Leaky Radiator..
 

Hi everyone,
I took my car in for a routine oil change this morning, and the mechanic told me that I have a leaky radiator..When I looked at my car I saw that from the front of my car there is just water dripping..and its not just a random drip here and there, its a constant drip, drip, drip...I was told that there is something I could get from Canadian tire, that I pour into my radiator, just for a quick fix..
Now what Im wondering is how much would it cost to get this problem fixed, and would I have to leave my car at a mechanics shop for a while? ( leaving my car for a period of time is kind of out of the question, as per I need it everyday)...

Please Advise,

Thanks :)

Use an egg. :p

i watched a mechanic use something called "bars leaks" (i think that's what it was called) and dumped this into the radiator of this old toyota that was leaking coolant out of the bottom like a sieve and then kept adding water as the car was still running... and eventually the leak stopped. in that case i think it was only a temp fix.

i don't know what your money situation is. cheap would be one from a wrecker or a remanufactured one. otherwise it would be oem new (big $$$). regardless it could take 2-3 hours guessing depending on how hard it is to pull your rad and the time it takes to put in new coolant and bleed the system.

if you're looking for a shop cool-it radiators in bby (near imperial/kinsgway) is the place people have recommended me to go to in the past (in my case it was for aircon repair which they also do).

It depends on the car / model.. if the car is modern and uses plastic radiators.. DO NOT BUY USED!

Hot/cold cycles, NVH + coolant.. fatigues the plastic.. you mind as well pay for an OEM (vs factory OE)..

Look at where/who it was damaged.. it might be a rock / flying debris.. my friend had a big stick stuck through his radiator + evaporator.. good thing ICBC covered it.

At any shop it will take a day, so just rent a car.

if you drive an older civic like 90-2000 it would only take an hour or so to replace the radiator.

PLASTIC RADS??!!!! ive never heard of them! how would it conduct heat if its not metal???!

dont even bother with that stuff with the little copper balls that clogs the holes..

it fucks up your whole system pretty much, it does fix it but it leaves that copper garbage in the mix forever pretty much, after i got a new rad and flushed it countless times there is still the copper gunk in my resoivior

i believe he's referring to the radiator end tanks, not the actual core itself.

it took 2 hours to replace the rad in my dad's old dodge caravan.

is your coolant old? the coolant can turn into acid over time, causing the metal to corrode and cause leak.

My car is an '02, but how would I would if its a plastic radiator..would it be better to get the whole thing changed? and get a new one put in? I might as well do that, i think..

Ive never delt with a radiator before, and I am worried about it, thanks to my parents telling my my car is going to blow up if there is no water in it, so im a little paranoid at the moment..

took a couple of hours and around $300-ish to replace my radiator, labour included

You definitely don't want to run out of water. When you have a chance, check your reservoir.
If it's low, just add some coolent/water. Don't let your car run out of it!

just go to a mechanic and save yourself the headache. worrying about it and just letting it leak isn't going to solve it. if there is any chance that rad lets go on you and you don't catch it in time you could even toast the motor, and then you'll really find out how expensive things can get and i swear you'll never hear the end of it from your parental units :p

give cool-it a call, unless someone else can come up with another choice.

cool-it cooling and heating
6835 merritt ave
burnaby bc
604 430 4622
http://www.coolitbc.com

[EDIT] mods if this is considered spam pls let me know and i'll remove the above because i don't know of any RS sponsors that specializes in this...

make sure it's topped up before you drive, if you continue to drive it. Don't bother with bars leak. like hondaracer said, that shit stays in the system forever pretty much and you should just replace the rad.

amount to fix will really depend on the vehicle, but the mechanic should be able to tell you how much before they start.

rads are pretty easy and you may be able to leave the car for a half day if you need it. It shouldn't be more than a day though, if it is, find a new shop haha.

just replace the rad man.. they are cheap used. takes me 10 minutes to remove my rad.

i had this problem before. i thought it was the RAD, but it ending up being a Leaky Hose

DO NOT USE LEAK STOPPERS

they serve not to stop leaks, but to fuck up your entire system

DO NOT USE IT!