Posted by David Sherman on Friday, June 01, 2007 at 17:19:31 :
In Reply to: OT Plastic radiator repair posted by daveS on Friday, June 01, 2007 at 08:19:55 :
I asked a similar question here a while back. The upper tank on my honda car cracked near the mounting bracket. The rice wagon has 280,000 miles on it, so I'm not interested in putting serious money into it at this point. I tried metal-filled epoxy (j.b. weld), but it didn't stick well, it softened with heat, and it continued to leak. Somebody here suggested a Devcon product called "plastic welder". The local hardware store had it. It's a 2-part catalyzed plastic in a syringe dispenser, but doesn't quite smell or feel like traditional epoxy. I roughed up the surface well with 80-grid sandpaper, cleaned it with acetone and applied the goop. I just finished a 1200-mile trip, and it's still sealed. The thermometer needle got into the red coming up the Rock Island grade (10% grade for 3.5 miles) on a 90 degree day with a tailwind that just about matched the speed of the car, so I know the pressure and temperature were up to the max, but no softening or leakage.
No telling how long this field expedient repair will last, or if the tank is about to start cracking somewhere else, but for $4 and 5 minutes of time, I'm happy with the results.