Old school radiator repair

Tree09

Treehouser
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Peoria il
We got some top shelf mechanics here, got a question. On my 52 case backhoe the radiator finally went. Got it pulled, there are 4 tubes that have blown right at the top. Brazed ends, think the core is aluminum but not sure yet. A new radiator is like 400, and its time i learn to fix these. Lol so what do I do? Never gotten into repairing radiators yet, but i can braze and stuff, and would like to fix it if possible. It dying right in the middle of the driveway is another reason i just want to fix it and go.
 
Your tanks are good?

Can you pinch of the tubes and solder them off?

I cant believe its aloonimum.....but you have seen it not me.

If aloonimum you can "braze" them off too.




Used to be a standard fix like that. Either that or a new core.
 
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You are right, they are copper. Running to grab a baby brush to clean them... updates to follow lol

Edit: why is it that the bigger the store the more useless it is.... no brush but found some scotchbrite
 
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Yeah i think if i can get it clean it will solder just fine. Cool, saved 400 for now
 
Good job, Jimbo.

But given Kyle's mechanical aptitude, I think he could ciphered it simply by assuming the Lotus position next to the machine in the driveway, quietly observe his breath, maybe some gentle chanting, light a candle or two for good measure, and the radiator would have whispered to him The Way to proceed. ;)
 
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Hahahahahah i don't think so. So I'm not out of the woods yet by any means. On closer examination there are 3 rows of tubes, and sure enough a couple inner ones are also blown. Most tubes seem to be paper thin, and i mean paper thin. So the plan is to pull the tanks and seal them from the inside now. It started raining, no room in the garage atm due to a bedroom remodel, so with game of thrones coming on i called it a day. I may just order a new radiator tomorrow, or at least the core part.
 
Wire brush,acid flux and 50/50 solder .You'll do better if you pressure wash it first but don't use the high pressure nozzle .Do not braze the damned thing,just solder .Braze it you'll have the rest of the tubes come loose,too hot < voice of experience here ,been there .
Most of those old radiators were made by McCord .It might be such a thing a new AM unit can be landed for the price of a new core or cheaper .I recently got a new aluminum radiator for a Jeep cj5 for about 1/3 the price of a new core .Replacing a core is one tedious job believe me .
 
Now junk yard dawg fix unless it's leaking like a sieve .You can use "water glass "sodium silicate .straight water ,dump it in run it until it stops,drain the water for a few days until it sets up ,refill .

Black pepper or corn muffin mix . Dump it in usually works but it won't be a permanent fix .It will get you by in a pinch though

Last summer after spending $1200 to some stupid SOB who had no idea how to fix it I bought a new aluminum radiator for Geogias' 2002 GMC Envoy .GM had the bright idea to use that pink anti freeze the caused the cores to plug up .It was cheaper to replace than pay to get it boiled out .For crying out loud that dumb ass could not find the problem and it took me about 5 minute with a simple gravity test to figure it out .That radiator was around $200 .No more pink anti freeze .
 
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Ok, so I've been looking online at what auto parts stores have around here, and am considering doing the exact same Al. I need to pull some measurements and then see if i can't just get a cheap car one and fab up a mounting bracket and shroud. Even with universal hoses i should be under 100 bucks and won't have this problem again. The thinness of the existing good tubes has me thinking this would be the best course of action, i mean i accidentally damaged a couple by simply touching them. They are foil thick anymore, and i would bet that it will leak again shortly, and with the dogs running free it would give me peace of mind to replace it. I would just buy an exact replacement but I'm finding it hard to justify 4 times the price for an hour of fabbing a replacement bracket, and can use the difference to do some other fixes I've been planning.


Edit: new question: do i need to use a copper one because some other component will cause corrosion with an aluminium one????
 
You might find something but keep in mind a car radiator won't have the capacity as a tractor radiator .They are made for higher heat and pressure but with less volume .The slow speed tractor engine won't move enough air to cool them .
Here's one option,Anderson tractor Bluffton Ohio .About 15 miles from me .They will ship . https://www.andersontractorinc.com/default.htm

About the only thing that comes to mind that might be adaptable is a Jeep radiator .They are fairly narrow and a Jeep is a slow speed engine design just about like a tractor engine and used off road .If it's not raining I'll take a picture of one I replaced on a 1965 CJ5 with a 4 cylinder 143 cubic inch engine .

As far as aluminum it most likely won't make a difference . Unless it's a big semi radiator with a replaceable core they come as a weld together unit .I've got one from Georgias' Envoy in my scrap heap .I'll check to see if the mountings might have been e-coating for corrosion resistance .
I'm full of brain storms or brain farts depending on how to look at it .If you could find one and if you could get it to fit a radiator from a John Deere A might work .The coolant capacity is 9.5 gallons and most likely at least 6 or 7 is in the radiator .It would take some ingenuity to rout the hoses which are huge and the thing is heavy .Cast iron tanks ,replaceable core .No water pump,thermosiphon
 
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I ended up doing some hardcore reading and ended up getting a welded aluminum radiator for a Honda civic. The original was a 3 row copper, the racing Honda one is 2 row aluminum, which they say is the same as a 4 row copper. Besides being 1/8 of the price, it should perform about the same as the old one. I will bend up a shroud for it, and will have to run longer hoses because the outlets are not in the same spot, but the tanks are smaller so i have plenty of room. It's a 40 hp engine, the civic is 70 to 140 hp, and this is a racing one that's supposed to be 40 percent more cooling than a stock civic one. We'll see how it works, if it's not enough i can add a whole nother one too :lol:
 
Racing. That'll be good for a few added hp atleast. More if it comes with stickers!

The worst part is now you'll have to put one of those fart can exhausts on to match the radiator. :P
 
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No coffee can exhausts on anything i own!!!! It's just a common and cheap car, and the radiator will fit. And everyone knows that's its flames and a spoiler that truly add the hp :lol:
 
Fart can--:lol: I suppose if push came to shove you could get a junk yard electric fan to help the engine driven fan if it doesn't have enough air flow .I've never seen it done but that doesn't mean it can't be .
 
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I used one on a ranger i had, cheaper way to stop the squeal of the damn fan clutch
 
Another brain fart .Depending on the radiator design and type of pressure cap you could always add a coolant expansion tank .that would give you a few more quarts of coolant .
 
Not to get off topic but let me tell about a Ranger .On both the 2.3 OHC I4 and the 3 liter V6 those thermostats were made by White -Rogers .A design flaw was present in some of them .The bypass hole was too large and those cold blooded things could set at idle forever and never reach operating temps .Not a big deal in Miami but in Hibbing Minnesota it would be .
Fact being I was the one who discovered the problem but the stupid SOB's shipped the engines any way only to have to send teams of people to change them at the body and assembly plants because the engines were already installed in Ranger pick ups .Heads rolled but mine wasn't one of them .
 
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All good ideas Al, i think it came in the mail but will have to wait a few days to finish because I'm working another quick shutdown. Thanks man
 
Kyle you mentioned the tubes being foil thin....makes me think the material, that must have been there once, went somewhere. I have been using a radiator cap for years that has an anode hanging underneath to be sacrificed as electrolysis happens. Just chased one down for my chipper, "Rad Cap". Might be an idea to preserve the new radiator.

For other radiator fixes an old timer showed me once how to pinch a mid tube leak and then do a seal with bondo mixed with little enough hardener that it wasn't brittle. He kept one radiator serviceable for years that way.
 
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Good call Merle, and I'm sure it simply dissolved away from lack of corrosion inhibitors caused by not changing out the fluid enough. It did its job for 60 plus years tho, so i can't be mad. I will have to check out the anode cap tho, that could save me some headaches down the road!!!
 
Why do I read radiator repair threads?

For the good tips! Sacrificial anodes are only known to me in very limited applications. One more, now.

My chipper radiator could probably use upgrading before summer heat.
 
General motors had the bright idea of a special anti freeze for use on aluminum engines with aluminum radiators .Didn't work out as they thought it would .Called it Dex cool, pink color .In a given amount of time it would break down and plug the radiators tight as a bulls azz in fly time .A new radiator is only a few more dollars than getting one boiled out ,plus it's brand new .I went through that last summers on my lady fair's GMC Envoy .It's got good old Prestone in it now .
 
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