radiator leak

I've got a 93 SL2 with a radiator leak. The ends of the radiator are
made of hard rubber, and there is a pinhole leak on one end. Anyone
know if the ends can be replaced, or do I need to get a whole new
radiator? I just epoxied the thing up so I can get around a little.

 

Nope, you need a new one. You really need to change the DEXcool in
those things every 2-3 years in spite of the advertised "5 year"
long-life coolant used.

Fortunately, that radiator isn't terribly expensive and it's pretty easy
to change.

Cheers,

 

A good radiator shop can replace the tanks on it but it may cost as
much as a new unit. Also, if you do not stay with the 50.50 locic
(which is not really enough in a aluminum engine) and run 60/40 or
70/30 (anitfreeze to water) you will find tht it lasts a LOT longer.
I run 70/30 is several vehicle here dexi and non dexiand even after 5
or more years the coolant is still clean and so is overflow tank. I
have a 89 4x4 burb that I have had since new and it has had 70/30 in
it for about 15 years in it and the raditor is still clean as day one
and so is overflow tank and it has not been changed for about 7 or 8
years now.

 

It's practically impossible to change the plastic end tanks on these
aluminum radiators in a cost effective manner. Just get a new one.

Also, the chemical agents in ANY antifreeze are consumed over time so
I'd recommend not taking the advice above and flush/refill on or before
the recommended intervals (I usually go 2-3 years). Also, if you change
the ratio to use a higher percentage of coolant, the cooling performance
actually diminishes. Water is a better conductor of heat than antifreeze.

Cheers,

 

Not, the can be replaced and have new one clamped on just like the
tanks can be recored

You are miss informed. Water is HIGHLY reactive with aluminum and the
more of it is is the more reaction for anitfreeze to suppress, the
less the bettter. Also water is not a better heat conductor actauly
anitfreeze is because it has a higher boil/gas point when it contact
hot block surface and it bonds to it better to take heat from it.
Gylcol does have a lower specific heat (the amout of BTU required to
heat the same volume of it as water but not by much) but this rerally
has no bearing in a properly designed seal cooling system. BTW, I
also run 7PSI caps on most of my vehicles with 70/30 and I have had
not cooling problems at all and never even exceed 210 in 105 degree
outside temps with A/C on or towing.

 

I agree with Ritz advice and also disagree with SnoMan.

Flush and fill to keep the radiator, heater core, engine block, and head
clean and free of deposits that can clog the passages.

And, although water is indeed more corrosive and has a lower boiling point,
it is in fact the better conductor of heat, so a 70/30 mix of
antifreeze/water will be less effective in cooling the engine than a 50/50
mixture.

SnoMan, If you believe this information is not correct, then please cite
your source so we can become as knowledgeable as you. Thanks much.

Bob

 

Again this is in error. A coolant has to remove heat from a hot
surface and transfer it to another area. At the microscopic level,
water gases in tiny bubble on contact with a hot surface and this gas
bearier reduces heat transfer to coolant. (also known as surface
tension) Also antifreeze is denser and can absorb more heat per
gallon than pure water or 50/50. Where water has gotten the reputation
as a better cooler is from the fact that it will boil at about 210
without a cap and given the energy required to boil it it can keep
engine from overheating until coolant has boiled off. Pure anit freeze
boils around 350 degress and you would not even need a pressure cap on
radiator if you used pure anitfreeze like you need with water. People
will spend 20 or 30k and more for e vehicle and yet scrimp on adding
extra antifreeze and complain when there is a problem. Maza recognized
the problem long ago and when they first marketed aluminum rotory
engine, they recommanded 90/10 mixture level. You are free to believe
that your 50/50 mixture protects you modern engine best but it does
and 60/40 should be the minimumm here in todays reactive cooling
systems.

 

Sure, it's technically possible, but I don't know of any shops that
actually do it. And even if they did, it would likely be more expensive
than actually buying a new part. By that reasoning, it's also possible
to rebuild your water pump when it fails, but most people just buy a new
one and only try to fix an old one if a new part is no longer available.

I'm not misinformed at all. I'm quite aware of the chemistry of
water/antifreeze/aluminum/iron in a typical cooling system. You seem to
be a bit misinformed though.


Water is HIGHLY reactive with aluminum and the

Heh. Water is the conduit for removing heat from the system.
Antifreeze is added for 2 reasons:

1. To keep the water from freezing in the winter.
2. The supply additives to stop the corrosion process.

Adding "extra" of either one of these components doesn't help you. If
there are enough additives to prevent corrosion and enough ethylene
glycol to prevent freezing, doubling or tripling that amount isn't going
to improve the situation. What it WILL do is displace water which is a
much better remover of heat.


Also water is not a better heat conductor actauly

You're simply wrong here.

And you seem to acknowledge that here. Strange...

Which is rather irrelevant to the discussion, but I'm glad it works for
you. This has gotten somewhat far afield from whether or not the
original poster can get his radiator fixed (in cased you missed it, that
answer is "no" unless he/she wants to pay more than the cost of a new one).

Best regards,

 

Um...this is just patently wrong. I don't know where you're getting
your information from, but it's simply not correct. If you're getting
it from some "reliable source" I'd love to see the original source's
explanation.

Best regards,

 

The error here is yours, mine is based on science not hearsay and if
you can read a news group you can easily find the data to support my
comments on the web if you know how to use a search engine. I do not
make claims that are not based on fact or science unlike some others
do. You can ignore the science if you want but it will not change the
facts of it. GM sticks with 50/50 because their bean counters have
figured out how many millions of dollars a year they can save on
coolant and that it will last long enough for warranty and the when it
goes bad you can either pay their dealers to service it or buy a new
car and start the cycle all over. Do you think that they are going to
sell you a vehicle with the proper coolant mixture at most cost to
them and that will require less servicing and repair or need for
replacement parts/ Get real it is planned obsolessence so that they
can sell you another one or part for current one. No profit in build a
vehicle that lasts too long. Wake up!!

 

I do not know where you live but they do it here and can easily recore
your tanks with a thicker core for more capacity. Granted you can only
do it a time ot two before the clamp tabs weaken but you can do it.

 

I still will exercise my right to disagree based on my college
thermodynamics and fluid mechanics courses. Although they were many years
back, the basic physics here has not changed.

Please cite your source for the benefit of us "ignorant" old folks. Thank
you.

Bob

 

Translation: You have no source.

Game. Set. Match.

Thanks for playing.

Cheers,

 

Indeed. I did my stint at an ivy league engineering school too. 4
semesters of physics...etc...etc...but I also worked at the family
business (after school, weekends, summers) for many years. That family
business is an auto repair shop that's been in continuous operation
since the 1930's.

In short, Snoman has no idea what he's talking about. That's based on
both my background in science and my background in the real world. I'll
leave it to people to draw their own conclusions.

Cheers,

 

Yo need to recheck you books on this one because you must have misssed
coolant principles in cooling systems. While you coolant may be 200 or
210, the parts it comes in contact with can easily exceed the boiling
tempature of the coolant especailly if there is a lot of water in it
and this form a gas buble barrier that slows the heat transfer rate to
coolant where as high consentrations of antifreeze with it much higher
boil point do not gas and form the barrier to impead heat transfer.
Ethylene and Propylene Glycol act the same here and propylene has even
a high boil point and it achieves its lowest freeze point too at 100%
concentration unlike ethylene. Both glycols are about 20% heavier than
water and therefore have more mass as will. Also whe the reach boil
point, they has a much lower surface tension (abilty to form and
retain air/gas bubbles) sothey will transfer heat out of a item better
even if its surface tempature exceeds the boil point of the coolant
itself. The only reason that cars do not come with more antifreeze is
cost per unit not because it is better not to. There is a strong
galvantic reaction between aluminum and steel/cast iron parts with
coolant in a engine block when water is present and the less water the
better in this regaurd. In teh older days when they used brass cores
raditors that were soldered in, there was issues with lead salt
forming in tanks and blocking fins internally. Again if you run very
high levels of anitfreeze, the problem does not surface. In my 79 J20,
the tank is still clean with no deposits because I have had 70/30 or
better in it for years. BTW, 15 years ago the tank ruptured at the
seam one hot summer day and after I repaird it I switch to a 7 psi cap
and never had another leak and no cooling issues either.

 

That's pretty dumb of those bean counters -- if all they care about is
maxing profit by saving money on coolant, why don't they just reduce the
warrantee period and make the plants put tap water with red dye in the
system? Or just convince us morons that comprise the buying public that the
engines can be cooled by air, then they can save the cost of both the liquid
coolant and the whole coolant system -- BIG savings!

 

Thir reccomendation to use 50/50 mixture isnt to save coolant , it is
to give proper freeze and boil protection. the corosion protection doea
not come from the glycol it comes from the additives. The glycol is
actually more corrosive than the water, and speeking of the water you
should use deionized water rather than distilled water, it is less
corrosive than the distilled water. Deionised water can be found in
drug stores. Its not free but it is cheap.

 

What is the difference between distilled and deionized water?
How is deionized water made?

Thanks

 

Distilled in made by condesing evaporated water. Deionzed water is
usually made by complex filtration which may include the usage of
semipermiable membranes that let water through but not minerals in it.
Distilled is its purest state generally.

 

Yep, it's pretty much "I'm right because I'm right." He lost me with his
example of surface tension. It has nothing to do with layers of bubbles at
all, at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_tension