Radiator Leak

[Big T]

Got a leak from this plastic fitting (looks broken) on driver’s side of the radiator:

Where can I get the fitting?

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

That is your drain plug. If you pull it out you will probably find the oring on it is broken.

 

[MrMarty51]

Wheeoweee. And here I thought it was going to be a lot worser than something so simple as a O ring.

 

[Big T]

That is your drain plug. If you pull it out you will probably find the oring on it is broken.

Where can I get a replacement O-ring?

 

[Will L.]

Any parts store. One will cost you probably a dollar, a 150 pice kit will be $20.
Harbor freight sells a kit of a bunch of different sizes with 175-200 pieces for like $10.

 

[MrMarty51]

I like the John Deere store here for individual O rings. Seems the JD line uses some odd ball sizes that are not obtainable any place else.

 

[Will L.]

John deere and CAT are both like that. Jerkwads imo.

back in my day... (Am I old enough to use that at 50?)
A man could buy each size -2 linear feet, and the bottle of super glue with the little yellow tool and make any oring ever needed.

 

[MrMarty51]

Yup Will, I too remember those kits. Then for some reason they disappeared. Kind of like magic.

 

[NVW]

They like to sell o-rings singularly for big bucks. JD mostly uses oddball sizes not found in o-ring kits. I'll take a pic if I remember of a little bag that cost $80 to fix a hydraulic bank on a 4250 tractor.

 

[NVW]

You can use air to test a tank, attach a psi gauge somewhere and don't go over 5 psi, we usually only went to 2.5 psi testing tanks.

 

[Will L.]

Yeah, hanging around salesroom and talking to potential customers and showing them the price difference of oddball things like that vs what regular o rings cost for the competition is something that ought to be done. Especially now with videos so easily shared.

The factory obviously does it to force buying from the dealership. But if the dealership starts complaining enough that they are loosing new equipment sales over it... especially if it became a trend for many people to make those videos and start getting some bad publicity over it.

Just typed that, Then it hit me. There has to be folks that made videos of how to make oring...
Here is a german video, but most the others I saw were longer and not using the kit right.
Cut the old oring with razorblade to match length of new stuff is only thing not obvious here other than there is a solution to remove excess glue and another to make the new seam waterproof in the kit.
something low pressure like radiator plug- if you have another oring laying around that is correct diameter material, use loctite 404. Just be sure to cut the ends square, and line up the edges accurately- thats all the plastic part in the vice is for.

 

[NVW]

You can use air to test a tank, attach a psi gauge somewhere and don't go over 5 psi, we usually only went to 2.5 psi testing tanks.

This post was meant for the fuel tank thread Stoney started.

 

[Big T]

Looks like it’s wet up above that drain plug….



Should I pull the radiator and have it tested? It is original equipment.

If I need to replace, where do I go order a replacement?

 

[Will L.]

Yes, that old and miles- a new radiator is a wise investment imo. Not worth blowing an engine over since you can afford the investment cost and will have this rig a long time.
DO NOT get a cheap one. I have seen so many cheap radiators fail in a year or two.

Get either a factory one, or the champion unit from Chris. Radiators are DEFINITELY a buy once cry & once item. If you are dealing with higher temps on yours- get the coated champion from Chris.

If you haven’t replaced radiator hoses and heater hoses in a while- doing it all now so it is good to go for the next bunch of years, doing it at the same time makes sense.

 

[Big T]

Yes, that old and miles- a new radiator is a wise investment imo. Not worth blowing an engine over since you can afford the investment cost and will have this rig a long time.
DO NOT get a cheap one. I have seen so many cheap radiators fail in a year or two.

Get either a factory one, or the champion unit from Chris. Radiators are DEFINITELY a buy once cry & once item. If you are dealing with higher temps on yours- get the coated champion from Chris.

If you haven’t replaced radiator hoses and heater hoses in a while- doing it all now so it is good to go for the next bunch of years, doing it at the same time makes sense.

Chris = Twisted Steel?

Never have experienced high temps on the ‘99. It’s always ran at 187 to 190 on the dash coolant temp. Towing a boat up to Big Bear Lake, it would get above 210 on the steepest part of the climb.

 

[ak diesel driver]

The only downside to the champion or any other aftermarket radiator is the transmission cooler is a restriction as they use an adapter to go to the bigger lines used in later years

 

[Big T]

The only downside to the champion or any other aftermarket radiator is the transmission cooler is a restriction as they use an adapter to go to the bigger lines used in later years

Not sure I understand.

 

[ak diesel driver]

Gm increased transmission cooler line size in later years on our platform. After our platform they increased them even more. GM is noted for pinching pennies so there must be a valid reason to go bigger.

 

[Big T]

Gm increased transmission cooler line size in later years on our platform. After our platform they increased them even more. GM is noted for pinching pennies so there must be a valid reason to go bigger.

Are you saying the Champion is not a direct fit? That I will have make mods to make it fit?

 

[ak diesel driver]

No it comes with adapters to go to your bigger cooling lines. It's just a restriction. One would think they'd use the bigger cooler and use adapters to go to the smaller earlier years in their quest for a universal radiator, nope.