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tightened all the head bolts, warmed up the truck in garage with hood open. this is what I saw squirting out of top of radiator when temp got to 180. 4 lbs cap in system. I do not see or feel the hole.
this may be to much for me to try to fix. might have to take in.
Yeah, take it in. If I understand the picture correctly, the top tank has ballooned from overpressure, and the seam is likely leaking. As long as your tubes are in good shape, you can get the tank removed, the tubes rodded out, and everything buttoned back up for around a $150. Mine was similar and I've had cool running ever since I bit the bullet.
Thanks Ross,
I took the picture into the local radiator shop here (we don't have that many)
He said once they pull the top off to re-solder and inspect it, said re-coreing would be $450 if needed, seeing he mentioned that, it will 99% chance need re-coring from my experience with mechanics,.. period.
I mentioned me pulling the radiator and brining it in (trying to save $$$ for labor and fluid doing it that way, plus I have a front tilt hood)
There's some truth about them wanting to replace the tubes, and at that point they've got you by the huevos... By all means take it out of the truck yourself, look it over yourself to see if there are any signs of leakage down low on the tubes, crusty stuff is a good indicator. That's a pretty high price IMO even for a total recore, at that point a new replacement is likely cheaper.
I thought so too about the price. Sounds way to high to me. I didn't take the truck there, because my experience has been if they see the truck first, they throw out a high number because they think I can afford it.
My trick still didn't work because all they saw was the leaky radiator pic.
I'll take it out look at the tubes, and try shopping around here with quotes.
Whoever works on it, once they pull the top, I'm screwed that point if they come back with something else that needs to be done besides re-rodding/ solder.
We had a similar problem after replacing the waterpump the old radiator gave it up & started leaking. We looked at the fix or replace question & a new radiator cost about the same sooo we went with a new (4) row radiator that was much more efficient. Our's was $350.40 delivered from coolcraft. It took about a week & half to get it in
We had a similar problem after replacing the waterpump the old radiator gave it up & started leaking. We looked at the fix or replace question & a new radiator cost about the same sooo we went with a new (4) row radiator that was much more efficient. Our's was $350.40 delivered from coolcraft. It took about a week & half to get it in
Hey Chris,
I've got a 1950 F1 with a 302 in it - I wasn't sure what the leaking radiator in the truck was so I went looking for something that would fit the space & brackets I had. We ended up ordering a 1954-1956 ford F1 Radiator that has both the inlet & outlet on the passenger side. The Part # from Coolcraft was 091056ANN - the price was $322.50 with $27.90 shipping. (It came with no cap & no drain plug which I thought was kind of weird but it's ok we used the old ones).
Ben,
Thanks for the info I really appreciate it. I'm in Rio Rancho. I'm on the fence about buying another radiator or waiting to apply the money to my total build. Right now I have a 292 Y block with 3sp on the tree in my 55 F100. My goal is NoLimit Wide Ride front and Fat bar rear with a 351c, E4OD, and to rebuild the 9 in i have it it now. Got my hands on a bare 55 frame so i might source a cheap junk yard radiator to putt putt the 292 around with and start the other frame. I'm trying to come up with a build sheet today to see if build a second frame will be a possibility.
Hey Chris,
Sounds like we are on similar paths for our trucks. I looked hard at the No Limit IFS but ended up going Mustang II from Speedway - Our's is on order waiting for the cross member. I'm having some buyer remorse - I cut $1100 off the install price with the Mustang II - not sure if it was right move - we'll see. Good Luck.