The good and bad of the day

[Tachout]

Before Christmas my Radiator sprung a bad leak. I limped the truck home from work, and it has just sat. Been either driving the wifes suburban or having her drop me at work. This morning I decided to go out to the local Tear a Part. Long shot I know, but I thought why not. If they did not have it I would not be out much. Got here, paid my Dollar to get in, and asked where to find the couple of trucks they had about my year. Walked up to the first one, and it was a V8 so that was a great possibility. Guy sitting in the cab was very talkative, as he was working to get the cab off the frame. The dog house was already sitting in front of the truck. I walked to the other truck and no radiator.... Walked back to the first and the guy asked me what I was looking for. I told him a radiator, and he pointed at the Ford next to the truck I had hoped to find a radiator from, and he said that was the radiator laying on the truck. He had just pulled it so he could get the dog house and cab off that truck. He was not going to get it. I picked it up for $45.00 and brought it home. Pulled mine out (and you can see all the leaks in the core) and bolted this one in. NO LEAKS! Yeah. Got it in pretty fast too.

Drove the truck to get hay and come back. Came out of the IFA and yep a small puddle under the truck. Back by the fire wall and not under the raidiator. Yep the heater core is leaking. Great.... So I figure I can find a heater core, and figure out changing it but in the mean time throw some stop leak in and see if it seals. Asked if they could get me a price, and availability and they had it in stock for $26.00. I picked it up. Mind you I have not got it in yet, but will get into that in a couple of weekends. I hope the stop leak works for a temp fix, but if not, I will just unhook the heater core and deal with no heat till I get the new one in. Not fun in the winter, in Utah, and no defroster either, so it will need to be fixed soon.

[70LonghornCST]

I used stop leak with success for a while. It failed when the temperature of the season went up; but during the winter and spring it held fine.

[LockDoc]

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What is the # rating of your radiator cap. If you are using a cap with too high of rating you can have problems like that. I know all of the components are old but it seems a little strange to have two problems concurrently with the cooling system.

Just a thought.

LockDoc

[Tachout]

It was a 5-6 pound cap. Now it will ne a new 5-6 pound replacement cap. Not 100% sire how old the cap was. Might just have been me when I pulled the heater hose off the radiator. It was mickey noises with a t to the intake and heater core. Now the top hose only goes to the intake

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Tachout

It was a 5-6 pound cap. Now it will ne a new 5-6 pound replacement cap. Not 100% sire how old the cap was. Might just have been me when I pulled the heater hose off the radiator. It was mickey noises with a t to the intake and heater core. Now the top hose only goes to the intake

Yeah, that brass can be pretty brittle when it gets old. There are a couple of how to's on the core if you run into a problem. If it is a non-air truck the easiest way is to drop the inner panel on that side and I think you have to remove the hood hinge on that side to get the heater box out. Be sure and mark around the top and bottom of the hinge so you can get it back in the exact same place when you bolt it back in.

LockDoc

[zeldman]

Please tell me you didnt put stop leak in it. Stop Leak is designed to stop water flowing out of holes, much like the passages inside the radiator, which Stop Leak will stop that movement too. And it will settle in the block, restricting water movement there. Just like filling your radiator with mud. And be really nice to your radiator guy when you take it to him, or her, to have it cleaned. My radiator guy wont touch a radiator that has been filled with Stop Leak. I learned that lesson 30 years ago. Some old timers used to put mustard powder in their radiator to stop leaks. That stops water flow just as bad. Stop Leak may be a temporary fix, but it can do plenty of damage further in the cooling system.