Patching a crack in my radiator

[altralosix]

My car started overheating today, I pulled over to find a crack in my radiator. It's in the upper left, opposide side of the intake hose coming from the engine. Coolant and steam was seeping out. I would take a picture, but it's still in a parking lot. I'm waiting for traffic to die down and hoping I can manage to get it home. If not, guess I'll be calling a tow truck.

So is it possible to reliably patch that crack? It's in the plastic. I might be able to get at it from the inside if I remove the intake hose. If not, what should I do about replacing the radiator? I'm trying to get by cheap.

Oh yeah, I've also had a problem with the upper radiator hose popping off a couple of times. Does it sound like there's way too much pressure in my cooling system? What could fix that? A new cap?

[sr20d3t]

get the epoxy radiator repair kit; used it on my sr' been holding up for 2 years now

[final act]

jb weld em!

[WILDACEX187]

dont, it wont last. get a new used one. they're cheap.

[altralosix]

dont, it wont last. get a new used one. they're cheap.

$300 for a new radiator? That's not cheap to me :(

[kandyflip445]

USED he said.

[altralosix]

USED he said.

Good point :) had a few beers after I got my car home alright.

I'm just worried about spending $100 on a used one and having the same thing happen 6 months later. Any ideas on decreasing the pressure of my cooling system?

[HyperTek]

Any ideas on decreasing the pressure of my cooling system?

Drive with no radiator cap :naughtyd:

[altralosix]

Drive with no radiator cap :naughtyd:

You know, that doesn't sound like a terrible idea anymore. I got it home without even heating past the themostat's opening temp. Obviously with no pressure in the system. :naughtyd:

edit: My beer-induced post was in jest, I know why the system is pressurized :wiggle:

[idlafie]

My car started overheating today, I pulled over to find a crack in my radiator.

So is it possible to reliably patch that crack? It's in the plastic. What should I do about replacing the radiator? I'm trying to get by cheap.



Call around to any local radiator shop. They can flush your radiator core & replace the plastic top, (and bottom) for about $100 bucks or less. Either that or find someone that's parting out their car & buy the radiator from them.

anyhow, hope this helps...
ID

[WILDACEX187]

my radiator cracked on me after putting on my nismo cap (i guess the old plastic radiator couldnt handle the extra pressure). it was a pain, the temp gauge useto rise like crazy and steam wuz coming out of the engine bay. i patched it enough so that i could get home with the heat blasted and driving at like 40 miles per hour. next day i wuz thinking of patching it like u want to do. i was advise against it by all the people i know (ifxcc.com). i was lucky that one of my friends has a couple radiators, now im running an automatic radiator. one thing i noticed was that some s13's came with all metal radiators. i didnt know he had it till it was too late or i would've put that one on. i guess i'll put it when i go CA. do not patch it unless u want it to blow again. try and go to a junkyard or find somebody on here to sell u one. good luck hope u dont warp ur engine