how should fix this pinhole leak in my radiator seam?

[archie]

I have a radiator leak right at the top seam of my 62 series. It was a drip now and then till I scraped the top with a screwdriver and now it's like a little syringe. It is exactly near the seam where the radiator fan shroud and the radiator top meet. It is easy to access but wonder what type of techniques would you reccommend to use first before buying a new one. It is in the soldered area because when I was scraping/looking for the exact area I noticed the metal was very soft like lead. Should I heat up the area and have the pre-existing solder fill in the hole? Should I throw some solder, used for soldering electronic wiring, into the hole? JB Weld or other epoxy? Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[agent orange]

I had the same thing on my 62, just take it to a radiator shop and have them braze it. You can probably do it yourself, just get it really clean and use a good solder.

 

[gray]

I have a radiator leak right at the top seam of my 62 series. It was a drip now and then till I scraped the top with a screwdriver and now it's like a little syringe. It is exactly near the seam where the radiator fan shroud and the radiator top meet. It is easy to access but wonder what type of techniques would you reccommend to use first before buying a new one. It is in the soldered area because when I was scraping/looking for the exact area I noticed the metal was very soft like lead. Should I heat up the area and have the pre-existing solder fill in the hole? Should I throw some solder, used for soldering electronic wiring, into the hole? JB Weld or other epoxy? Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

It is a big job, but while you are at it, you could take it out,
and then to a radiator shop, and have them "rod it out" where
they take the top and bottom tanks off and run thin rods through it
to knock out any crud; they then solder the tanks back on,
and pressure test it;
any leaks are then soldered.

The quick method, if you are having no cooling problems,
would be to try to fix it on the vehicle.

g

 

[brokenparts]

I managed to to arc a spark from my welder and put a nice little hole my radiator awhile back (long story...) and fixed it using 5 min epoxy. I just drained to below the hole and let it dry and then I just used the epoxy and believe it or not some little pieces of plastic zip ties to make it hold a little better. Its been holding for about a year now.

 

[brokenparts]

here's proof...

 

[brett76]

here's proof...

LOL! that looks like something i would do

 

[archie]

Thanks for the info! My leak is fortunately on a linear and horizontal surface and does not involve the the cooling fins. Since it on the top, I too was going to drain past the leak and drop some solder into it after scrubing,cleaning and drying. Anybody else got some ideas? Is it lead solder between the seams? I don't have any cooling problems so I will try to fix it on the truck. Funny thing is that I just wiggled the rear heater lines to see if I got any leaks ( just recently replaced my 94 rear heater lines for rusty leaks) and it started leaking in two places. Well, better now that in the winter. Good reason to drain the cooling system now and fix everything but I think I will just by-pass the rear heater.

 

[archie]

I'm pretty sure JB weld will hold but wondering if lead solder would be better?

 

[gray]

Thanks for the info! My leak is fortunately on a linear and horizontal surface and does not involve the the cooling fins. Since it on the top, I too was going to drain past the leak and drop some solder into it after scrubing,cleaning and drying. Anybody else got some ideas? Is it lead solder between the seams? I don't have any cooling problems so I will try to fix it on the truck. Funny thing is that I just wiggled the rear heater lines to see if I got any leaks ( just recently replaced my 94 rear heater lines for rusty leaks) and it started leaking in two places. Well, better now that in the winter. Good reason to drain the cooling system now and fix everything but I think I will just by-pass the rear heater.

If it is leaking from the top tank seam, you are in luck; easy to
fix with just about anything; JB Weld, epoxy, etc,etc.

My rear heater leaked, so I removed it and put a piece of hose between the two metal pipes; no problems after 10+ years.
If the pipes are leaking, then you would have to bypass it up at the firewall.

Many of the FJ62 radiators had bad soldering jobs at the factory;
my first one leaked at something like 14,000 miles; that was when
you only got a 12,500 mile warrantly. I tried many times to fix it,
have it welded, etc,etc; finally gave up and bought a new one;
the old core is still sitting in my garage.

Good luck.

 

[too tall]

I have used solder to repair radiators in vehicles before. On a seam laying horizontally should be easy. Wire brush it , flux and solder away. Good luck!

 

[Mace]

the original soldering was done by lead solder on the copper tubing. The hard part isctually just getting the area clean enough so that the solder will stick.

BTW, typically, if after 20 odd years something starts to leak, it is going to leak elsewhere.

Pull the radiator and spend $50 getting it resoldered and checked out.

You probably ned to flushthe system anyway

 

[archie]

I think I will epoxy it on the truck for now.Because if I pull it out, I might as well replace it. I don't want to pull the radiator twice if the old one eventually fails in the near future. Thanks for reconfirming that solder is lead.

 

[Mace]

A good repair job will last at least another 100K

 

[archie]

A good repair job will last at least another 100K

Couldn't there be some interior hidden corrosion in a 20 year old radiator that is undetectable and thus eventually fail in the future? That's why I thinking it would be better to spend the 50 bucks on the new radiator.

 

[Mace]

a good repair job checks out the radiator.

They take the tanks off and at least visibly examine the core.

 

[archie]

Update, got jb weld on the seam and it's holding the leak.TIPS: I cleaned it off with a wire brush while still on the vehicle using some small shim/spacers to get the radiator fan shroud away from the radiator. Dry completely. I put some adhesive tape on the shroud so the the epoxy does not bond with the shroud, I then used the shroud to hold back the epoxy from dripping down the radiator. I used only about the area of the end of a pencil eraser to cover the hole.
Initailly the expoxy seemed to have not held because I had some seepage, but it hasn't leaked since. Hope that bit of info helps somebody.

 

[Spike Strip]

Archie,

If you're gonna go the new Radiator route, get a CSF 2708 www.csfimports.com

They're the same radiator that CCOT, SOR, MAF sell as their aftermarket units. All-metal, 4-core, very nice rads, and half the price of OEM.

Just picked up one for my 60 and it's da shizzle.

 

[archie]

Archie,

If you're gonna go the new Radiator route, get a CSF 2708 www.csfimports.com

They're the same radiator that CCOT, SOR, MAF sell as their aftermarket units. All-metal, 4-core, very nice rads, and half the price of OEM.

Just picked up one for my 60 and it's da shizzle.

thanks for the advice! I've got 3 vehicles with over 125,000 miles on them and they might come in useful.

 

[JoeCanadian]

black pepper might plug the hole from the inside

 

[DirtyLittleSecret]

black pepper might plug the hole from the inside

...and an egg...