[Jason]

Hello everyone,

Long time lurker first time poster. I have a 2001 Jimny (M13A) and I love it. It's pretty standard except for the tires and I do go off road a bit but nothing extreme. I've managed to do all the servicing and fixing things myself so far but nothing too drastic has happened until now. Yesterday I changed the fan belts, however, in the process of removing the fan to get the alternator belt past it the clearance was very tight and I have pushed the fan into the back of the radiator and now it leaks.

I've tried a bottle of rad-fix type "pour it in, drive it and it will fix the leak" but it's not worked.

So I figure I need a new rad. At the moment I can still drive it, it seems to leak less when running but once it's hot and then when I stop it goes from a drip to a run, plus, because it's leaking into the fan it's getting sprayed everywhere when the engine is running.

So my questions are...

I'm thinking of taking it to a garage, I've searched on rad problems and seen talk of "my rad man says..." so I figure there's some specialist radiator places??

How hard would this be to do myself? I do worry though that because I can still drive it at the moment I can get it somewhere, but if I try it myself and get it in bits and make it worse then I'm stuck at home and will need a tow/collect. = more $$

I'm thinking, new rad and while it's there get a new thermostat and a good flush etc and done properly should all be sweet again.

Any recommendations??? I'm Brisbane north side, Windsor/Newmarket area.

Thanks,

Jason

[Benz]

new rad will cost you about $400.

pretty easy to pull out and put back in again.

not sure if you need to do the thermostat.
but you may want to replace your hoses if they are looking a little perished.

give it a go.

just make sure you have enough coolant and water to fill it back up.

don't use tap water...

[cairns27]

If ya poor just use needle nose pliers and squeese either side of the leak, and empty a couple of teaspoons of pepper in, always drive to the temperature guage; oil,fuel nothing else maters.
Don't plan any long trips till it's fixed properly, but this will work for a few years.

bye

[Benz]

used this liquid metal stuff to fix mine for a while.

but I then put a new one in so i could travel long distances worry free

[alien]

phwoar - expensive mistake: http://www.suzistore.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=1662

$495!

for that price i'd be hitting up a wrecker for a 2nd hand one, then get it professionally flushed and you're set.

[coily96]

PM sent

[Jason]

Thanks for the replies, and the PM Coily. Soz, wish I'd come back for another look before rininging round on Monday.

Benz you were spot on with the price, got quoted $395 for the part or fitted, flushed and pressure tested, etc for another 100. Went for the latter in the end as I'd put laods of crap in there to try and fix the leak so wanted to try and get that out.

Cheers.

[TheOtherLeft]

My mechanic put me onto the Wurth's Stop Leak stuff for my little leak. It worked as I don't have a leak anymore.

It costs about $18 for the bottle.

[Benz]

think he's tried that.

i replaced my radiator last year....

that was a expensive mistake... silly weak radiator....

[TheOtherLeft]

Benz2369 wrote:

think he's tried that.

i replaced my radiator last year....

that was a expensive mistake... silly weak radiator....

What brand was the cheap radiator and roughly how much was it? I was looking at a new radiator before I tried the Wurth's stuff

[atari4x4]

TheOtherLeft wrote:

My mechanic put me onto the Wurth's Stop Leak stuff for my little leak. It worked as I don't have a leak anymore.

It costs about $18 for the bottle.

is that the same mechanic that said your disks didn't need machining?

there is no way i'd ever use any of those products on a car i plan to keep, i'd use it in an emergency situation or the time i used 3 bottles of chemi-weld to fix up a head warping pootrol enough to be able to sell it a bit more than scrap value.

[TheOtherLeft]

atari4x4 wrote:

TheOtherLeft wrote:

My mechanic put me onto the Wurth's Stop Leak stuff for my little leak. It worked as I don't have a leak anymore.

It costs about $18 for the bottle.

is that the same mechanic that said your disks didn't need machining?

there is no way i'd ever use any of those products on a car i plan to keep, i'd use it in an emergency situation or the time i used 3 bottles of chemi-weld to fix up a head warping pootrol enough to be able to sell it a bit more than scrap value.

Well the stuff seems to be working fine so and nothings blocked... yet.

[Benz]

TheOtherLeft wrote:

Benz2369 wrote:

think he's tried that.

i replaced my radiator last year....

that was a expensive mistake... silly weak radiator....

What brand was the cheap radiator and roughly how much was it? I was looking at a new radiator before I tried the Wurth's stuff

mine cost me $400 for and denso one. (factory one)

and huh?
cheap?

[BAZZOOK]

just replaced mine b4 xmas. was quoted $420 from Autobarn. a local rad shop supplied one for $315.00, so shop around.
ps. rad shop said it was an aluminium rad and couldn't be repaired.
easy to fit and as said fit new hoses.

[Teracis]

Be careful with high pressure hoses too, I was washing my zook the other day and thought there was some mud on the radiator, so I hit it with the hose and was like wtf it's getting dirtier??? For about half a second, then I realised it was copper...
Didn't blow a hole in it luckily but would have thought the hose wouldn't bust it at that distance!

[TheOtherLeft]

Benz2369 wrote:

TheOtherLeft wrote:

Benz2369 wrote:

think he's tried that.

i replaced my radiator last year....

that was a expensive mistake... silly weak radiator....

What brand was the cheap radiator and roughly how much was it? I was looking at a new radiator before I tried the Wurth's stuff

mine cost me $400 for and denso one. (factory one)

and huh?
cheap?

Factory radiators are around $800, a PWR rad for my GV was aroung $900

[Benz]

yeah?

though denso made them for suzuki?

exact same one as i pulled out of there.

could be wrong though as the car is second hand.
$800 is a bit steep

[TheOtherLeft]

Yeah I was quoted somehwere between $250-300 for an aftermarket one. My only concern is the quality of them.

[Jason]

Not sure what the brand of the stuff I put in was but it wasn't Wurth. I can't see a brand on the new rad, it was through Red Devil and has a 2 yr warranty. Went for a long drive at the weekend and I'm loosing coolant. Seems to be coming from the plastic drain plug at the bottom of the rad.

[Jasen]

check the o-ring (quadring?) on the drain plug and also make sure the thread is ok. I've seen these strip threads quite alot - usually by someone being overzealous in tightening it. Since it's a new rad it might've been loose-ish to begin with but not leaking until it's warm and pressurised.

[dm90]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsswIRkAjfU

could try this?????

these guys are hilarious

[monley]

dm90 wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsswIRkAjfU

could try this?????

these guys are hilarious

[Jason]

There is no o-ring at all haha, so that might be the problem, but it's not leaking out arounf the plastic screw but out of the drain hole that is open when the screw is loosened. However, I don't think I'm loosing much, the initial loss to the reservoir was it just finding it's level after the new rad.

Thanks guys, that vid is funny.

[Jasen]

Jason wrote:

There is no o-ring at all haha, so that might be the problem, but it's not leaking out arounf the plastic screw but out of the drain hole that is open when the screw is loosened...

Ah ok - was thinkin it was a different style of drain plug. If it's the one that is like a tap - they should have an o-ring on the tap shaft ( u can see it if u screw the whole thing out). If it's a new rad and it continues to leak here i'd just drop back into the rad shop and get them to have a quick look at it. Would be quite obvious to them if it's been leakin there.

Am about to start lookin round for a new rad myself. Protip - if u use any type of 'quick-fix' stop leak type stuff, flush ur rad as soon as u can cause i'm sure mine is about 80% blocked now (had to use 2 bottles of the crapshit to get home a few wks ago) - will warm up and temp just keeps rising to red (although occasionally it will work ok for a day then stuff up the next lol)

[Jason]

Thanks mate. PM sent.