radiator plastic tank

[jimoshel]

Can they be repaired? Got a pin hole leak on top of the rad tank about 3/8 of am inch from the end of the hose. At least it's accessible. Tried JB and it held for 2 days. Leaking again. Any help, ideas? :wrench:

[Eagle]

Dynamite.

 

Then you won't be tempted to try repairing it again.

[btm24]

That hole will get bigger over time then one day its gonna crack down the middle and leak a gal of fluid within 5 min... thats what happened to me. To replace the bottle either go to a junk yard and get one from a xj or mj they can cost from 5-30 bucks used. Or you could get a new one for about 40 bucks from napa and a few other car part store. And the last thing you can do to replace it is build a bad @$$ box out of steel or aluminun that won't ever crack. Other then that you could convert your cooling system to an open system. Your sitting on a time bomb and need to get a "new" one asap.

 

Brandon

[jimoshel]

Dynamite.

 

Then you won't be tempted to try repairing it again.

Done that. Fixed it alright. :thumbsup:

 

hat hole will get bigger over time then one day its gonna crack down the middle and leak a gal of fluid within 5 min... thats what happened to me. To replace the bottle either go to a junk yard and get one from a xj or mj they can cost from 5-30 bucks used. Or you could get a new one for about 40 bucks from napa and a few other car part store. And the last thing you can do to replace it is build a bad @$$ box out of steel or aluminun that won't ever crack. Other then that you could convert your cooling system to an open system. Your sitting on a time bomb and need to get a "new" one asap.

 

Brandon

My fault. Wasn't clear on the situation. It's a '94 ZJ, 5.2 V8 and it's the plastic tank on the end of the radiator. I do have another radiator. It's just the hassle of replacing it.

[HOrnbrod]

I understood you Jim. My aluminum radiator just developed a pinhole leak too on the plastic side tank. I didn't even bother trying to fix it and ordered an all aluminum radiator from FF Dynamics. Should have done that four years ago.............

[banshee]

One afternoon while wheeling mine also developed a pinhole in the tank, from my local hardwere store I used fine sandpaper and PVC cement, contenued wheeling, later replaced it. "it must be clean, and oil free to setup" just a thought… B...

[jimoshel]

If the hole was in a hard to reach place i would swap the radiator. But it's not. It's in plain sight, easily accessible without removing anything, just saying "here I am. Come get me" Tomorrow I'm going to get a soldering gun and try melting it. If that don't work then drill a hole and screw a screw into it. Heck. I might even just stick a wad of chewing gum over it.

With all the different plastics out there, there is a solvent that will work on this. It's just knowing which one, which is why I posted the question in the first place. See if anybody knows.

[zagscrawler]

If you are set on a quick fix i would deffinitly go with the screw method but pre-drill the hole so it is clean and use the right drill bit size (I would also tap it to a specific size and use a machine thread not wood screw type) to reduce stress when you put the screw in, don't want to crack to spread, and use some sort of epoxy as sealant that sticks to metal and plastic. Most hardware stores carry many types of epoxy. If you don't over tighten the screw and strip out the plastic when installing that should hold for a long time. In all realativity it is easy to hold only 10-20 psi with such a small hole. Good luck man.