radiator problems.

[Lee Alessi]

i spent ALL day friday working on removing the radiator, flushing the system, and replacing all the hoses. i found a small leak in the bottom. the radiator shop couldnt fix it, so they epoxied it. put it all together and STILL leaked!

i went 100 miles today in it to a crawfish boil. parked at 1100. at 1500 i walk by the truck and its POURING radiator fluid like a hose was broke. it leaked fron the epoxied area as fast as i could fill it. i put two huge jars of stop leak in it and no go. kept filling it up and it kept pouring out. got on the road to try and "limp" home and after 5 minutes it took 2.5 gallons of water. i luckily dont carry extra diesel, but an extra water can. anyway it finally sealed.

so tomorrow i pull it all down again. the hard part is taking the fan blade off. i need a new water pump too, as mine has a good pit of axial play.

any tips, suggestions or expectations on radiator repair/replacement? the housing on mine and fan shroud has broken on the right side (as looking from the outside of the truck)

also i noticed the radiator has about a 2 inch gap on the right side form the light holder, is that normal?

are the light holders supposed to be pretty ridged? mine are not, and that concerns me.

 

[rdixiemiller]

Get a fan blade wrench. I got one from one of the tool trucks about 25 years ago. Looks like a 24" long ratcheting wrench, with 1/2 and 9/16 bolt head adapters. It has an offset handle to clear the fan blade and keep your fingers from being shredded by the radiator.
Never had a radiator leak the shop couldn't fix.
try K&W block seal, it stopped a 2 gallon/hour head gasket leak on a Ford diesel F700 I drove at one time. Never leaked again.

 

[Elohim1]

I found my radiator leaking today also. It has a couple small holes
in one of the tubes in the radiator . I was thinking of using "stop leak".



Where can you get this K&W block seal ?





i will definitely be subcribing to this post.

 

[cranetruck]

I would be hesitant in using any kind of stop-leak in my cooling system. Why not take it to a radiator shop and have it repaired properly? It's all metal.
Remember that the temp gauge on the dash only indicates coolant temperature, there could be hot-spots that would never show up on the gauge.
My advise is to 1) repair the radiator and have it pressure tested, 2) check the radiator cap and all hoses, including the one behind the oil filters, 3) replace the colant with fresh low silicate formula ethyl glycol plus additives as needed, 4) test the T-stat in a pot of water on the stove with a thermometer to observe opening and closing temps and 5) temporarily install a separate temperture sensor with an accurate readout (like a DVM plus thermocouple adapter) to check calibration of your dash gauge.
Make a project out of it! It's that important.
As usual, I rarily recommend something that I havn't done myself. I found it good to install a coolant filter as well. With a coolant filter in the system any kind of stop-leak additive is out of question and that should tell you something.

 

[ajg6989]

I took my deuce off roading hit a hole that was full of water at 30mph the deuce went air born the reason I knew it was in the air was the ride got really smooth with no bumps. Then the front end hit the ground next thing the whole cab smelled like antifreeze. Getting out I saw the fan had gone into the radiator going through three cores. I just ordered a take out radiator for $300 plus shipping and it works great.

 

[cranetruck]

How do you explain the fan hitting the radiator? What moved the engine or the radiator?
Do it again and have someone snap some pictures .

 

[ajg6989]

well I am going to replace all 4 mounts when I get a chance at work. I only wish someone had taken a picture I do wonder though would that qualify the deuce for air assault or air born