Radiator repair

[imp]

When my '90 F-150 let loose, as the gauge showed hotter & hotter while heading home, I guessed something was whammy. Sure enough, plastic-tanked radiator, 2-row at that. Ordered ALL-BRASS & COPPER fins, hang the cost. That damned new rad weighed much more than the leaker, but it'll outlive me, for sure! imp

 

[koda2000]

Very old thread (which I commended on in 2011). Back in the old days (20's-50's) things used to be built to last and to be repairable. Today everything is designed with planned obsolescence in mind. An old brass radiator can be repaired pretty much forever, where the aluminum radiators with plastic tanks are just designed to be replaced by 150,000.

It used to be that that there was a TV repair shop, a shoe repair shop and a radiator repair shop in every town. They're mostly all gone today and that's a shame, but we live in a disposable society.

I was watching a show on PBS recently showing a light bulb that had been burning in an old fire house for many decades. Turns out it was an early design that never burned out. The company went out of business as once you purchased one of their bulbs you never had to buy another one.

Look at it this way, you may not like having to buy a new radiator, but aluminum radiators are keeping many people employed.

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

blakshukvw],

.........The factory radiators are known for being slightly loose crimped. The thoery is that as the coolant heats up these differant materials, rubber, aluminum, and plastic all having differant expansion rates will seal together. Some will leak when cold others when hot.

It was my experiance that many new cars came with these leaks, dripping setting on the dealers lots. I repaired many of them over the years with little effort..........

That explains why my Explorers have plastic drip pans located under the radiators. I always thought it was because of environmental concerns, but it seems Ford didn't want new customers seeing coolant puddles underneath their new cars. Slick idea.