Pepper to cure coolent leak? No so much for me...

[doonze]

So, I've been having a "vanishing" coolant issue. Not much, maybe a cup every week or so. Turns out I couldn't find it because I had been using straight water for the last 4 months while I got an overheating use resolved. Clogged radiator was my problem and that's now fixed... So I had replaced the water with Anti-freeze last weekend.

Anyway, today I go outside and notice a "damp" spot under the truck. About as big as the bottom of a soup can. So I climb under and notice several green drops under the radiator. So, it becomes obvious to me that I have a leak coming from what seems to be about the middle of my radiator, and it's such a small one that when it was just water it evaporated before it could be seen, but the Anti-freeze I'm now using sticks around longer so I found it.

Now, I just spent months getting this thing cleaned out, solving all my overheating issues, so I wasn't in a hurry to gum it up again. So I did some research. Seems pepper and eggs are really good "home remedies" for leaking and that most commercial stuff can at least gum up your heater core if not the radiator. Didn't really want to use an egg, just doesn't seem right to me, and I just see egg crap getting all clogged up somewhere so I decided to try the pepper out, I mean from all I've read today no down sides at all so why not??? I can't replace the radiator right now, and after all that work I'm going to make this thing last at least until next spring. Then, now that it's leaking, I'm going to replace it. So, I just need a bit of a fix for a little bit, and people have luck with this trick working for years.

Well, turns out, there is a down side. No one singe post or page about this trick listed this as a side affect, but it appears, on our trucks at least, or mine that is, the thermostat doesn't much care for the pepper....


Now, after using it, my temp gauge won't sit still at all. I seems that when it's just cracked a little bit, the pepper clogs it up, temp rises, stat opens more, pepper clears out, stat closes back and the cycle starts again. To the tune of like every 30 seconds...non stop. I had this problem a little bit on really cool nights until I replaced my temp sending unit a few days ago. But it's different then that, different amount of swing, and much more often. Plus before pepper fine, after pepper....problem.

I flushed the system, needed to add more Anti-freeze anyway, didn't use enough last time, and was only protected down to about 5 degrees. Got most of the pepper back out, I thought, but it's still doing it.

So my hope now, I guess, is that the pepper gets soggy and just turns to mush, and then it should stop. I hope....

So now there is a negative post about this method... for everyone else seemed it worked like a charm...

 

[Anime]

Pepper isn't a cure or fix, it's a temporary emergency repair for if you're stuck with a leaking radiator and just have to limp back home after pouring in some pepper and water from the store or diner you were just at.

Check your hoses to be sure you're not getting a connection leak that's making it's way onto the radiator.

If it is indeed a radiator leak, I'd say replace it. For the $100 it costs for a new one, it's not worth the hassle or repair costs for what happens when a cooling system isn't up to spec. Some stop leak from the parts store might get you around until you get a new one, just be sure to replace the thermostat, and flush out the system with clean water prior to installing the new heat exchanger.

 

[boggs1227]

good point anime...

as far as fast cures goes ,pepper ,eggs ( getting hungry now) are just quick fixes that alowe small particles to find there way into the leak but when the pressure is gone then you still got the leak .

and whatever you do don't get the idea "well i just use barrs stop leak".....

wrong.

barrs does a good job of sealing up everything ....i mean everything .....

stat
any coolant sensor it comes into contact with and throws off the calibration
the core lines in the rad it's self

bottom line is you got a leak and no bottle fix is going to repair it properlly .

 

[Robrt32]

If you can find the flume that is leaking a temporary fix is to break that flume and crimp it together with needle nose pliers OR if you get is CLEAN and i MEAN CLEAN .. JB Weld will hold... You best bet is to buy a radiator though... I'm 10 miles from Helena, I have a radiator i will GIVE you..... up to you

 

[doonze]

well, I wasn't going to buy a new radiator (right now), and I wasn't going to spend any money on a leak like that, so, I googled it. And it was the only thing that seems like it might do the trick until I do replace the radiator sometime when the budget will allow.

So anwway, it "seems" the leak is gone...that's the good news...

The Temp gauge still swings like it's a carnival ride. I guess if it doesn't settle down by next weekend I'm going to flush again and this time remove the stat too to wash out the block...

What a pain, I just had everything with the cooling system working right for once! Then I go and mess it up myself Arg.....

 

[nitro71]

AaaaaCHOOOOOOO! Man that pepper is getting to me : )

 

[rhauf]

you're leak is probably either the water pump bearings going out and leaking because of running straight water (does not lubricate properly) or could even be a freeze plug if the vehicle has had straight water in it a lot of times during its lift. straight water rusts things away especially when heated, and is not a good idea.

the best way to find the coolant leak, is to start the explorer, and as it warms up (and the cooling system pressurizes) it will force out a tiny bit of water from the leak, then the water will stop coming out (After the heat expansion of the coolant is finshed) this is how you'll find it. i'm guessing water pump. also if you're rad has plastic tanks, it's possible it has a little crack near the top too, and when the cooling system heats up, it pushes outa little steam.. i've had this before, it usually cracks near where the upper hose connects.

and it sounds like the pepper has also gummed up your thermostat, causing it to stick, so you probably want to replace that too. it probably didn't help you're radiator much either (clog wise)


i hate to say it, but neglect is to blame for you're problems. if you had run coolant like you were supposed to you probably would not have developed this leak. and if you had fixed it properly (not with pepper) you would not need a new thermostat now, and you're rad would probably be in better shape. and if you do not fix it soon it will turn into a blown head gasket or even cracked heads.

 

[Robrt32]

I don't buy the straight water causing the leaks... Ive seen it done all my life and didn't cause a leak.. We run power units without antifreeze, drain them when not in use{winter time}.. I sure there is a " Expert " that wrote a book saying it does, but the book isn't real life..

 

[doonze]

Nope, it doesn't, I've researched it quite a bit. Not running coolent will fry your water pump bearing...after a LONG, LONG time, think year(s) running just water, I googled several test where months of just water added no noticable wear to the bearings over using coolent.

Now the rust thing, that's the true issue, however when weighing the cost and enviromental impact of the 10 or so flushes I had to do to get all the scale and rust out of this trucks system when I bought it, well, that's ok. I at one point was keeping the "sludge" and pieces of rust I got out of it... and dried it came in at over 2 lbs. Even after hours of flushing within 2-4 days the water would be so brown again it looked like mud(with big peices of scale, not new rust). I didn't want to dispose of that much anti-freeze, I dealt with the tiny bit of extra rust the water might cause, lesser of all evils in this case.

As a side note, my leak was from a fin in the middle of the radiator where there were some damaged fins I had strightened out. My cleaning of the radiator had most likley uncover the gunk plugging it up before. Our radiators are Aluminum, they CAN'T rust and water CAN'T hurt or damage them. The "rust" in radiators like ours are from gunked up coolent and rust collecting off the block in the radiator.

Also we are off subject, all I was trying to do was point out that contrary to every single post I read on the web about using pepper, there IS a bad side affect to keep in mind. I wasn't debating what I did, or why I did it. Weither it was right or wrong, or where the leak came from. I knew all the other info, I was just sharing my experence for others.

 

[rhauf]

Okay fair enough, i just go on a rant about straight water because i'm often working on older vehicles which have had straight water in them, and it sucks getting rusted off hose fittings out of intake manifolds, replacing metal cooling lines (on internationals and stuff) and having to pull out an engine to replace a freeze plug on the back of it etc. to me it's worth running coolant (plus it boils at a much higher temperature)

to plug you're leak, you might try a product like alumaseal, i've used it on patched rad's before with pretty good luck.

 

[doonze]

Yeah, well, Internationals just plain rust, and I don't think there is anything you can do about it. We had a truck and a tractor, also my step-dad had a scout.

All of them would have made a good run for the rust hall of fame....

But they kept running, and running and running. Tough as nails, as long as you didn't fall through the floorboards....

 

[rhauf]

Yeah, well, Internationals just plain rust, and I don't think there is anything you can do about it. We had a truck and a tractor, also my step-dad had a scout.

All of them would have made a good run for the rust hall of fame....

But they kept running, and running and running. Tough as nails, as long as you didn't fall through the floorboards....

mine only had rust in the engine/cooling system, from 30 years of straight water. ...and a tiny bit of rust in the bottom of the tailgate (collected dirt, hay, and other stuff and stayed moist, rusted through)

here's what it looks like now. (bad pics i know)

 

[doonze]

Wow, I've always been a big fan of the international stuff, but NEVER seen one that wasn't rusted out all to heck.... unless it was garage kept or restored with upgraded protection. We knew one guy though who had a shop shoot his with protectant when new, and that one didn't rust near as bad. My step-dad had his rusted out floorboard (aka, big holes where your feet should be, no floor left at all both sides and in the back too) replaced, and had them sprayed with protectant too, and that has lasted at least 20 years. The body shop told my step-dad that International didn't use any protectant on their stuff other then the paint on the body panels..

Sharp truck.

 

[doonze]

Oh, btw, I'm going in a new direction with my thinking on this issue. I'm not so sure, or at least not 100% sure, it was the pepper anymore causing my dancing temp needle. My leak has gotten worse, to the tune of it was full on Wednesday (I topped it off) and today the overflow is empty and when I took the cap off it was about 3" below the neck in the radiator. Used to just loose a cup a week before I put anti-freeze in it.

I'm almost thinking it's air bubbles causing my stat troubles, I think the leak is letting air into the system somewhere where the bubble are getting trapped behind the stat. This stat doesn't have a weep hole, and this is acting just like it does when I don't burp it good after draining the system. But that goes away, this doesn't. Would make sense if more and more air bubble are getting into the system as it leaks.

I'm still not getting a large amount on the ground, or dripping but I can find wet stuff all underneith the truck, so it's getting blown around, I also think the leak is slowing down with it low, maybe.

Anyway, I'm going to go out and check some stuff out at my next break, make sure I can't find any other leaks, then I'm going to have to "alumaseal" it, even though I was trying to avoid that. I've got to make a 200 mile trip after work and if it keeps up the way it has the last two days it's not going to make it. I'm against the wall on this one, and the leak is getting worse every day. I would almost buy a new radiator for tonight, but I get off at 9pm and have to drive 2 hours to get my son, so no time at all and no parts store open that late anyway.

On a side note, I wonder why the leak got so bad AFTER I added antifreeze?