maydog Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 It seems like the aurora is having a mid life crisis. I have been repairing this and that for the last few weeks. Recently I discovered a hairline crack in the plastic, passenger side of the radiator opposite of the inlet for the upper radiator hose. Fluid slowly leaks from the crack at a rate requiring coolant top offs every week. I first tried to use plastic weld epoxy to seal the crack, it held maybe a day. Then I tried super glue and a vinyl patch - the glue was brittle and didnt last long. Tonight I bought some stuff called quick steel putty, I roughed up the surface and applied a liberal amount of the putty. I am 50/50 on wether this will work or not . Is there some sort of product available to fix these types of cracks? I am picturing something like a fiberglass patch not unlike a exhaust repair kit. What are your experiences - I really do not want to replace the radiator with such a small and easily accesible crack. Much thanks as always - md Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 maydog, I had the samer problem two years ago. Made all kind of temporary fixes, nothing lasted. Finally followed the advice of our resident expert (bbobynski) and replaced the plastic tanks right on the street. Took some 4 hours. It is doable. When I removed the radiator I noticed the second tank was moving south too. I had both tanks fortunately and I do recommend to replace them both. You can order them from gmpartsdirect.com DO NOT ORDER THE GASKETS THEY WILL TO SELL. Both tank come with all kinf og gaskets you need. If you decide to do the job, please feel free to PM to me, I'll give you some tips. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maydog Posted March 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 I am a little confused by the comment about the plastic tanks, isn't the radiator one piece? Does this mean that the plastic part separates from the rest of the radiator? I am looking through alldata and cannot seem to find any reference to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 I am a little confused by the comment about the plastic tanks, isn't the radiator one piece? Does this mean that the plastic part separates from the rest of the radiator? My radiator has aluminum core and two side plastic tanks. They are black and you can easily confuse them with anodized aluminum. I think your radiator has similar construction. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navion Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 Maydog, I agree with Adallak. I have tried everything that I could think of to repair these dam* plastic radiator tanks. It is a thankless job. By the time the tank cracks, the plastic is so brittle that even if you plastic weld the crack, it will keep right on cracking. The only way is to replace the tanks or the complete radiator. When I pulled my radiator out of my 94 SLS, I found that in addition to the crack that was leaking, there were three more cracks that hadn't started to leak yet. If you don't want to go thru the trouble of replacing the tanks, there are several discount radiator supply companies on the net. Just try to get one that is made on this side of the Pacific. When changing the radiator, be careful of the trans cooler "O" rings. They are easily lost. It probably would be a good idea to replace them with new anyway. The only complaint that I have is that the radiator drain cock is in an almost impossible place to get your hand into. And when you do get it open, it drains on the sheet metal and you get anti freeze all over the garage floor. Be sure that you get any spilled anti freeze cleaned up ASAP so you pets don't drink it. They seem to love it. It causes major kidney damage and a small amount will kill your pets. Good luck, Britt Britt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 I agree with the O-rings, once they are disturbed they need to be replaced. They have been compressed and dry rot in that position and no longer compress, and they will leak. You can buy a pack of them at the dealer. I replaced the radiator on my 91 and replaced it with an AC DELCO unit. If you replace it be sure it has the same specs, so of the aftermarket units have less cooling capacity as the core is smaller. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackc Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 It it was mine, I'd pull the radiator out and take it to a good radiator shop, They can replace the tank, clean the radiator, and pressure test it after they put it back together. You'll be good to go, at a price that you may find to be surprisingly low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 It it was mine, I'd pull the radiator out and take it to a good radiator shop, They can replace the tank, clean the radiator, and pressure test it after they put it back together. You'll be good to go, at a price that you may find to be surprisingly low. Good suggestion, they can boil it out and replace the tanks, my new Delco was about $275 if I recall, and I installed it.. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KY-Ron Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 Just finished this job yesterday, went to radiator shop and $150.40 to replace both tanks. Will be putting in tonight. Good luck on yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted March 1, 2005 Report Share Posted March 1, 2005 It it was mine, I'd pull the radiator out and take it to a good radiator shop, They can replace the tank, clean the radiator, and pressure test it after they put it back together. You'll be good to go, at a price that you may find to be surprisingly low Actually, pulling the radiator out is the hardes part. Two tanks will cost some $80 including shipping. And I would feel more confident if I had done the tanks and core conditionong myself, but it's me. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinW Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Good suggestion, they can boil it out and replace the tanks, my new Delco was about $275 if I recall, and I installed it.. Mike There shouldn't be anything to "boil out" in a Dex-Cool car. I think the inlet tank will always be the first one to fail, because of the higher average temperatures. There's too much movement for the adhesives to work. ___________________________________________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maydog Posted March 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 The epoxy putty seems to be holding fine right now, that will give me some time to round up parts. I cannot find part numbers for the tanks anywhere, can someone help me out on this? Reading the removal procedure it struck me that is says nothing about depressurizing the AC system before removing the condenser lines. Do they have some sort of valve that prevents them from spraying out their coolant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 I cannot find part numbers for the tanks anywhere, can someone help me out on this? Maydog, I tried to find the part for you but none of known online stores lists Aurora... The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navion Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 Maydog, I don't know about the Aurora, but my 94SLS didn't require disconnecting the airconditioning lines. I assume that the Aurora should be similar. The A/C condensor should be in front of the radiator support. The radiator should come out straight up. Unless the A/C lines run over the top of the radiator in the aurora, then you shouldn't have to touch them. You will have to disconnect the battery ground, remove the aircleaner assembly, remove the plastic panel above the radiator, remove the fans, drain the radiator, remove the trans cooler lines, & radiator hoses and then the bracket that holds the radiator in place on the top. You will also probably have to remove one or both of the "dog bone" engine mounts that pass over the radiator. Once you have all that stuff removed & out of the way, check to see if there is anything else hooked to the radiator. You should be able to lift it almost straight up & out. Be careful not to damage the fins on the core. You may have to pick one side higher than the other. to get clearance. When you are ready to reinstall the radiator, make sure that the rubber pads are in place on the bottom support before you drop the radiator into place. & after the radiator is in place, double check to make sure that you didn't knock the pads out of position. this would be a good time to replace the radiator hoses. & remember the earlier post about the trans cooler "O" rings. Other than that, it is as easy as falling off a log. Good Luck, Britt Britt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maydog Posted March 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 I looked over the procedure again, i guess it does not mention anything about the condenser lines. However, when I replaced the alternator a few weeks ago, I remember pretty well that there were two metal hoses going into the radiator tank, I had to bend / twist one ever so slightly to get one of the fan bolts out. These lines are not mentioned in the procedure, I wonder if alldata has the wrong year vehicle printed. ...oops just looked in the seville service manual, I belt those are engine oil cooler lines. Sitll the repair procedure says nothing about them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 ...oops just looked in the seville service manual, I belt those are engine oil cooler lines. Sitll the repair procedure says nothing about them maydog, Two cooling lines go to the radiator - motor oil line and transmission oil line. There are two related radiators inside the big radiator. Both have O-rings. Taking the lines off is not difficult, just have some plugs handy to not spill too much fluids. The job is quite messy. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maydog Posted March 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 Update.. I installed a new radiator today, I ordered it from Arrohead radiator. It cost me $140 shipped to my door. The part number is CU1700. It appears that the tanks will not come off the aurora radiator easily. I got the old one out pretty easy, the bottom oul cooler line was quite corroded however and I needed a very large wrench to loosen it. The new radiator went in ok. It was hard getting the tabs and slots to line up, I have a few ince cuts as proof of that. The fit was perfect except that the new radiator core is about 5-7mm wider (front to back) than the original. The screw tab metal thingy for the fan bolts does not fit all the way across, but did snap in nicely. I have not taken it out yet, I i did let it run up to temp and everythin seems kosher. I would reccomend arrowhead to others looking for parts. The shipping was very fast and the prices were the cheapest I found. Also the quick steel putty was holding well, the only reason it was still leaking was because I could not prepare the area underneath the condenser to radiator bolt. I would reccomend this for temporary repairs. md Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navion Posted March 5, 2005 Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 Maydog & everybody, I was in a NAPA store yesterday getting come coolant pellets for the SLS. I happened to notice that they had a "Plastic Radiator tank Repair Kit" on display. It was quite pricey at about $16.00. I still wouldn' recommend it, but if you were caught away from home, it could keep you going until you could do the repair correctly. Maydog, was the new radiator a US built unit or was it from China? $140.00 is very reasonable, especially shipped to your door. I have replaced the radiator on my 1994 SLS and I replaced the one on my 1988 Seville with new also. No radiator problems since then. The radiator that I bought for the 1994 SLS came with the oil cooler like an STS would use. They said that it was cheaper for them to stock the STS radiator than to have to mess with stocking two radiators for the same vehicle. So now, if I get a wild hair, I could install the oil cooler lines on my SLS. Good Luck with your Aurora. Britt Britt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maydog Posted March 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 Not sure of the origin, the box said Silla. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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