Radiator leak at top seam

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spike188

spike188

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Hey all early Merry Christmas to ya.
I have a small pinhole leak on the top of the seam at the top of the radiator on my '69 Barracuda, before I go through the hassle of pulling it/replacing it i wanted to see if there are any recommendations to try for a fix.
I know welding/soldering has its own issues as in heating up current seam can cause failure at welds/solder in the seam.
Any suggestions?
 
If it's just a pinhole leak i'd clean the area good and use JB weld
 
I just had the same problem and solved it with solder cleaned the area real good. Removed the upper hose used some flux, got the area warm enough and let the solder flow to the heat
 
I like to wire wheel (brass) where pinhole is,flux and solid core solder on leaking area.
A fresh layer of solder usually fixes it. If new soldered area is cleaned and solder flowed and looks clean after flux is wiped away you got a good repair.
 
Tooljunkie said:
I like to wire wheel (brass) where pinhole is,flux and solid core solder on leaking area.
A fresh layer of solder usually fixes it. If new soldered area is cleaned and solder flowed and looks clean after flux is wiped away you got a good repair.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I get nervous putting heat on it, maybe weakening other areas. since I got it cleaned up well might just try a little JB Weld. If it works great if not then I can go ahead get it out of the car and let the guys down at the shop take a shot.
 
Tooljunkie said:
I like to wire wheel (brass) where pinhole is,flux and solid core solder on leaking area.
A fresh layer of solder usually fixes it. If new soldered area is cleaned and solder flowed and looks clean after flux is wiped away you got a good repair.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input.......
 
kiss said:
If it's just a pinhole leak i'd clean the area good and use JB weld
Click to expand...
Yeah, think I will try it. Cleaned it up good as I thought about putting a line of solder on there but didn't want to take a chance weakening any other areas of the seem. No good way to keep the ends cool without pulling the radiator out. We will see if the JB holds for a while.......
 
The tank is vertical then jb weld it,horizontal seam theres no worries. Spray bottle with water if it starts to get away.
 
Tooljunkie said:
The tank is vertical then jb weld it,horizontal seam theres no worries. Spray bottle with water if it starts to get away.
Click to expand...
yeah went with the JB Weld, figured it should handle heat and pressure, since it's only cruising
 
That is an endemic problem with the round-top radiators, and probably why they changed to the square-top. I had the seam pop in both my 69 Dart and 65 Newport. Radiator shops confirmed it is a constant problem. You can fix it (I usually added solder), but will probably open again. On the plus side, aluminum radiators have become quite affordable.

If you want to keep the round-top look, one radiator shop soldered in an internal brace to keep the upper tank from spreading, which they said should fix it. It didn't recur, but after ~5 yrs I switched to an alum radiator.
 
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