Radweld/ Barrs Stop leak safe in FD3S

[Evil Twin]

Hi all

I noticed that my car had small traces of coolant leaking from the bottom of the under tray this weekend.  I took the time to remove the air box, intercooler, battery, battery tray and various other bits of ducting.  

I removed the AST pressure cap (0.9 Bar) and using a friends pressure tester brought the pressure upto 0.5 Bar. On further inspection I found a slight leak from the from the top of the radiator where the core tabs are crimped over the plastic header. It was only very minor and in the the two month I have owned the car the coolant levels haven\'t moved in a drastic way (read not needed topping up).

Is it safe to use Radweld or Barrs stop leak in the RX-7 setup, or will it cause problems in the system with seals, pills etc?

[skybusr34]

i wouldn`t risk it matey. second hand rad wont cost too much

[Grizzly]

I would\'nt use it in any car, it has been known to block up the heater matrix and could cover up a problem that may cause you to brake down.

If you have a leak your best of trying to find it, if it turns out to be something like a Water pump seal gone or a Water seal failing you could end up sat on the hard shoulder with your car overheating (which i may add is the easyest way to scrap an engine)

[kev-yorks]

Theres lots of scare stories out there about everything from rad weld to oil treatments. The rad weld that is about now is a fluid that is held in suspension within the coolant and only activates when forced through a hole and into the air so will never block radiators etc. Another plus is it is full of inhibiter\'s to stop corrosion within the engine. It is a service item on a number of manufacturers cars and trucks. If there was any problem at all then the manufacturers would never be putting it in as a routine service item.
All my motors get a bottle with fresh coolant every two years.
Kevin

[Grizzly]

I just don\'t understand why if there is nothing wrong with the coolant system i the first place? The antifreeze i use has corrosion inhibitors?

I guess everyone has there own methods and tricks just i\'m a bit funny when it comes to the water system.

[kev-yorks]

Bit like the oil treatments. Clive was skeptical about it improving compression ratio\'s on rotary\'s until he was persuaded to try some and low and behold it worked...............now he sells it!
Injector cleaner/ fuel additive is another one give it a try it works.
Kevin

[Grizzly]

But just like the Oil treatment don\'t you see it as a shrt term fix? Surly if you put oil treatment in it will only raise the Comp for a short period?

I have a good reason why i don\'t like Coolant adatives, one of my early T2\'s had a Bad waterpump on and the Guy selling it put rad weld in to cover it up enough so i did\'nt spot it loosing water, anyway long story short becouse the water pump had been leaking then cloged up with rad weld the bearings seized and let go ten miles away from my house so the car overheated and did all the usal stuff that happens when your doing 70 on the Motorway. So after that i don\'t usaly like water leaks.

So if you want my Opinion fix the leak Properly and you won\'t have an issue :yes

[J.j.]

Is it safe to use Radweld or Barrs stop leak in the RX-7 setup, or will it cause problems in the system with seals, pills etc?

Get a ally one, problem solved :Thumbs-up

[kev-yorks]

But just like the Oil treatment don\'t you see it as a shrt term fix? Surly if you put oil treatment in it will only raise the Comp for a short period?
 
I have a good reason why i don\'t like Coolant adatives, one of my early T2\'s had a Bad waterpump on and the Guy selling it put rad weld in to cover it up enough so i did\'nt spot it loosing water, anyway long story short becouse the water pump had been leaking then cloged up with rad weld the bearings seized and let go ten miles away from my house so the car overheated and did all the usal stuff that happens when your doing 70 on the Motorway. So after that i don\'t usaly like water leaks.
 
So if you want my Opinion fix the leak Properly and you won\'t have an issue :yes

No problem with that statement at all radweld will only work with minor leakage if you\'ve a major problem then get it fixed. As for the oil addatives i\'m pretty sure theres example within the rally world where sumps have been punctured oil lost and the motors still finished (pretty sure mike has given an example of this before) the guys who develop these thing now are at the level where they are playing with the structure of the metals they are protecting so who knows whats possible. Anyway i thing we\'d better stop hyjacking this thread, everybody goes there own way and does what there happy with. Working with commercials they tend to be a little more forward thinking with all the addatives due to all the extra regulations they have to comply with but it does seem to be trickling down to the car world now.
Kevin

[banned advertiser]

Carl gave me some to use and said he had used it several times, and I had no problems with it also.

[d-king]

im not sure if the turbo\'s are water cooled or not on the rx but i used some "rad weld" on my series 2 rs turbo and my cossie and it blocked up the water feed pipes to the turbo cause they were only a small diamiter, i personally dont like the stuff

[Grizzly]

I just don\'t see the Point, i take your word that the new radweld (with no gritty stuff in) does\'nt do any harm but am i wrong in saying if you have a leak its better to fix it rather than trying to cut corners?

[sparkgap]

If your rad has started cracking on the plastic headers then it\'s time for a new one (preferably all aluminium). Radweld is meant as a get-you-going repair for Vauxhall Vivas.
Don\'t insult your FD!

[Evil Twin]

Thanks for the input from all you chaps.  I\'ve read all the replies and talked to many people about this stuff. I\'m not fully convinced to go ahead and try it.  

So since I plan to keep the RX for a period of time, I am going to go down the aluminium route, probably with a set of silicone hoses to keep things reliable.

Are Samco the best hose manufacturer about?

[robedwards99]

May not help at all but a tip I picked up the other day....

remove the pipe from the right side of the AST and blow down it. Had someone do this and it cured my water leak!