I got a hole in the metal tube part on my cars aluminum radiator.

Maybe try JB weld it should work JB weld has done some amazing things for me in the past

I'd maybe use this

www.amazon.com/Permatex-80335-Muffler-Tailpipe-Sealer/dp/B000BOAZM8

>>1148049
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Bernzomatic-AL3-Aluminum-Brazing-and-Welding-Rods-334491/203710179

~$4

>>1148049
You won't get enough heat into it with a small torch.
Take it off, empty it out and you'll need to hit it with a proper brazing torch and brazing rods.

Course... in the great spirit of half-arsing everything, bog it up with a heap of good quality, 2-part epoxy and it'll last a fair while

>>1148065
>>1148052
So boring story time, I replaced a leaking radiator with my current leaky radiator. I tried several epoxy repairs on the cracked plastic part up top with poor results. It cracked the epoxy or leaked around it. It leaked less but I decided to replace it.

A day later I got a smashed hole in the new one.

I want to avoid epoxy because the damaged area is a mess and if the """repair""" fails it'd be impossible to try another approach besides replacement.

I might try anyways but I hate wasting more money on this shit.

>>1148096
The when radiators have plastic tanks, they are usually HDPE which won't stick to anything but itself. You have to weld it with more of itself.

>>1148049
Mechanic here, I'm sure nothing will work, and you'll need to replace the whole thing. However, I'm super interested in your attempts at trying to do this. I will be following with the hopes that you pull this off. Please post results. I'll suggest that "flex seal" spray or tape.. I'd give that a shot if I were in your position.

>>1148096
Epoxy will melt right off your aluminium with a hot air gun, even a clean, hot soldering iron if you don't mind getting it covered in shmoo. But JB-Weld is made to bond to metal and does so very effectively, just make sure you rough the surface up with sandpaper and clean it before adhesion.

>>1148210
But that should be easy, you could probably use a clean soldering iron and a chunk of milk bottle or two. Laminate them in an oven if one layer of bottle is not thick enough. You could fix the patch on with a hot air gun if you had to, but I'd advise supporting the plastic with something so it doesn't turn soggy. Spot the area with a hot soldering iron/ stick to see if it is HDPE, which will melt easily and without fumes. Another good test is to burn a small fragment, the stuff burns cleanly like candle wax.

>>1148049
>aluminum radiator
takes special solder and flux to solder aluminum
>>1148065
>proper brazing torch and brazing rods.
it's not brass, it's aluminum
>>1148240
>you'll need to replace the whole thing
this is the correct answer
The radiator is under ~15psi pressure at 200°F
Any repair you make has to withstand this.
A NEW radiator is ~$100 at local auto parts stores

pour a bottle of water glass in the radiator. Google it

glob a screw with epoxy and screw into hole

>>1148210
The jb weld stuck okay, I used little strips of nylon fabric and epoxied it on. It just always found a little pocket leading to an edge to leak out of. Failed repairs did scrape off kinda easy. So I guess it stuck but not really so you're right.

I'm pretty pessimistic on the idea of epoxy, why I asked about soldering or brazing. Also pessimistic about my ability to solder or braze. Problem with both solutions is the damaged area is tiny and also crunched up and impossible to really clean or abrade around. The radiator is so thin I think a dremal would just abrade a hole through. Also concerned I can't get a good seal with epoxy because the hole always seems to be moist.

Looked like a fat ass ball bearing from a GMC transmission or a musket ball dropped from a Ural rider impacted it square on the tube.

Pretty sure its fucked so I guess I'll replace it again. Maybe JB weld a debris screen or something fml.

What about drilling a hole where it's leaking, plug it with an aluminum pop rivet and then cover the rivet in silicon gasket maker?

>>1148278
If you ever need to fix a cracked plastic water tank,
always drain tank below crack level, doing it out of car is easier though.

If it's small, just clean, then heat and try to stir it around with a small screwdriver or something to mix or at least link the 2 pieces at the crack

Better or for larger cracks:
clean off crack, wipe with alcohol and then sand a little, wipe off again, shave away a bit of a taper into the crack,

Find place on a mount bracket portion, tab, etc that you can saw a small strip off of

heat, push donor plastic into crack, try to mix all around

If you can't melt it enough to move it/mix it, your heat gun sucks, let it heat up more

To fix the aluminum fins, youll have to pull radiator, clean area, then either braze the hole shut with a brazing rod, stopping up that one tube, or basically heat the aluminum up enough to melt solder on it, then encase the hole in solder

If you were good enough to pull the tanks, you could just seal the leaking tubes at each end

>>1148278
You can encase a tube leak with epoxy, but you will need to have it dry, clean it up with alcohol, then pack it full around there.
But remember it will have to hold against pressure.

You could try to just pinch that tube shut on both sides of the leak, then go from there

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/bars-leak-liquid-aluminum-radiator-stop-leak-16.9-oz-1186/99984970-P?searchTerm=radiator+stop+leak

I just had a decently large hole open in my radiator and I dumped this in and it sealed it right up. My brother has been driving around with this fix in his radiator for about 8 months now, he's the mechanic that recommended it to me so I can keep driving while I order a new radiator and wait for the weather to clear up since I'm going to be replacing it outside

>>1148353
It never occured to me to heat a crack on a plastic tank for some reason. That old radiator was shot though. The plastic on the upper hose intake was discolored and literally crumbled in my hand.

>>1148355
Thought about pinching or reshaping the damaged area.

Thanks. I'm only really fixing this so I can sell it and since I'm an upstanding and forthright citizen I'd have a hard time selling it with a radiator with a big old glob of jb weld on it.

>>1148049
electronics solder isn't gonna stick, ever. you want a mostly zinc based solder with #1280 flux. tig welding it would make more sense.

field fix: rip the fins off around the break, smear whatever glue goop you've got into the broken tube ends, and roll the ends up like toothpaste tubes.

it will break again in the same spot and/or another spot

if your an old man who only drives 5 minutes to work and church on sundays, then you can probably milk it

other wise it will be perpetual dicking around

>>1148495
That shit's gonna clog up passages you don't want it to clog up. You'll realize it when you have no heat next winter

>>1148049
By tube do you mean one of the ends for the rubber hoses to connect to? Could just get a patch of aluminum and clamp it down if that's the case.

>>1148327
Won't hold pressure.