Whats the story with Radweld?

[Mad Spoons]

I have a leak in my radiator and becuase i am a cheepskate a mate suggested i get some radweld to see if it fixes the problem. then save up some cash (propably about400 quid) to get a new rad and cooling fans fitted.

the question is firstly is it safe? am i going to cause damage to other components in the cooling system like termostats etc.

how long does it last for?

can you just poor it into the header tank?

I would really apreciate some advice on this one fellas.

 

[Cupraloon]

Only ever used Radweld twice, about 15 years ago and it didn't work on one car and it did on t'other.

It is reasonably good, and it does depend on the severity of your leak, whether it'll work or not, (big leak) probably not.

 

[Mad Spoons]

Its not a massive leak, i ahve to top up the coolant about every 10 days and it seems to leak more if the car faces down hill, i think i have had a stone hit it.

 

[sssstew]

its just going to reduce the efficiency of your cooling system, as it blocks up waterways and channels as well as sealing the leak.

 

[lard44]

I used it in my old Rover (although tbh I didn't give a crap about it). The radiator lasted another year or so, although was prone to overheating and was still leaking a bit.

I didn't think a new radiator was THAT pricey tho...

 

[Fitzy7375]

I actually use a lot of radweld at work on bus radiators and tbh with you mate i wouldn't use it on my own car radiator, it ends up blocking the radiator. I have actually seen hoses blow due to radweld being used....but that is because my boss is a cheapskate and won't buy a radiator for the bus until it is totally knackered.

 

[beezasport]

it may just beed a repair might only be £50

 

[Deleted member 16792]

http://www.kalimex.co.uk/section.html?secpath=01.04.&pgid=17

try and get hold of some k-seal.
we sell shed loads off this stuff at work, it really does work.
have a look at the link above

 

[gazzy-g]

weve used k seal at work and its good stuff, forte do a high quality rad seal too the quality of the sealant reflects in the price if it costs £3 dont expect too much pay £15 the chance of it working is higher but i bet if you shopped around for a rad youll have change from 200 notes

 

[ja2007]

i wouldnt use it my self it will cause blocking.my rad went on my lcr 03 stealer wanted £400.00 notes to do it!
so i ordered a rad from radexpert on eday with full warranty for about £50.00 and fitted it my self.it was a pig off a job and took 4 hours but i took my time and all ended well.

 

[PlatinumR]

i'd be worried about it blocking up the turbo coolant jacket.

 

[chriswales6]

I have used something called Tbars leaks a few times. The last time was in a 306 dturbo I had a few years ago, is stopped a slow leak (about ½ a pint a week). It lasted a couple of years but started leaking a similar amount again, I put another bottle of the stuff in because I was about the trade-in the car.

It’s easy enough to use just following the instructions, which is normally putting it into the expansion tank and running the engine for around 15 minutes.

Tbars seems to have better reputation than Radwed since its less likely to block the water channels, but I would only use it on a car I didn’t care about. If you have a high performance petrol engine and drive it hard your better off replacing the rad before it goes pop and wreaks your engine.

It shouldn’t be to hard to find a cheap replacement rad on the net and a backstreet garage to fit it if your doing it on a budget.

 

[Mad Spoons]

Cheers for help guys, some diffrenece of opinion there but looks like the consensus is keep topping up until i can get it replaced.

 

[ADAM_84]

I used radweld on my saxo VTR, and my mums BMW seemed to stop the leak on the saxo till it used all the coolant and over heated on the good old M25 lol its not a permanent solution but will allow you time to save for a new rad. Think my mums car still leaks a tiny bit but not as much as it used to. I bought a new radiator for my saxo and it only cost me about £21 p&p included and i fitted it myself as it was pretty easy to get to but i shouldn't think a new rad would cost loads, it more the labour that costs.

 

[Mad Spoons]

whats the opinion of K-Seal?? i have a look around the net and it seems to do the job of radweld but without the clogging up.