fixing possible heater core leak with chemiweld/etc

[brett_celicacoupe]

i think the heater core in the celsior is leaking. i can smell coolant when i turn the interior fan on. and..... it looses about .25L of coolant per week at an estimate. this leads me to think the leak is only small.

changing the heater core would be beyond an epic job. and the last resort is blocking the heater off completly but i dont really want to do that.

i may be able to use those chemical type sealants to fix the leak. next problem is that i dont want to run it through the rest of the cooling system.

I was then thinking i could insert the additive into the heater coolant lines and loop them around, also looping the heater pipes on the engine side. this way there would be a separate system (heater core) with its own fluid and the chemical responsible for fouling.

so im wondering.....will the additive actually do its job in water that may not reach say 80deg and elevated pressure?

is the heat and pressure a critical catalyst for the hole/crack to be plugged?

I may be able to fill the system with nearly boiling water for the 1st time but this will only give it one heat cycle. it would be harder to pressurise the system. the seperate system could be left for a few weeks but again, there would be no pressure gradient over the crack and no more then 40deg water temps.


people's thoughts on this plan?
anybody know the ins and outs of the chemical 'welding' process in more detail?

[cambelt]

One word, if you are keeping the car just bite the bullet and pull the dash out and pop a new core in , give yourself a full day to do it . Stuff trying a temperary repair and then your away somewhere and it starts leaking worse.
99% of heater cores are a prick of a job . It may fall into the 1 % if your lucky .
Dave

[brett_celicacoupe]

thanks for the advice dave.

the celsior may possibly be one of the hardest cars ever made to change the heater core on from my observations 7 trillion gizmos built into the dash.

the chemiweld experiement is relatively low cost and i cant see why it would leak worse after i tried this method

[matty12]

dont use chemiweld it is oily and just plain crap,if you have to bung some seal up in there it will fix it.

[brett_celicacoupe]

that was the other question i was going to ask.

whats the best additive out there? chemiweld was the only brand that came to mind.

"sealup" is a brand right?

[wa5]

get some looooong hoses, and join the Celsiors heater up to a doner car (work car, renter or parents cars are good for this ) that way you can season the heater core, without fouling the rest of your cooling system...

Will take some mucking around to set up,.....

[brett_celicacoupe]

if im going to that effort then how many heat/pressure cycles would it need?

[Norminator]

if you want to go the way of an additive, you could give "SilverSeal" a try... just chuck it in and drive.

[JZA70R_92]

if your going to all that trouble just replace the heater core....find core that fits then do it on a weekend........

[Shifty]

A radiator shop will be able to diagnose the leak, look for a BHG issue too. In my experience leaking heater cores are fairly uncommon in semi-modern cars but anything's possible.

If you intend on keeping the car, replace the heater core... and if you want to ruin the car, use a chemical sealant. That stuff runs through all the little galleries & stuff in the head, gums up your water pump, radiator, etc.

Another alternative is disconnecting the heater but this may be a roadworthy issue and is also a pain in winter.

[thechuckster]

bar's stop leak is another product - but it (like chemiweld) needs heat/pressure to do its job.

btw: you live north of Gladstone - wtf would you need a heater for?