Good day! So I noticed a drip in the front lower front end of my jeep. Long story short-gotta crack/leak. See pics below. Any advice on a fix? I’m thinking radiator sealant and epoxy?? Any help is greatly appreciated!!!!
Radiator crack/leak
Bryanc182
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Nope you didn't hurt my feelings. But thanks for the compliment of me being an internet expert. I never would of given myself that title.Did I threaten your status as an internet expert and hurt your feelings?You're the one who goofed here. If I was the forum police, you would have gotten a ticket for sure.
Do they let you work the mechanics' parts counter or do they keep you on the retail parts counter?
I work both counters. Do I know it all? Of course not. There is a lot to learn in the world of parts.
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I assume this world-renowned "Expert" KNOWS this person's financial situation (if a guy asks about trying to fix a radiator leak and not replace, it sounds like he's just trying to get by until he can or afford it). I gave options and he barged in with the typical social skills of a neanderthal, and bangs on people. Expected behavior for one from the Bay Area, as I have seen and work with people from that specific area. Not that all are that way. I'm sure he is a hit with all the 20-somethings in the shipping department and they look up to him as a God as he obviously has a self-image problem which most likely stems from his childhood (Dad: "You can't do anything right"). I appreciate this site and the contributions you make and keep it up, Jeep Momma!
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Thanks for the scathing rebuke and psychology lesson. You're obviously butt hurt over my response and seem to be projecting your own issues onto someone that you don't even know. This is a public forum and it was an open question so there was no butting in. Your advice is still bad and you should probably have thicker skin on this forum and stay away from the fix-it-in-a-can aisle at the parts store. Jeep Momma has thicker skin than you do. Instead, consider chiming in with your first hand experience where your proposed solution actually worked.
Radiator stop-leak products can and do make a mess of the entire cooling system and it is very difficult to clean out when you finally do have to perform the repair properly. JB Weld or something similar may work temporarily to repair a crack in the plastic tank but there is usually no way to get the epoxy inside of the crack. It would be just a surface repair that won't hold up long term to the pressures seen in a modern cooling system and the coolant will probably start making its way past the surface repair. I've used JB Weld to repair leaks before and it didn't work at all - started leaking right away and the JB Weld came off.
Looking at the pics that Jeep Momma/Tammy posted, it appears that her radiator was leaking at the seam between the plastic tank and the aluminum core. That is where a lot them leak anyway, versus a crack in plastic tanks. There is no way to fix that without replacing the entire radiator. These plastic tanks aren't designed to be removed and re-sealed. And JB Weld wont fix that either. FWIW, I've taken these radiators apart (to recover the recyclable aluminum not to repair them) and they are not repairable in that way.
Before the advent of plastic tank / aluminum radiators, radiator repair shops were a lot more ubiquitous. They could remove the brass tanks, replace the radiator core, solder the tanks back into place and also braze any holes in the tanks. Shops that specialize in radiators are now mostly extinct.
I'm sure Tammy is a nice person. It's just fun to heckle her a little given her past history on this forum.
The OP made no indication that they were necessarily on a budget. Everyone wants to do a repair as inexpensively as possible. The radiator that I am suggesting, while more than the price of a can of stop-leak + JB Weld, is still relatively inexpensive @$183 compared to other options (such as Mopar radiator or a full aluminum radiator). It also has a lifetime warranty.
Amazon.com: Mishimoto R2957-MT Plastic End-Tank Radiator Compatible With Jeep Wrangler 2007-2018 : Automotive
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It's not that shops are trying to make the most money possible by sticking customers for the higher repair cost of replacing a radiator. The cheapest way to perform a repair is to do it properly and do it one time. Didn't your father tell you that? Mine did.
Oh, and I almost forgot....
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I am kinda partial to old fashioned white knights who let me know it's time to replace my batteries! Ah.... the good ole' days of getting burned at the stake.Tammy must get tired of not being able to defend her shit without all the purple knights scurrying around
....
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Back to radiator leaks.
I was told that the possible leak issue is due to the change in the coolant. something in the new 10 year coolant which I believe is supposed to be more environmentally friendly is causing some sort of erosion to those aluminum cores. I believe, correct me if I am wrong. (like I need to tell anyone that. LOL!) the leak issue didn't start until the coolant change.
I was told that the possible leak issue is due to the change in the coolant. something in the new 10 year coolant which I believe is supposed to be more environmentally friendly is causing some sort of erosion to those aluminum cores. I believe, correct me if I am wrong. (like I need to tell anyone that. LOL!) the leak issue didn't start until the coolant change.
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I am a very nice person. And super fun!
Heckling is like pulling my hair right? My mom said when the boy pulls your hair they like you. 🤣😂
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I forgot to ask what his pronoun is. Hope he wasn't offended.Tammy must get tired of not being able to defend her shit without all the purple knights scurrying around
....
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That could possibly exacerbate the issue. Leaking at the seam between the plastic tank and the aluminum radiator is common on all brands and pre-dates 10-year coolant. Its not the aluminum that goes bad. It's the seal between the aluminum and the plastic from what I have seen.
In the bad old days with the old fashioned coolant, if it wasn't changed often enough, the coolant would turn acidic and eat away at the old fashioned head gaskets and cause them to leak. I've replaced plenty of head gaskets because of this. The service interval back then was 15k-30k miles. A lot of the cars that came in for a 60k service that had never been serviced before would have blown headgaskets. The coolant would become so acidic that you could connect the negative lead of a volt meter to ground and dip the positive lead into the radiator water and measure a voltage. This was with cast iron blocks and aluminum heads.
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Sheesh. I'm way more mature than that. If I liked you in that way, I would ask you to pull my finger and let a loud stinky one rip.
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My dad taught me "the pull my finger" at a very young age! I had a boyfriend, the old fashioned kind, who taught me about dutch ovens. My two boys are really good at silent drive-bys. So I really get that kind of affection. 😄
Where I come from we call that crop dusting.
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Another good name for it!
When you have boys it becomes a contest. I was always the one who was the target. I think I was meant to be a mom of boys for sure.
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Ahem... excuse me for the diversion from farting to coolants, I find it really hard to believe a major manufacturer would use a coolant that corrodes alumin(i)um. Given that many, if not most metal parts in a modern engine are that... imagine the havoc 😳
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What!?! Fart talk is fun!
Well... A Jeep mechanic of mine from the East Coast (not my ex CO mechanic - for those following my life) shared his, along with some other mechanic friends, theory.
I should of said, corrodes seam points or "welds" of the aluminum core radiator not the actual aluminum itself.
He had seen several Jeeps in his shop with the same leak I had. All the Jeeps were newer than 2013. That's the year they switched coolant from the 5 year to the 10 year.
If you find it hard that a major manufacturer would continue to use something that causes major damage to an engine you live in lala land. The oil filter adapter housing is ONE good example.
Just my personal opinion.
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Weld seams failing seems somewhat plausible, but for the coolant to corrode Al, not so much.
I'm not familiar with the oil filter adapter housing problem, how does that cause major damage to engines?
Opinions are like... well, you know 😂
I'm not familiar with the oil filter adapter housing problem, how does that cause major damage to engines?
Opinions are like... well, you know 😂
around here, they’re like cold sores.
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Oil leaks that aren't fixed means no oil in engine.
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I am not a cold sore nor an a$$hole.
I am a ray of sunshine passing out smiles and happy thoughts and laughs! 🦄
chit-chat is over there
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