My GTSI has a very minor leak in the low/center area of the radiator. I am wondering if any of you have ever used one of the Stop-Leak products that you add to the coolant. I would appreciate your comments and advice. Thanks Frank
Man, I'd avoid that, IMO...... Just bite the bullet and pull it for repair! There was one for sale in FerrariAds if yours is too far gone but I have repaired mine several times, from seams splitting.....I don't think stop leak would work at all you'd add it at Expansion tank and I'd wager NONE of it would reach the front of the car!!!!
IMHO, you should stay away from these 'stop leak' products. Essentially, you are introducing solids into a liquid system and inevitably, the solids will plug up more than just the leak. A better solution is to just pull the radiator and take it to a radiator shop and get it repaired correctly.
Thanks for the responses fellas. Have any of you actually tried the Stop Leak in your car? I would appreciate it if any mechanic's out there could weigh in on this...I'll give mine a call tomorrow and let you know what he says. Thanks!
I had tried it in one of my cars back when I was younger, no money, student, etc.... Worked for a little while, but eventually the radiator started leaking more and still required repair. It will work, but it isn't a good longterm fix, IMO.
That is a "get you home" fix only. Just pull the radiator and take it to a shop. I promise it needs rodding out anyway.
I would and have only used this on disposable cars. I understand some people also put black table pepper into the cooling system and some put in a raw egg for the same purpose. By that tolken you might dump a handful of beach sand into your radiator to see if that helps. It is your car but my .02 cents is that on my Ferrari I owe it to the cars heritage to fix it right the first time. It's not leaking because a bee stung it, it's leaking because the radiator is wearing out from the inside and need to be re-cored.
I just noticed NYC. I had a San Francisco car that was 10 years old. The fins of the radiator turned to dust when I touched them from the salt air. Sorry, could be wearing out from the outside as well.
Ditto! I did last year, and it looks and works great. Even runs a notch cooler since I removed the A/C condenser (pffft! ...like we need A/C in Canada?? )
After reading all of your responses I must agree with what seems to be the prevailing attitude here, and that is to repair the radiator. I will modify my origional thought on using the Stop Leak and ask your opinions on this: I would like to try and do the job myself, since I did a search here and it dosen't look too far beyond my capabilities if I take my time with it. I am thinking that my mechanic will charge at least 5 hours labor plus the price of sending the radiator out for repair, prestone, etc, etc, so I am thinking it will cost near $1,000 for him to do it. Let me get to the point of what I am thinking now. Since the leak is barely noticable (and winter is cold in my unheated New York garage) I am now wondering if I will cause ANY HARM to the system if use the Stop Leak as a temporary fix until I can do the radiator job? So that's it, I will definetly do the radiator the right way, but am wondering if the Stop Leak will work for a while UNTIL I do the job...more specifically/importantly will it cause any harm to the system? Thank you for indulging me on this!
I feel your pain, and your most recent questions gave me a hearty laugh because I've been there. I'm sorry to say you do not have my support. Whatever you put in there will be everywhere in your cooling system, it doesn't magically just go into your radiator at the leak. You could end up with sludge in your heater core that keeps you warm. You'll never get it all out. You might as well ask me if it's ok to fill the passenger compartment with Jello to keep the air from drying out your seats. I'm going to go out on a limb, if you could get the nose of your car in the air, drain just what coolant comes out at the front, remove radiator, take to shop to have fixed, reinstall, add new coolant for that displaced, bleed out air, drive for summer, have cooling system fully drained and redone before next winter. We'll let the guys kick this can further.
Another thought, $1000.00 is a reasonable fix for a Ferrari with an important issue. I don't look at the weather in your neighborhood anymore but I used to be in the Ft. Greene area in Brooklyn, I seem to recall it got chilly. You can go to the Army surplus store and see if they have any surplus arctic wear, that will keep you warmer. I've also found that if I used mechanics gloves that are cloth and maybe soft leather on the palms, then put latex gloves over them it allows me dexterity and keeps my hands fairly warm.
If you don't plan to drive it in the Winter, put a drain pan under it until warmer weather. Then, pull the radiator, take it to the shop, put it back in. Three days, tops. Shop cost $150.-$300.
PV Dirk, That seems like a very good idea...yes, let's see what the other guys here think. If the Stop Leak make sludge, why would anyone use it? PS Ft. Greene Brooklyn to Louisianna...that must be a story! I lived in Sheepshead Bay for a while myself. I'm going to go out on a limb, if you could get the nose of your car in the air, drain just what coolant comes out at the front, remove radiator, take to shop to have fixed, reinstall, add new coolant for that displaced, bleed out air, drive for summer, have cooling system fully drained and redone before next winter. We'll let the guys kick this can further.[/QUOTE]
DO NOT USE STOP LEAK (sorry for the scream), yes it -can- damage your car. Here's the issue -- your cooling passages are nearly 30 years old. Like the human heart, the engine's passages can start building up gunk. Any gunk in the system collects more gunk until there's a blockage and you get the automotive version of a heart attack. Products like Stop Leak either start the blockage problem or make it much, much, much worse. It seems to more often than not get stuck in the heater core, too. A mechanic will often see blocked heater cores weeks, months or years after a customer uses Stop Leak type products. As for "can I swap my radiator myself", the answer is "absolutely". This isn't rocket science, or engine rebuilding. It's simply about taking time and removing the part and putting it back in without breaking/scratching something. Time, correct wrenches and a good light are all you need. Two suggestions: take many digital pix to help with reassembly and also use the online parts diagrams (on ricambi or in spare parts manual) to help you find all the nuts/bolts/fastners/hoses.
When things leak on my Ferrari, I gauge the cost of replacement fluids against the size of the stain on the floor vs. the time it takes for me to earn the money to fix it right....... There, work thru that for yourself, but don't put wierd stuff in there, you'll start having strange dreams about Enzo... I have had several conversations, thankfully, he's always encouraging!!!
As to why anyone would use it? It is 1/10 to 1/100th of the cost and might work for a bit on a car that's headed to the junk yard anyway. I've used it in $500 cars with bald tires and other expensive issues. Kids and poor people, I was both when I last used it. And if you chose to drive the car because the leak is minor be very very very very careful. I know someone who did this and wasn't too careful and cooked his engine. Not a Ferrari, but a waste of a perfectly good truck.
I'll give you a benchmark o judge by ..... by GTSi is car 36629 ..the original radiator looked to have some small weaps in it which the radiator guy could fix without total dissassembly. He and I were both concerned that blockage was more of a problem so he unsoldered the tanks to make usre it was clear. Upon removing the tanks we discovered the bottom of the cores were extremely corroded. He could have put it back together and would give his assurance that it should last 12 months .................. he also gave an assurance that it would fail possibly suddenly after 12 months. I got a new core and was able to put the car on the track for a charity day a week later and ran it to 7500rpm all day .................. ..................just get a new core !
OK, so here we go. I will DEFINETLY NOT be using the Stop Leak in my car! I will remove the radiator on the first day that I wont get frostbite in my garage and take it to a Rad shop. I will at least try getting it rodded out, and hopefully it wont need a recore. If there's even the slightest chance of the Stop Leak screwing something up I wont put it in my car. Thanks for the advice, since today I planned on dumping the crap in my overfill tank!
Frank...if you're going to he trouble to take it out, might as well do the recore. I priced both recore and rodding; the difference wasn't that much. I went with the recore.
I haven't done this in awhile, but if you have a/c, you need to remove both the radiator and a/c evaporator together. They are connected at the bottom of the radiator. It is possible to swing both up and out of the slot without removing the lid, and without removing the a/c lines. But you need to have someone help, and you need to cover the spare tire well and fenders with some cushioning and protective material. Then after you drain the coolant system, and remove the radiator hoses (the lower one will be a pain), remove the radiator upper mounting bolts and then with one person on each side of the car, swing the unit up and over the spare tire well. There should be enough play in the a/c lines to allow you to do this. Once laying on top of the spare tire well, you can remove the lower bolts holding the a/c evaporator to the radiator. You may need to loosen the fan brackets and pull the fans away from the evaporator to allow some additional space. When you put it all back, use new hose clamps, and new coolant hoses. Also, drain the entire coolant system and replace with new 50/50 mix. There are some after market aluminum radiators available. These are direct fit units dimensionally identical to the stock radiator. They differ in either being cross flow or having different tubing sizes, and being aluminum they are lighter. This is an option you may want to consider. Your profile says you're in NYC. I'm in a suburb, and I work downtown, so if you get into any trouble feel free to reach out. Good luck, Phil
Remove the top of the fiberglass spare tire holder shroud. It's held in place with a series of rivets, and you can simply grind off their heads with a Dremel. With this fiberglass shroud out of the way, you can then pull the radiator and keep the A/C condensor in situ, thus saving you the need to muck about with Freon and such. Once removed, the car will look like this (first picture) Been there, done this on my GTSi as well. Had a hole in the middle of the core, and once the radiator was out of the car and the top and bottom sections removed, it was clear that the OEM core was toast. Replaced with a new core, and it's the berries. As an added benefit, you will be amazed at how much cooler the engine runs in the summertime with the new core. Here's a picture of the old radiator (second one) and the new recored one (third picture) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thanks so much and great pic's too! I was looking at the car this morning and I think that I can definetly do it. Dave, must I remove the spare tire well? It looks like you left the hood on too. Phil, is the AC evaporator a seperate piece attached to the radiator...I didn't notice it. It looks like a pain in the ass to remove the lower valence...was that a problem? Phil, BTW I live in westchester county...how about you?
This is a much easier job if you remove the hood. It's only held on by 6 bolts and the support rod. With the hood off, you can stand in front of the car and lift the radiator up and out without another person helping. I recently had mine recored, but my a/c was empty so I just removed the lines to make it easier. If I had to do this again but didn't unhook the a/c, this is what I would do: 1) unhook battery (-) 2) drain coolant (petcock under rear bank exhaust manifold) 3) remove hood 4) remove horn compressor 5) remove fan switch wires 6) remove upper and lower hoses 7) plug hose holes in radiator (stuff rags in it, etc) 7) unbolt radiator (bolted at top only, bottom sits in groove) 8) lift radiator and evaporator as a unit The a/c evaporator is bolted on to the front of the radiator with 4 bolts. As Phil says, you should be able to pull the radiator and evaporator straight up and lay on the spare tire well cover without disconnecting the a/c lines. It'll probably be a bit of twisting, but there should be enough slack in the lines. Installation is, as they say, the procedure in reverse. Also, there is one trick mentioned in other threads, which is to install a capped t-fitting into the lower heater hose. This will allow you to drain the system easier the next time around.
