Have a bit of a leak in the radiator of the old Astra,does it work,any dangers ie blocking up the water pump etc?

 

I used it years ago on one of my first cars and it seemed to work ok. One of my mates just used to crack an egg and drop it into the coolant to stop leaks he insisted it worked too!!!

 

yeah i've used radweld on my 94 astra and it seems to have worked, i have also heard of the egg trick as well, there was a rally driver (cant remember who) got a leak in the radiator not so long ago, he stopped mid rally and bought half a dozen eggs and used them.

good luck

tim

 

The short answer is that it doesn't work Paul. It might stem the flow in an emergency, but if you're looking for a permanent fix, the answer's a big no.

A far more effective temporary (and permanent in some cases) fix is a quick curing epoxy adhesive.

 

Some years ago i had a small leak in rad, and radweld cured that for good. wouldn't know if its any good on bigger leaks though. Worth trying i would have thought.

 

Listen to the monkey.

I have a slight crack in rad tank. Have been advised not to go near rad weld or a chicken farm!!

Apparently when you go for a fix, the egg is not on your chin but all the way through your pipe work!!

 

Worked a treat on my MR2. I would normally fix it properly, but it started leaking the week I put it up for sale (must have been crying )

Popped some in, and it sealed it up.

 

emergency fix only- radweld can cause more probs than it sorts, like cooling system blockages which ain't good for dissipating heat.

 

Have used the Dog Turd variety many times in the past stopped the leaks.

 

Bit of a mix,the epoxy resin solution might be worth a try...if not then a new radiator.

Cheers.

 

Yes. I used epoxy on a stone damaged rad about five years ago, just warmed the rad and pushed the epoxy in. Sealed it a treat and as far as I know, the car's still running fine. If I'd had the option though, I'd have got a spare rad from a scrappy. Still, it's a far better solution than Radweld (or eggs) ever could be.

 

It's Good to get you back home after some muppet (me) holed the rad on my Landy

But it does reduce efficency of the system, and is'nt really a good permanent fix.

Is the radiator made of radiator copper or aluminium? If it's copper you could try soldering the leak.

A bit irritating really - as I had 2 good old astra radiators in garage which i just took down to the scrap metal man for a fiver last month!

 

had an xr2 that was leaking a few drips a minutes. rad welded it and bought a 2nd hand rad from a mate.

sold the rad for £20 12 months later as the rad weld was still doing the job (flogged the xr2 at the sime time - never rotted through an exhaust that beast - prolly cos of the 500ml of oil a day habbit it had!)