I noticed some smoke/steam coming from under my hood today, and when I checked, there was coolant beading up on the top of the radiator. There is a hairline crack, about 3 inches long, along the top pipe of the radiator. My car is at my mechanic now to be looked at in the morning, but I was wondering if this is something that could just be patched instead of replaced? I really don't have the money to replace it if it doesn't need it, and I know radiators are expensive. For a hairline crack is there anyway they could glue it or seal it shut? I only plan on having the car for another year and then will be trading it in to a dealer when I purchase a new car next september, so I'm really only worried about the car lasting me another year and 12k miles. Thanks for your help.

Kevin

92 ES

 

whats up man, one of my best friends has a 95 SC300, he had the same problem. All he did to fix it was, use JB Weld to patch it up, its only like 10 bucks for a tube. Hes been fine for about 7 months now. keep in mind i wouldnt use it as a permanent solution but, if you wanna put it off for a few month its def. the way to go!

 

I recently had my radiator crack on me and the dealership wanted almost $500 for a replacement..So after using the search feature on CL I found a company that not only delived my new radiator the next day but it was only $168.00 with a lifetime warranty..I changed it myself which wasn't very hard and it took a little under 2hrs..Heres the link to the site where I bough my radiator..
http://www.auto-car-radiators.com/cg...21104385119.e0

The fittament was excellent and my car is running much better and cooler..When you do change your radiator spend the extra couple of dollars and buy the toyota red coolant, your saving enough on the radiator itself....

Hope this helps..

 

Take it to a metal shop and have it welded. Cracked manifold and exhaust pipe can be fixed this way as well. Economical and durable.

 

would you really want to try to weld a plastic radiator..because the part that is cracked is made of plastic which is why they crack..Why chance overheating your engine when it can be solved for less than $200 ..???

 

Thanks for the help guys, I ended up just going for the radiator replacement, since it was only $200 total for parts and labor. Now I have a metal pipe on top instead of a plastic one like before.

 

I'm glad to see that you took the smarter route and replaced it instead of trying to fix it....

 

ditto, don't cut corners when it comes to your engine's cooling systems.

 

You might have confused the radiator with the coolant reservoir. The radiator is made of metal (iron and aluminum in most cases.) The reservoir is made of plastic.

Welding is common practice in fixing small leaks in automobiles. Of course replacing the whole thing gives peace of mind.

 

I am very aware of the differences between the coolant reservoir and a radiator.Some if not all factory lexus radiators have plastic top ends..My gs300 is plastic and thats why they crack instead of rust and burst, like on american cars which is what your probably used to, which is why you recommended to have it welded.....

 

i think even all the newer american cars have plastic side or top-bottom tanks... my camaro has plastic sides, as well as my gmc pickup... maybe he was refering to welding the core surface itself... dunno.

 

I replaced, and saved a load of headache. Tried to fix, never worked. After 5 different attempts.

 

Agreed. A radiator is just (to me) one of those things you don't try to repair, you just replace it. I would only "repair" a radiator if I knew my days of driving a particular car were numbered.

 

I currently have 286,000 miles on my 1996 ES 300 and I'm replacing my radiator this weekend. It does have a crack in the upper part of the radiator which is a black plastic top. I'm really glad my original radiator lasted me this long. I really got my money's worth...