a reputable radiator shop.

 

thanks for all the info. I found the leak @ the bottom tank in between the ridges....a hairline crack. Hopefully I'll get it out this weekend and get it to a shop.

thanks,

rtc

 

Easy non-destructive temporary fix on the road...
Black pepper

 

I never heard of this. Can anyone explain the principle behind this, making it so even someone of my limited faculties can understand ?

No? Didn’t think so. Seriously, though . . .

 

I joked with the radiator guy about that. I've heard ground black pepper works. Also, a raw egg. So I asked him if a little Bacon and hash browns are OK. Tabasco, onion, and a little cheese on my spuds always taste good. Fluffy sausage gravy, too. Just make sure you break down near one of those 4 calendar cafe or roadside diners, and should be all set.

 

Man, that sounds good, been up since 4 a.m., about time for breakfast. Seems like someone could rig up an over-sized coolant recovery bottle so you could place your sealed, pre-prepared meal inside, warming it as you drive. Guess I’d rather eat at the house, no one’s biscuits and gravy beats my wife’s.

 

I make a pretty mean setup myself. I don't make it too often anymore, I once added up the calories on that, it's pretty impressive. LOL For pure arterio-sclerotic delight though, it can't be beat. 2 or 3 Poached eggs with runny yolks, mixed with crispy hash browns, biscuits, smothered in sausage gravy. Side of crispy bacon, toast and jelly, strong black coffee.

 

The pepper eats the eggs, bacon and I drink the coffee...
While the pepper locates pinholes in the radiator and swells clogging the pinholes.
Eggs will temporarily clog holes, won’t last long in comparison with black pepper.
...personal choice, no raw eggs in my emergency kits.

Happy Sunday to all!