I, like most Honda owners, have experienced virtually no issues with my 97 Accord SE. Yesterday, I notice steam coming from under the hood as I was stuck in traffic. I pulled over to find a split in the top of the plastic radiator, just right of the cap. It cooled off, I drove home with the gauge back in it's "normal" position. I put some Bar's Stop Leak in it, which I hated doing, but it seemed to have sealed the split. The split was about an inch long. Should I be confident that I've fixed it for a good while, or should I replace the radiator, and how difficult of a job is it? I used to do my own maintenence...I can turn a wrench. Thanks

 

Radiator replacement aint that bad, just with the fans in the way it could get crampy... but i would say its pretty easy. Usually when it cracks on the upper part of the radiator i use like JBwelb or some good apoxy to seal it up and it holds fine... depends on the job u do, it should last for a good time. Some apoxies melt thou.

 

You know.....I thought about using JB Weld, but wasn't sure if it worked on plastics. I'll do that tonight. That stuff works wonders. Thanks for the tip.

 

O well, regular JB Weld worked for about 5 days. Started leaking again tonight. I bought some JB Weld Waterweld this time. It says that it works on ruptured radiators. The regular JB says that it doesn't adhere to plastics....

 

exact same thing happened to my 95 when i picked it up from my mechanic, after it was sittin for 7 years, u can find aftermarket OEM replacements for like 120$ or so.

 

yea u gotta go with the higher level jb, the reg lasted about a week and a half for me

 

Just replace it. IF you really wanna patch it, patch it from the inside of the radiator. The pressure that the radiator holds is easy enough to push out.

Replace it. Get one from ebay, http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW I got one from ebay like 5-6 years ago. Cools perfectly, no leaks.

While you're changing your radiator, check for leaks from your upper radiator hose. I just had to change mine last week. All brittle.