Should I try radiator repair myself?

-You can do a radiator repair yourself, just solder your radiator fins or neck.
-Try some kind of adhesive or putty to stop the radiator leak
-There is no way to fix radiators

The truth

-Old radiators used to be made completely of metal, typically brass or copper, so you could simply use metal to repair them. You could just solder or braze them and this would repair them to fairly good, reliable condition.

New car radiators are made of at least two things. The first is aluminium. Automobile manufacturers use this as the "core" or, the part that does the heat exchange. Aluminium is much harder to repair than the brass or copper radiators that cars used to use.

The second thing that new car radiators use is plastic. They use plastic tanks on both sides of the core and they crimp the plastic tanks to the aluminium core.

-As far as adhesive and sealants my advice is NEVER USE THEM. Adhesives and sealants are temporary fixes. Even if they do work for a while it won't last. The only way to permanently fix your problem is to actually repair it or to buy a new one. Sealants often cause more problems than they fix because many types of sealants actually clog up your cooling system and cause many more problems than your leaky radiator.

-Radiators are not what they used to be, but many of them can be repaired. The only good way to have one repaired is to take it to a professional radiator repair shop. Any good one will have the tools to install new tanks onto the radiator, and possibly repair the aluminium core if needed.

The most common place for a radiator from a new car to leak is either from the hose connections, which can be it's own challenge, or from where the aluminium core meets the plastic tanks on the side.

My final advice is that NO, you should not try to repair your own radiator. If it is from an old vehicle and you are good at soldering and brazing, then you could try it, as long as you inspect it periodically, but for any new car you will be wasting your time and will most likely lose a lot of money.

Good Radiator Repair Website

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