Radiator Leak?

[Cal3000]

Lately I've been overheating a lot. Usually when the coolant reaches 212 F, it can never return to operating temp, so i suspect that the radiator fluid is exposed to atmospheric pressure and the water starts to boil in the mixture.

After a pretty hard run, I see fluid sprayed to the left side of the engine bay. I thought it was a bad radiator cap, but the spring rate seemed fine. I checked some of the hoses for leaks but couldn't see anything. I go through coolant like crazy. Today I inspected a little deeper. The foam above the radiator is soaked and there is coolant laying on some edges of the fan assembly and such. I took a picture of the top left corner of the radiator and saw this:


So I suspect a crack in the radiator
Another $300 dollar going away from my wallet
Any radiator suggestions?

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Cal3000

Lately I've been overheating a lot. ....


Any radiator suggestions?

Well now, @Cal3000, back in the day, when we had a radiator leak, we would put uncooked oatmeal (NOT instant) in the radiator and the flakes of oatmeal would expand and find the leak and plug it.

If that didn't work, we would go to town and buy some of that cheap store bought radiator stop leak, that looked like rat turds in liquid snot.

If the leak persisted, we would go back to town and buy some of the expensive radiator stop leak, that looked like ground up aluminum in horse piss.

As a last resort, we would take out the radiator and remove the top and bottom by heating it with blow torch to break the soldiered seams. Then we would "rod it out" to get all the gunk out we had put in it.

Now, we would soldier the ends back onto the core, fill it up and pressure test it. So, when we found the leak, we would apply soldier till it stopped.

If we really messed it up, we would go across town to the junk yard and get another one.

OR …..in your case, once you are satisfied that the pressure cap is good and you don’t have any hose leaks ….. you can go buy a new radiator.




humfrz

[churchx]

Overheating, not returning temps to normal .. maybe coolant sprayed nearby is not because of some leaks in rad, but due boiling? As to why overheating/boiling happens .. check thermostat, check rad fan if they work as they should.

[Calum]

Why are there two hose clamps right beside each other?