leaky radiator

[Pookapotamus]

so the last night i was installing my used winch and noticed that my 1 year old radiator was leaking around the end crimped on end caps.

can these be repaired? can i just take the rad off and tighten the crimping? can i have metal end caps put on?

[WhiteOut]

Pic?

[Pookapotamus]

cant really get a pic with out taking the front end off,but it is just seeping around the rubber seal where they crimp on the plastic end caps.

[WhiteOut]

I have some StopLeak stuff if you want to give that a shot.

[Pookapotamus]

i would rather fix the thing properly before trying a chemical. i would hate for the temp seal to let go on a trail.

[SwampSinger]

so the last night i was installing my used winch and noticed that my 1 year old radiator was leaking around the end crimped on end caps.

can these be repaired? can i just take the rad off and tighten the crimping? can i have metal end caps put on?

Metal and plastic expand at different rate under heat... it's  common on XJs... I bet it leaks on the passenger side. Unless you get one all in metal or aluminum...it will happen on and off.

These rads usually have  a year warranty....do you still have the bill?


mine used to leak in the Winter and not in the summer... I call it sweating. I would not worry about it unless it won't stop and leaks every time you use it... A rad at Auto value is $120... it's easy fixing also
 

[morerpmfred]

Most rad shops can recrimp it for you, Allseasons has the right tools.

[Crunch]

If you don't have the bill and need a rad shop City Wide Rad do very good work
I've used them for years

[Rubicon Josh]

I have had the same issue in the past. If you take it in to a rad shop they usually wont touch it because they say that if they try to re crimp the tabs they will break off and create a bigger problem. What I did was I removed the radiator, and used a bench vise to recrimp the tabs. I worked my way around the whole radiator adding controled pressure both down on the tabs and horizontally inwards. I haven't had a problem since and this is after three rad shops told me it was impossible to repair. It has held up for two years now without a leak and only took me an hour to fix it.

[WhiteOut]

Dana, would the rad out of a 5.2 ZJ fit?

[mike s]

Had really good luck with Wynn's stop leak. Like you i hate a bandaid but it's pretty good stuff