Thread: Can you repair the plastic radiator

Very common problem as they get brittle with age.
Someone on here just changed their radiator so they might have the old one as spares. Have a read and maybe send a PM. Getting the clamps to refit the tanks is very hard.
From experience you might as well bite the bullet and buy a new Rad, you dont want an overheating episode

Thanks for that, it will probably come down to getting a new one, just seems such a waste as it is a good radiator I just leant on the plastic nib.

I'm not sure if it would work or not, but if it were me, I'd be trying to drill and tap it. It would depend alot on how thick the material is in that area.
Of course as the material gets brittle, it could be an ongoing problem.

Originally Posted by highrr

Can anyone please tell me if you can repair the plastic overflow tip on the P38 radiator? It snapped off.

If you want to repair the radiator you can get a product that is called Devcon Plastic Steel and try to repair it with that. Drill out the hole in the breather tube on the radiator where the tip broke off and insert a plastic tube or even a brass tube into it and then use the Devcon Plastic Steel to build a support around the tube. Then you can connect the breather hose to the header tank to the tube.

You can look at the product at the following page:

ITW Devcon | Plastic Steel® Putty - A

ITW Devcon | Plastic Steel® Liquid - B

G'day HighRR did exactly the same to mine about 12months ago, took it to local radiator guy and he used some "special" glue to fix it, but sadly it only lasted for about 6 months. Got thru winter ok but started seeping this summer and I am now looking to replace radiator as I would not trust it on long trip on hot day! For your info I priced today a H/duty Aussie desert cooler radiator and they quoted $650 cash. The standard rangie radiator seems bad design to me that outlet is very precarious. Hope this helps, if your interested maybe we can get better price for 2! Let me know as i am going to take mine in tomorrow as a sample for them!

I superglued mine and is still holding up well after the radiator itself has worn out. I recently replaced mine with a Chinese manufactured radiator for $285 delivered, and to be honest it seems to perform better than the old Scottish made one, and is more robustly built. Time will tell I guess, as the Scottish one barely lasted more than 2 years.

Redandy:
Was that the Ebay one or another Chinese sourced one?

There is also a "plastic mastic" type adhesive/filler that comes in two parts (black and white) made by Araldite. It is excellent for this type of application. It is reguarly used in the irrigation industry for joining pvc pipes or making up T junctions or unusual bends, provinding the surfaces are clean and dry it is faultless. I have used it on large diameter pvc pipes (150mm dia) in our vineyard and it withstands 50psi pressures without any issues.


Cheers, Mick.