Alright, I think the radiator in my firebird is seeing its last days. It was leaking a few months ago, so i added some radiator seal fixer into the coolant. It stopped the leak for a while. Then yesterday, I let the car idle for 5 mins and noticed coolant dripping from underneath the radiator. It was soon dripping from 2 spots. Then the drip became more of a steady drip. In no time, there was a puddle. I shut off the car, it was still dripping. I go under, and look at the radiator and see coolan dripping from the side. Heres a pic. Any suggestions? Try and get it repaired or get a new one? Thanks.

If you look closely, you see the coolant on the side, i circled it.

 

If you plan on racing it, get an aluminum one. If not just get a stock replacment.

 

that radiator looks pretty good from the condition of the fins. Id buy some radiator patch stuff and see if that works, its like an epoxy that you can use to patch holes. Or id flush it out and then get the radiator stop leak powder in the tube and try that again before id go buying a whole new one. but im poor so thats just me

 

I tried that radiator stop leak powder, helped for a while. I might drain it and take it to a shop so they can inspect and pressure test it. The thing is, it only started leaking yesterday. It hasnt leaked for like 4 months. Also, i dont drive the car yet. But i run the motor 5 mins, twice a week.

 

Do they sell something to seal a small crack on the plastic tanks for the side?

 

Hi, Topradman here (top raditor man)......There is NO good repair epoxy for the plastic tanks when they are fatigued (which are really nylon and just referred to as "plastic".) You have 2 options.....take it to a radiator shop and pay approx $22.00 to $28.00 for each tank and about $55.00 to $65.00 labor to install them and rod out the core. (NEVER have only one tank replaced on a GM radiator unless it is physically damaged from being struck or hit with something, as it is cheaper to replace both at the same time that it is to replace both at 2 different times) Your second option is to replace the radiator which isn't much more. I sell the V8 radiator to my 3rd Gen friends for $108.50 plus freight and the 2 row aluminum aftermarket radiator for $309.80 and have both in stock. Stop leak never works on plastic tank radiators because you are either trying to seal a crack in the tank or a neoprene rubber gasket, neither of which respond well to any kind of stop leak. Oops, sorry, just noticed you have a V6 car, well, knix the 2 row aluminum aftermarket radiator, not worth your time and money, however, the replacement radiator I have in stock for the V6 is $112.10 plus freight. The V8 radiator will not swap because the transmission cooler, if yours is Automatic, is on the wrong side, as are the hose connections and the fill neck. There, everything you wanted to know about your radiator (and maybe some of what you didn't want to know. LOL!) Take care and let me know if you need help.......Scott, dba., Best Radiator Repair, Warehouse & Custom Muffler Ctr........

 

...............WTF????? If you're poor, the last thing you need to do is waste money on this gig!!! Save a little and DO NOT DO THIS!!!!! Total waste of time and money!!! In the time you waste, you could probably get some odd jobs in your neighborhood and pay for the replacement at $112.00. I repeat, DO NOT DO THIS!!!!

 

Alright thanks. heres an update. I just went out, started my car, let it idle for 5 mins. Then I noticed smoke coming from the front of the motor, behijnd the AC compressor. Then I see coolant coming out of the intake area, thermostat housing. I feel the upper hose and its warm. Then in a matter of seconds, smoke comes up from the upper radiator hose on the radiator side. The coolant starts coming out fast from the hose. Then i feel the radiator, driver side and ITS COLD!!! After, I just shut off the motor. Any ideas? This is getting tricky. Overview, new 180 d thermostat new water pump, fan works.....wat else could go wrong?

 

My guess is that the car ran long enough to build up pressure which will drop slightly after the thermostat opens. If your radiator is leaking, then, it's still leaking!! The reason it's cold is because I'm sure the thermostat hasn't opened yet. Fix the t stat leak first, then replace the radiator. If your radiator is cold, it could also be that it now has so much stop leak in it that it won't flow coolant well even if the thermostat did open. You've got to fix the leaks before you are going to know anything!! Also, make sure the spring side of the thermostat goes down into the intake manifold when you replace that leaking gasket and scrape the surfaces well before you assemble, that will fix that leak. Now, replace the radiator and you should finally be done with this. Pretty simple.......

 

Yeah, but the thermostat openned. The upper hose was hot and the coolant was spewing out the hose on the rad. i fixed the thermostat leaking problem a billion times. It finally good for a month and now tonite, its leaking!!!! I used a new housing, black rtv and a gasket. My theory is, the coolant isnt going in the radiator.
BTW while this was happenning, radiator wasnt leaking, but hot coolant was spewing out of the hose on the rad. side.

 

Don't mess around...just buy a new one...I had the side(yea the plastic) of my radiator split on me....after a whole **** load of coolant everywhere...it left a mess even the devil would be afraid of...

 

UPDATE!!!!

I rented a coolant pressure tester today. I pressure tested the cooling system, and coolant was leaking out of the hose on the motor side, tightenned it, all is well. However, on the top hose, rad. side, it makes a hissing sound where its under pressure. I tightenned the clamp, no good. I used 2 clamps, still hissing, It starts to hiss at 8 PSI and if I leave it alione, it drops to 0. The hose is less than a year old. I took it out to inspect it, its fine. Maybe its a small crack in the radiator next to the hose? Any ideas? This is nuts!

 

not uncommon for the tank to crack between the hose connection and where the plastic (nylon) tank crimps on. Hard to see if you don't disassemble the radiatorl. I still, for the price I sell them at which is cheap, recommend replacing the radiator.

 

Yup. Actually, i just got back from the auto parts store with a new radiator. Im going to eat lunch, and swap it out. Ill be back later with updates. Thanks again.

 

Update: SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When i pulled out the old radiator, i inspected the side tanks and I saw a crack on the top corner, next to the hose location. The new radiator has metal tanks instead of plastic. This one should outlast the car, lol. Thanks again for all your help.

 

Sorry to say but it probably won't, depending on who the mfg is. The quality of all metal replacement radiators for replacing Aluminum/pt's has steadily been going down hill for the last 15 or so years. They seem to barely use enough solder to hold them together. Also, if your all metal replacement is only a 2 row core, you have just sacrificed some cooling efficiency. If it's a 3 row you might have picked up a slight amount of effiency. The original style aluminum/plastic version would have been a better choice. How much did you spend? I sell my new ones to people on this website for $112.00.

 

dude dont throw away your old radiator go scrap it and get moneyyy

 

Good idea!! Where should I go to scrap it? How much do you think I can get for it?

 

any metal salvage yard..... i got 12 bux for mine. i put 1 in another buddys car once and got 22 for his both were the same radiators just mine was plumb worn to hell and his was like new (he was convinced an intake manifold leak was because of a bad radiator don't ask me......)

anyways yah i put an aftermarket aluminum ready pro on my 89 iroc and i'm extremely happy car never gets hot the aluminum aftermarket peice is a million times more efficient than the factory steel brass solder 1 imo.

although i'm sure the tanks won't last close to as long but, should outlive the lifetime of my car.

 

Yeah, i was just exagerating about it outliving the car. If I had a V8, or raced, it would make sense for me to get an aluminum radiator. Although, I havent seen a aluminum radiator for the v6. Im sure they were expensive though.

 

depends how much it weighs, what is it aluminum? i go scrappin all the time, its easy money, air conditioners, stoves, fridges, washers, dryers, cadillac converters, wires, pipes. whatever you can find the streets are littered with gold. alot of the stuff like a/c's you gotta take it apart and seperate the metal. catilac converters are worth a lot too.

edit: you go scrap it at a metal salvage yard. I'm lucky i have 4 junkyards, and 3 scrap yards all within 5 minutes or less of my house

 

Thanks for the info, I didnt know about that.