What's this alloy in my radiator tank?

[hankj]

Hi, guys.

Dirty Harry (my 1985 Toyota P/U) has a cracked upper radiator tank right above the connection for the top hose. I've cleaned it to bare metal with a wire brush, but I'm at a loss as to what the alloy is. The top hose connector is obviously steel, but the tank metal has a bright gold color, much more yellow than brass, but too bright to be copper. The corrosion in spots where the paint is gone is green in color, so that tells me there's copper involved.

It's real thin stuff, so I'm afraid to try brazing, but I thought solder would do. Based on the above, anyone know what this radiator tank is made of? Ideas for flux and solder?

At the price of gasoline, I'd like to be running Dirty Harry instead of the Big Red Chevy Truck.

Any help will be appreciated, as always.

Be well.

hankj

[cope]

Its some sort of brass alloy. My limited experience with soldering w\radiators is that there is a good reason radiator shops exist; they know what they are doing. Just re-soldering a leak doesn't take care of the blockage that has certainly occurred in the tubes. I once had a 6 month old radiator patched and you would not believe how much blockage was already present.

[Rocky D]

Cope is right...you'd be money ahead to take it to a radiator shop. Soldering is the best way to fix that alloy. 50-50 lead solder. However it makes a BIG difference where the crack is...not all cracks can be just soldered and safe. There is expansion and contraction factors involved...so you could solder it up just fine, and when in operation later...BLOOEY...there goes all your coolant.

[hankj]

Thanks, guys. I'm planning to non-op the thing in August anyway, so I'm not looking to put any significant time or $$ into it.

Just gonna use it to haul dirt 'n stuff around the property. I've got some 50/50 and several fluxes - my guess is a non-acidic paste will work just fine based on the info you've provided.

Be well.

hankj

[cope]

Originally posted by Rocky D
Cope is right...you'd be money ahead to take it to a radiator shop. Soldering is the best way to fix that alloy. 50-50 lead solder. However it makes a BIG difference where the crack is...not all cracks can be just soldered and safe. There is expansion and contraction factors involved...so you could solder it up just fine, and when in operation later...BLOOEY...there goes all your coolant.

Rocky. I had a 1968 Plymouth that sprung a leak at the same place on the top tank seam and I had it to several radiator shops. I finaally bought a new radiator.

[hankj]

Hi, guys.

Used 50/50 and paste flux. Pressure tesed to 14psi - no drop in 20 minutes. Done!!

Be well.

hankj

[James D. Clark]

Soldering as a temporary fix to keep the coolant where it belongs might work. You are dealing with a radiator that's 19 years old. If it's starting to show signs of a bucket with a hole in it, chances are there isn't much left to solder.

[hankj]

Jim,

You oughtta see Dirty Harry! I'm just trying to keep it running until August. I'll file for non-operation with the wunderfil State of Cauliflower and just run it on the property to haul dirt 'n junk.

I certainly agree with all the sentiment regarding professional radiator repair or replacement (could have had a brand-new one for $100) and I would have done that if Dirty Harry wasn't Dirty Harry!! I went for the $3.49 chunk of 50/50...

Be well, guys.

hankj

[madmike]

if its temporary, clean it up real good then j.b.weld it, sounds gehtto (actually it is) but itl work lol, i wouldnt try sodering it your self if you wanted to actually fix it with that way, i would take to a rad shop
good luck

[Zrexxer]

I've fixed half a dozen radiators by soldering, from automotive to a dump truck radiator that was hit by a shotgun blast (that's another story. ) I even soldered new mounting brackets on a Chrysler radiator I mounted in a Ford pickup - (another story again.)

Short of the story is, as hankj found out, it works.

If the radiator is fatiguing and getting thin it may not hold as long and you may be faced with replacement, but you can almost always get at least some more life out of one by soldering it up. I found that the best method was to find the leak then spot sandblast the leak with a very fine sand and low pressure ( a little home-type siphon pot deal, about 20-30 psi so you don't blow away any thin metal.) It leaves a bright rough surface right at the leak, which you hit with a little soldering paste and heat up with a propane torch. That solder just JUMPS onto the bright bare metal.

I can't believe anybody would actually tell you in any seriousness not to try soldering it, or even worse, to try JB Weld.

p.s. I actually learned to do this on an 84 Toyota truck radiator - there were some issues those years, the forming of the upper tank caused fatigue at the bends and indentations. It will crack again, but you bought yourself some time.

[James D. Clark]

Soldering doesn't work on the plastic radiators Have to use epoxy.

[hankj]

Madmike,

It's already fixed (see above) but I can't agree with your sentiment that one should not attempt to solder something oneself. Solder is a strong bonding method, and has been used in myriad applications for many years. The process is well defined, and avoiding the common mistakes of the uninformed (melting the solder with the torch, etc.) usually results in a good bond.

As for JB-Weld, it's a good product. There are other metal epoxy products that work as well. The issue with it, or any other glue, is that you need to have access to all of the surfaces to be bonded. In my case, can't do! No way to get inside the tank. The solder, on the other hand, will get into the crack seam via capillary action, which makes the process so effective.

Be well.

hankj

[madmike]

cool good job, but i was referring to myself not sodering it cuz of my lack of expeirience(sp) with sodering, ive only sodered wires, i was saying i woulnt take the chance