Hooray for Oneokie!

[Jim]

I do a little part time work for a fella that has a 250 acre cattle farm here in Floyd. Awhile back, he let the tractor get away from him and it rolled through a fence. Somewhere in that, something punched a hole in the grill and put a little hole in the radiator core.

I got hold of Nolan (Oneokie) this mornin' and spoke with him about the problem. Nolan said to put some black pepper in the radiator, put the cap on and let it run at idle and come up to temperature and pressure.

I'll be danged and hanged if it didn't work! The hole is plugged up tighter'n Dick's hatband and the tractor is back in service.[smilie=w:

Had I not talked to Nolan, I would have had to order the shop manual on how to tear down the front end, pull the radiator, take it to a shop to have it fixed and put all that mess back together.

Nolan, you saved my boss a pot full of money and me a bunch of aggravation. Not to mention the time the tractor would be down. I got a hundred acres of pasture to cut and 200 bales of hay to move a half mile before it snows.

I 'preciate it, buddy!:mrgreen:

[Trey45]

Just a word of caution Jim, it's a temporary fix, keep an eye on the temperature. Eventually it will leak again, more black pepper could be used again for another temporary fix, but if you want a worry free radiator, it needs to be patched permanently.

I had a 63 Ford F100, the radiator was "fixed" with black pepper, and held in with baling wire, I eventually had the radiator repaired, and mounted with cap screws.

[Chicken Thief]

I have heard of ground cinamon for that.

It may last, but not forever.

[oneokie]

Glad I could help, Jim.

As Trey said, it is at most a temporary fix. Hopefully you will be able to get the immediate tractor work done without anymore heating problems. And get the service manual ordered so that you will be able to remove the radiator and have it properly repaired.

[lead-1]

Pepper is cheaper but I have used Sodium Silicate from the drug store with good luck. It comes in a quart jar and my stepdad convinced me of the stuff when it fixed his radiator in his semi truck, and thats a big radiator.

[Bad Water Bill]

Jim I used this

http://www.barsproducts.com/tech/1109_tech.pdf

on several vehicles, Put it in a 78 Dodge maxi van 440 cid in Wyoming and never looked back. Radiator was still good over 100K miles later, That was only one of several I have used it on and forgot about.

[mroliver77]

If pepper sealed it, it is a small leak. I have had ok results with "alumna seal" or similer named products whith small holes.

If it is in a front core that can be got to you can clean the core aAROUND THE LEAK. Flux and put a dot of solder over the hole. This is after draining it of coarse.

We don't even have a radiator shop near us any more.
J

[Freightman]

Gota watch those tractors that are diesel they will start and run you down. I have a friend who was working on a Ford tractor that as most farmers do had the safety switch by passed. He accidentally hit the starter and it knocked him down ran over him full length with the back tires, split his pelvis and went through fences for miles before it fell into a canyon. They were trying to get him to the Dr' and forgot the tractor.

[runfiverun]

a raw egg will seal a radiator in an emergency situation, and will last for a period of time also.
i put a bottle of bardahls bars leak in my vehicles even if they don't need it.
gotta get it into the radiator and not the overflow bottle.
i drive 200 miles at a time [to work] with long stretches between 3 towns that barely have electricity.and very little traffic most of the time.

[leadman]

Gotta watch silicate, or "water glass" as it was called years ago. I was a Cummiins Mechanic and am familar with the use of this. The o-rings on the bottom of the liners would eat out and coolant would get in the oil. Pulled the thermostat and filled the system with water and then added the water glass. Put the t-stat back in later.
I know a driver that added it to a cold engine with the t-stat still in it. Plugged the top of the radiator.

I have used the pepper also, works for awhile, will start leaking agin quite suddenly at the wrong time. The Silver sealer or Silver Solder has worked well for me many times. most of the time it is a fairly permanent fix if the leak was small.

[DCM]

When the harvest is over you should drain it down and sweat the hole shut. I think you know a guy in Floyd Va. that can do that. :bigsmyl2:

[oneokie]

a raw egg will seal a radiator in an emergency situation,

:???:
Sounds kinda like putting a can of condensed milk in a tire as a sealer.

[Jim]

When the harvest is over you should drain it down and sweat the hole shut. I think you know a guy in Floyd Va. that can do that. :bigsmyl2:

Yeah, his name is Jim. For right now, I gotta' keep it runnin', though. This is the busy season.

[Finster101]

Gotta watch silicate, or "water glass" as it was called years ago. I was a Cummiins Mechanic and am familar with the use of this. The o-rings on the bottom of the liners would eat out and coolant would get in the oil. Pulled the thermostat and filled the system with water and then added the water glass. Put the t-stat back in later.
I know a driver that added it to a cold engine with the t-stat still in it. Plugged the top of the radiator.

I have used the pepper also, works for awhile, will start leaking agin quite suddenly at the wrong time. The Silver sealer or Silver Solder has worked well for me many times. most of the time it is a fairly permanent fix if the leak was small.


Yep, this is how we destroyed the "Clunkers" in the cash for clunkers fiasco. Drain the oil, pour in a quart of sodium silicate (provided for us along with a form declaring the vehicle dead) and rev er' up Earl. When it siezes up and smokes it's a done deal. A hard thing for a mechanic to do. Kinda like scuttling a ship I guess.

Jim, Bars leak does work real well for small leaks. Put some of that in and you may never have to worry about it.

[a.squibload]

The grey powder stuff works good too, I put some in a '53 Suburban
had a squirting leak from a rock or something, never touched it again.
"Stop leak" or some such name, if you can find it any more.