Only my opinion, but you have plenty of time.
2008-2018 Radiator Failure and Public Service Announcement
- Thread starter jclarke450
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Only my opinion, but you have plenty of time.
Patch it, get another 18 months
In preparation for a long trip, I caught a crack that had propagated to 1/4” on either side of the block. It had not yet started leaking.
Vehicle is a 60k mile 2014 LX570 from Florida , now in New England.
I applied the JB Weld patch (including all clean, sand, adhesion promoter steps) minus the fiberglass cloth, as a stop gap, and cured it using a hair dryer two days before the trip. After returning from the trip (long periods of highway driving in single digit temperatures) I took a look and found pink spray all over the engine bay.
Luckily, I’ve got a radiator on hand and have an appointment to get it done on Friday.
In this case, I’m quite certain that the patch actually accelerated the crack past failure, possibly due to mismatched thermal expansion and contraction.
That’s not to say a preemptive patch isn’t a good idea. Just realize it’s not a silver bullet.
Well put.
If possible you definitely want the fiberglass or some other substrate.
I see the hairline crack forming on my 2015 LC,174k miles. The crack is extending from the corner toward the driver side by 1-2mm. It’s not leaking yet.
I’m going to apply JB Weld, as others have done, to buy some time before replacing the radiator.
For those that have had success with this…
Question: What specific type of JB Weld has worked best? Plastic Bonder (thinner consistency) or Plastic Weld (thicker consistency)?
I’ll be sure to thoroughly prep the area using Alcohol, sandpaper and adhesion promoter.
I’m going to apply JB Weld, as others have done, to buy some time before replacing the radiator.
For those that have had success with this…
Question: What specific type of JB Weld has worked best? Plastic Bonder (thinner consistency) or Plastic Weld (thicker consistency)?
I’ll be sure to thoroughly prep the area using Alcohol, sandpaper and adhesion promoter.
There is a radiator specific JB weld, that has a little piece of reinforcing fiberglass in it. I am not certain if it is "better" than just the epoxy alone but I would think it might help prevent the epoxy from cracking in the same spot.
Here’s a picture of the patch. I used JB Weld Plastic Bonder. It’s made from Urethane which makes it more flexible than traditional epoxy and ideally more resistant to cracking.
I’m not expecting this to be a long term fix. It is cheap insurance for now.
32cls6speedmt
SILVER Star
Labor is about 3.5 hours book time.
Bad experience with an aftermarket radiator to report.
Previous owner had installed an aftermarket rad, although I can't tell you which brand because there are absolutely zero markings on it. It has the exact same physical design as the original OE version that cracks. I recently discovered that this radiator would leak profusely if the ambient temps fell below 25 degrees F. Luckily it would seal itself back up after about 10 minutes of the engine running and warming up. I'm guessing a shrinking seal between the plastic and aluminum bits. This rad had at least 7 years and 40k miles on it, though not sure how long the PO had been running the rad before I bought it.
With high temps projected in the teens later this week, I was happy for nice weather today to swap in a new OE unit. I was expecting my 2010 model to have the lower passenger side mount obstructed, as I thought this was a characteristic of the early year models. But, no, all four mounts were actually pretty easy to access.
I pulled the fan clutch and shroud as part of the job, which seemed easier and safer than wrestling the new rad past those obstacles. The added work was negligible and worth it, I think. Thermostat replacement was ridiculously easy with the rad out.
Previous owner had installed an aftermarket rad, although I can't tell you which brand because there are absolutely zero markings on it. It has the exact same physical design as the original OE version that cracks. I recently discovered that this radiator would leak profusely if the ambient temps fell below 25 degrees F. Luckily it would seal itself back up after about 10 minutes of the engine running and warming up. I'm guessing a shrinking seal between the plastic and aluminum bits. This rad had at least 7 years and 40k miles on it, though not sure how long the PO had been running the rad before I bought it.
With high temps projected in the teens later this week, I was happy for nice weather today to swap in a new OE unit. I was expecting my 2010 model to have the lower passenger side mount obstructed, as I thought this was a characteristic of the early year models. But, no, all four mounts were actually pretty easy to access.
I pulled the fan clutch and shroud as part of the job, which seemed easier and safer than wrestling the new rad past those obstacles. The added work was negligible and worth it, I think. Thermostat replacement was ridiculously easy with the rad out.
Yeah they definitely seem to have the best price for radiators I have found and mine came very well packaged and arrived across the country undamaged.
Thanks, I ordered some parts. I had to break it into two orders to stay under the $200 limit on free shipping. The radiator was $205 for shipping so I ended up paying a few $ on that order. And they wouldn't ship the fluids, so I'll have to find a local source for that.
Where has the vehicle lived?