Do-it-yourself repair of aluminum car radiators video

It often happens on the road that the car’s cooling system becomes unusable. After such damage, the car cannot continue to move under its own power. Or rather, this is possible, but it is not recommended for the reason that the engine will not be cooled, and this can lead to more serious consequences that will require a major overhaul of the engine.

Most often, car radiator repairs have to be done on the road. If you don’t have the necessary tools with you to carry out repairs, then you need to call a technician who can repair the radiator on the road, or stop passing cars to further tow your car to a service station, where they can repair the radiator at a professional level.

General description of the system

In order to ensure the normal functioning of the engine, it is necessary that the cooling system maintains the desired fluid temperature. The need for repair may arise if the liquid in the system is in a state of constant and prolonged overheating or, conversely, hypothermia. In addition, repair of the cooling system is also required if there is a fluid leak, as well as if there is strong noise during operation of the pump. Experts recommend checking the coolant level before every long trip.

In some cars, the fluid level is shown on the sensor marked MIN. If the arrow drops below this value, then you need to add fluid. It is necessary to check the level in the system when the engine is cold, that is, before starting. Some cars have a warning system that monitors this indicator. In this case, if the level is too low, the driver will hear an audible signal.

System care and what not to do

There are several things that are strictly forbidden to do, as this can cause failures in the cooling system.

Firstly, it is strictly forbidden to add coolant to a hot engine. This is dangerous because cracks may occur in the cooling jacket of the cylinder block. If this happens, repair of the cooling system cannot be avoided.

Secondly, it is prohibited to start and operate the engine for a short time immediately after the antifreeze or antifreeze has been drained from the system. This is dangerous because the sealing rings of the cylinder liners may be destroyed.

It is worth knowing one more small fact - frequent changes of water in the system leads to an acceleration of corrosion, as well as to the formation of scale.

In some cases, diagnostics and repair of the cooling system can be carried out independently. For example, in the summer it is important to keep the radiator core clean. If you notice that this area is clogged, you need to clean it with a stream of water or compressed air. The working jet should be directed towards the core from the fan side. If scale, rust or other sediment appears in the system, it needs to be flushed.

To avoid repairs to the cooling system, seasonal maintenance should be performed. When preparing the engine for winter, it is necessary to check the density of the coolant in the system using a device such as a density meter. It is necessary to choose the liquid itself very carefully, since if there are impurities of petroleum products in it or they get there from other sources, the entire liquid will begin to foam during heating. This will lead to overheating of the engine, as well as leakage of substance through the expansion tank or the radiator itself. Most often, antifreeze A-40 or A-65 is poured into cars. The crystallization temperature is -40 and -65 degrees Celsius, respectively, and the boiling point is about 108 degrees. There must also be water in the liquid cooling system. However, its boiling point is much lower, and when the engine is running, after a certain time it begins to evaporate altogether. It follows from this that, as a preventative measure, you should sometimes add a small amount of distilled water to the system.

Checking the System Status

If we talk about checking the technical condition of this system, then it consists in determining the quality of its tightness and thermal balance. A conclusion about tightness can be made after a complete inspection of all mechanical parts has been carried out. You need to make sure there are no leaks both with the engine running and with the engine turned off. In addition, it is important to monitor the rate at which the substance decreases from the expansion tank during operation of the internal combustion engine.

As for the thermal balance, conclusions about its normal operation can be drawn based on factors such as the engine warm-up rate, as well as maintaining the nominal operating temperature during operation of the internal combustion engine. Repair of the cooling system is not required if complete tightness is ensured and the engine temperature is between 80 and 95 degrees Celsius at a vehicle speed of 80-90 km/h.

Addition

In addition to the fact that the system hoses may crack, the reason that antifreeze is leaking may be the radiator itself. This type of problem can be easily corrected with your own hands. If you need to fix a leak in an aluminum radiator, you just need to follow certain instructions. There are actually two methods for fixing leaking aluminum car radiators.

• The first method is based on the “old-fashioned method” using some products. It is based on the fact that you need to add mustard to antifreeze. The fact is that mustard, like special products, has similar properties and composition, which includes elements that can eliminate this malfunction.
• As already mentioned, there is also a second method for eliminating this problem; it is based on adding not mustard to the antifreeze, but a special product. This product can be purchased at any nearest auto parts store.

Please note that such repairs will not last long. If you want to forget about the problem for a long time, you should contact specialists who can carry out professional repairs of aluminum radiators. Such repairs are carried out if it is not possible to purchase a new radiator or hoses for the car’s cooling system. If there is such an opportunity, then you can take advantage of it, because if you manage to fix the malfunctions the first time, then the second time you most likely won’t be able to do it and you will still have to buy everything new.

Fluid leakage and how to check the system with pressure

Sometimes it happens that leakage of antifreeze or antifreeze can occur due to the fact that the hoses of this system are not tightly connected to the fittings and pipes, the stuffing box seals are worn out, cracks appear in the tanks, etc.

There is a good way that can help check the general condition of the liquid cooling system, as well as find out if there is a substance leak. To do this, he successfully uses the pressure method. To do this, you need to supply a small amount of air under pressure into the neck of the radiator or tank. If there are loose connections in any places, liquid will begin to flow out through them. Sometimes it happens that a leak occurs, but the tightness of the system has been checked and it is in order. In this case, the problem usually lies in the incorrect operation of the radiator valve. If this happens, then it is important to check the condition of this part, and you also need to measure the pressure necessary to open it. The normal indicator is always indicated in the technical data sheet for the car. If there is a deviation in the parameter, then the cooling radiator needs to be repaired.

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The cooling system of a car engine consists of a number of elements that can unexpectedly fail during operation. These elements include a water pump (pump), thermostat, fan or cooling radiator. Note that one of the most common and serious problems is radiator leaks, as well as blockage of its channels. Such malfunctions lead to the cooling system losing its ability to effectively maintain the operating temperature of the power unit within the specified limits.

As a result, there is a need to constantly monitor the level of antifreeze in the expansion tank and add coolant in case of small leaks; the driver always needs to monitor the temperature of the internal combustion engine, etc. If the leaks through the radiator are more significant, then driving the car under your own power is extremely undesirable, since the risk of engine overheating increases significantly, which is accompanied by serious consequences for the internal combustion engine. For this reason, in this article we will look at how to repair a cooling radiator with your own hands. Such repairs can be especially useful in emergency situations when, for example, the radiator leaked while driving on the highway far from auto repair shops.

Read in this article

Electrolysis of aluminum parts

It is worth considering a problem such as electrolysis, which occurs if the car’s radiator is made of aluminum, and the system also has a temperature sensor to turn on the fan. Electrolysis itself is a decomposition reaction of chemical substances that occurs when an electric current passes through them.

There are several signs that indicate this problem:

• the radiator pipeline becomes clogged;
• A white coating appears around leaky areas;
• A green coating appears near the thermal switch for the fan.

If these shortcomings appear, then it is necessary to check all electrical connections of the devices in the system. If this is not done, then after a while you will have to repair the cooling radiator, as it will fail. It is worth adding that for aluminum devices it is better not to use water as a coolant. It negatively affects aluminum, causing corrosion in the system tubes.

Construction of aluminum radiators

First, let's look at the design of aluminum radiators and what composite materials are used during their production. The first type is a traditional aluminum radiator with plastic tanks ; depending on the model, it may differ in the way the tanks are clamped and the core is made. As a rule, the tanks are clamped with wave rolling or teeth.

Sometimes it may seem that the only difference is in the rolling method, but this is not true. Without going into details, we note that the type of gasket used between the bottom of the radiator and the tank imposes certain restrictions, or, in other words, entails the use of a specific type of rolling. Now let's look at the types of cores.

typesetting

Stacked cores are divided into:

• all-soldered;
• typesetting (or prefabricated).

Solid soldered

These radiators are more complex to produce, and, accordingly, they cost much more than prefabricated ones. The meaning of the core is that it is collected, like copper, but then sent to a special furnace with an inert gas environment and a strictly defined temperature for sintering. Then, when the core is ready, plastic tanks are connected to it using wave rolling. Naturally, in nature there are combinations of the above methods.

Prefabricated

As a rule, prefabricated models are based on round tubes with a cross-section of 7-11 millimeters, and stacked heat sink plates; they are not welded to the tubes, but simply tightly placed on them. The advantage of this design is its low cost, since almost all work is carried out mechanically, without the help of welding. But there is still one type of prefabricated radiators, where the tubes are not rolled through silicone gaskets to a metal mesh, but are soldered to an aluminum one. In 99 percent of cases, the tanks are connected to these radiators using a certain type of gear rolling.

A little different are all-aluminum radiators, in which both the cores and tanks are made of aluminum. The cores of these radiators are always made using solid-soldered technology .

But, surprisingly, not a single cooling radiator from a large manufacturer uses this technology, since the tanks may require the same amount of material as the core itself. The only exceptions are exclusive American radiators; they are produced to order by the capricious owner of a “drag” or a restored “classic”.

In our country, this technology is found either in stove radiators from some manufacturers (for example, Daewoo Nubira, Lanos), or in models from a frankly Chinese or domestic manufacturer. But these two described options, although cheaper than a copper-brass radiator, the quality of their assembly and design is completely copied from brass models, and inherits all the “innate” shortcomings. In addition to the above, it must be said about aluminum stoves, their tanks are not welded to the mesh, as they should be, but glued, and even with glue, which is dangerous to use even with a garden watering can, let alone a heating radiator.

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That is, in order to produce a high-quality aluminum radiator, which, in addition to good heat dissipation, can also withstand mechanical and hydrodynamic loads for a long time, requires careful design and the use of complex equipment during production. And this increases the cost of the final product, which will immediately transfer it from the category of leaders, in comparison with the “copper” product, to the level of expensive outsiders.

Since, for example, in a GAZelle, on our roads, a brass radiator rarely travels 40,000 km without breakdowns, and this is about a year with a daily load of 100 km. After overhauling the radiator with our own hands, we can double its lifespan, unlike the factory one, but doing this with an aluminum analogue is quite difficult, and most importantly, not very profitable financially. Here is a reason to think about whether you need to save money when buying between an aluminum and a brass radiator?

"Exotic"

As a rule, craftsmen call stoves and radiators exotic, which can be very rarely found. 1992 Opel Omega heater ; it is made of a completely plastic mesh (bottom) and tanks, made monolithically, and connected to a stacked core, which has oval tubes, with a welded turbulator. Besides this example, there are also a number of rarely seen varieties, but again, these are rare.

It should be noted that the more exotic the radiator is on your car, the more difficult it is for car mechanics to repair it, and not only because of the complexity of combining different materials, but also because the experience of many craftsmen simply does not make it possible to use a tried and true one the first time. repair option. That is, an inexperienced technician will carry out repairs at random, while simultaneously learning the intricacies, so to speak, practicing with his own hands on your radiator, gaining experience.

Plastic tanks

As mentioned above, plastic tanks lighten the weight and reduce the cost of construction. But we need to make a reservation, the term “plastic” when considering tanks is not very correct, since they are based on polypropylene, and no one will disclose other additives and impurities; survival in a competitive environment depends on this. Here you can find fiberglass reinforcement, fillers, and other tricks.

After a certain time, plastic tanks dry out, the base of the plastic changes under the influence of a constant temperature difference and they become brittle and form a leak. In this case, the best option would be to replace the radiator with a new one, because replacing the tank is not always cost-effective. But sometimes, if we consider exclusive models, there is nothing you can do to repair cracks in the tank with your own hands, but here the second question arises - which repair option is better?

There are three main repair options:

• replacing the tank with a metal one, which is welded or soldered in place of the plastic one;
• soldering the tank with plastic;
• use of special polymers.

The first method is the most reliable, but also the most expensive, and the problem with the second tank remains (since there are two of them in the radiator). If you replace two tanks, the cost will be such that it is easier to order a new, original radiator, and all the assurances of the craftsmen, such as the radiator will last forever, must be ignored, since the aluminum part also has a certain resource, and it decreases simultaneously with the service life of the plastic ones tanks. The high price of these tanks is explained by the fact that they are not made by the master himself, but by an industrial plant, like an aviation plant (Antonov Design Bureau or KhAZ), and the master only welds it in with his own hands using argon welding.

The next two methods are more accessible, since the use of polymers and soldering plastic is cheaper and faster, and when using a very old radiator, it will give you the opportunity to “turn around” before purchasing a new one, without large investments. But it must be said that soldering a complex polypropylene composition is sometimes even dangerous; you can make it even more fragile in the soldering area.

Malfunctions of the radiator and tank, how to fix them

Possible malfunctions of the cooling radiator:

• mechanical damage to the tanks, which manifests itself in the form of cracks, dents or holes;
• frame plates may crack or break;
• if the radiator has been soldered, then there may be liquid leaks in these places;
• cooling plates or tubes may be damaged;
• The system may become clogged due to the appearance of scale or insects.

Repairing a car's cooling system in the event of scale or contamination of the radiator begins with the need to clean the system using a special installation and heated washing liquid to a temperature of 70-85 degrees Celsius. Washing is carried out with ordinary water. To get rid of such a problem as insect sticking, you need to use a special solvent. It is applied to the surface of the element and then simply washed off with water.

As for repairing barrels, everything is somewhat more complicated. For example, if a dent appears on a brass tank, you can remove it with a mallet. First you need to lay the part on a wooden lining. If there are cracks, but they are not too large in size, then you can simply fill them with solder. If there is damage to the upper or lower expansion element of the system, they are usually restored by installing patches. To install a patch into the internal combustion engine cooling system, you need to clean both the damage site and the patch, they are tinned, and then soldered to each other. Sometimes it happens that there is damage to the tubes and it is not possible to install a patch. In such cases, the problem can be fixed by soldering it at both ends. However, in this way, only three pieces are allowed to be soldered for one radiator. If more than 3 tubes fail, then they must either be replaced with new ones, or the radiator must be completely replaced. If damage occurs on the radiator mounting plates, they can be repaired using gas-type welding.

Making metal tanks instead of plastic ones.

Sometimes it is not possible to weld or glue a plastic tank. In particular, this situation arises when a crack occurs at the junction of the tank with the pipe plate (at the sealing rubber), or when the plastic cannot be welded at all due to old age. In this case, it is best to make a new tank from aluminum or brass (depending on the material of the radiator itself). If the radiator is aluminum, then, of course, the tank should also be aluminum. If the body of the radiator is copper-brass, then the tank is also made of copper or brass. In the first case, exclusively argon-arc welding is used for the manufacture and fastening of the tank; in the second, you can use both welding and soldering. If soldering is used, then fastening of highly loaded elements (outlets for pipes, etc.) must be done exclusively with high-temperature copper-phosphorus, silver or brass (copper-zinc) hard solders. In other cases, the use of soft tin-lead solders such as POS-18, POS-30 is allowed. It should be noted that the manufacture of metal tanks is a rather labor-intensive process, but if it is carried out well, only it can give a 100% guarantee that your tank will not leak over the next few years.

Radiator seal problem

Sometimes it happens that liquid leaks, but all o-rings, connections and other elements are securely fastened. In this case, you need to check the radiator itself. Repairing a car's cooling system in this case involves identifying the location of the leak and eliminating it.

To identify the location of the leak, you need to fill the radiator with water, close all the tubes with special plugs, after which air is supplied through the open pipe at a pressure of 1 kgf/cm. In the place where water appears there is a liquid leak. Quite often it happens that access to the radiator is severely limited, and checking is quite difficult. To solve this problem, you will have to remove the part from the car.

• To begin with, the coolant is completely drained from the radiator and engine into a container.
• Next, you need to disconnect all the electrical wires that go both to the fan and to the sensor that turns it on.
• After this, all remaining hoses from the radiator and from the expansion tank are disconnected.
• Next comes a rather complicated stage, at which you need to remove the casing guides. There are four of them - top, bottom, right and left. To remove the top mount, you need to remove the radiator from special grooves; to separate it from the right clamp, you need to disconnect it from three mounts, and from two more on the left side. The lower casing is attached directly to the radiator using three bolts that will have to be unscrewed.
• After this, you need to remove the electric fan from the radiator without disconnecting it from the casing itself.
• By this time, the radiator will be held in place only by bolts that are screwed to the bottom bracket; they need to be unscrewed and the part removed.
• The last step is to remove the expansion tank, for which you need to unscrew another bolt.

Features of repair of air conditioner radiators.

It should be noted right away that only argon welding is suitable for repairing radiators. All other methods are extremely unreliable and, as a rule, lead to depressurization of the system. Another prerequisite for repairing a car air conditioner radiator is its good overall condition. After all, no one wants a leak to form in another after welding in one place a week later. There are some cars on which it is better not to weld the condenser at all. Therefore, before deciding to restore the radiator for a particular car, we recommend that you consult with a specialist. So, what types of tea leaves are there? By and large, there are two of them:

Cell plug It is used only for multi-flow condensers (two pipes on the sides) and, above all, to exclude cells damaged or weakened by corrosion from circulation. This method is particularly reliable and is perfect for radiators with front-mounted fans, where sand and stones break up the middle of the heat exchanger, but the rest of it is in excellent condition. This welding has proven itself well in cars such as BMW E39, Peugeot 406, Peugeot 607, Citroen C3, Citroen C5, Citroen Picaso, Opel Astra, Opel Zafira, Opel Vectra, Opel Omega, Ford Mondeo 2, etc. It should be noted that the plug is in condenser, even up to half a hundred has virtually no effect on system performance. In this case, you just need to do a little less filling and it is advisable to wash the radiator.

Welding the leak site. As a rule, it is used on serpentine-type radiators. On multi-flow heat exchangers, it is recommended only for mechanical defects. This method is successfully used in Honda Accord, Ford Mondeo 1, VW Passat 4, etc.

Repair of a removed part

Once the desired part of the machine has been removed, you can use the same procedure described earlier to find the location of the leak. You can go the other way and place the radiator in a bathtub filled with water. Air bubbles will indicate the location of the breakdown. However, here you need to know a very important thing. Without coolant inside, the radiator should not be stored outdoors for more than two days, otherwise there will be a high risk of corrosion spreading. To avoid this, you can close all the holes with plugs or fill it with coolant that was drained earlier.

If, after removing the element, it is discovered that it is covered with scale or oil, and there is rust on the outside, then it must be blown out with compressed air. In addition, it can be washed with water, and the air channels can be cleaned with wooden pins, but very carefully. To eliminate holes in the radiator from which substances leak, use epoxy glue. It is important to remember that it is poisonous, and then you need to take care of protective equipment. You can apply it with a spatula, and on top of the applied layer you need to lay a strip of fabric, which will also be saturated with this composition. To make it much more convenient to lay the fabric, use tweezers.

Coolant pump

In a liquid cooling system there is a pump that pumps this very liquid. Naturally, like any other mechanical part, it can break. Among the pump malfunctions are:

• bearing wear;
• blade deformation;
• impeller cracking;
• fluid leakage through the impeller seal.

If the oil seal fails or the bearing is damaged, then you need to repair the cooling system pump. It starts with the fact that you need to remove the device from the car and disassemble it. If the cause of the breakdown is severe wear, then the bearings are pressed off the roller, and the parts are washed in gasoline. The only exceptions are sealing washers and seals. It is also necessary to check the surface of the end of the housing bushing. It should be perfectly smooth, without any potholes or other damage. If this is not the case, then the coating needs to be sanded. Next you should move on to inspect other parts of the roller. If the leak occurs due to wear of the cuffs, then they need to be changed. It is necessary to inspect the bearings and their seals, and also replace them with new ones if the old ones are damaged.

Repairing a hole by cold welding. detailed instructions

There is an algorithm of actions according to which this operation is performed by hand without any difficulties.

1. Remove the radiator from the car, first draining the liquid from it.

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2. The surface that is damaged must be cleaned of all types of dirt and dried.
3. Take the welding rod and cut a piece of the desired size from it. Mash the piece in your hands until it turns into a homogeneous mass.
4. Apply the resulting mass to the damaged area, after moistening it with water. Using a spatula, smooth it out to an even layer.
5. Start the welding process.

After a few hours, the radiator can be installed in the car. It is noteworthy that if you have the necessary tools, the operation can be easily performed at home.

Radiator soldering and air cooling

There is a method that can help eliminate microcracks and holes. Soldering cooling radiators is considered one of the best repair methods. You can even do this work with your own hands. When soldering, it is very important that the solder adheres as tightly as possible to the metal base of the radiator. For example, to successfully solder a brass cooling radiator, you will need the following equipment:

• an electric soldering iron with sufficiently high power;
• acid for work;
• solder with tin base;
• devices with which it will be possible to mechanically clean the surface before starting work.

All necessary places will have to be cleaned to a metallic shine. After this, you need to start treating the surface with flux (acid). The soldering iron needs to be well tinned and the soldering area must be well heated. After this, the solder is evenly distributed over the surface so that it fills all the cracks. This is how repairs are carried out using soldering.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the air cooling system of the engine. It makes no sense to consider its repair, since it is not installed on cars. There are several reasons why this is so. Firstly, there is no way to regulate the temperature, and secondly, when the car is stopped with the engine running, the oncoming air flow would decrease, which would lead to rapid overheating, making it impossible to heat the interior. All this led to the exclusion of the installation of an air cooling system.

As for the cost of repairing the cooling system, it, of course, greatly depends on the make of the car and the severity of the problem. Most often, the cheapest procedures are diagnostics and replacement of the temperature sensor (about 500 rubles each). The most expensive operation is to replace the radiator, especially if you have to remove the dashboard in the cabin. The minimum cost is 6,500 rubles.

Repair of rubber connections between tubes and tube sheet.

Recently, instead of soldering tubes, rubber seals have been used (photo). These radiators are extremely technologically advanced to assemble, but due to the rapid aging of rubber, such radiators do not last long. This is especially true for the “hot” side of the radiator. It should be noted that if a leak has formed in one place, then other connections will leak in the near future - the rubber has aged. Therefore, local repairs here, as a rule, do not lead to a long-lasting effect. The most correct, but also the most expensive way here is to flare the plastic tanks, remove the rubber seals completely, remove the tube sheet, thoroughly clean all the tubes and tube sheet, drill holes, install the board in place, center and fill all holes with special rubber, installation and rolling plastic tank in place. It should be noted that this procedure is extremely, extremely labor-intensive and responsible, so it is recommended only for rare and expensive radiators. In other cases, it is better to replace the heat exchanger completely.