RV-12 Radiator Leak

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Radiator is leaking one drop a day from the lower hose flange. There is a pin hole in the weld which secures the lower hose flange to the radiator housing. Any recommendations to repair the leak. The plane is 2 years old with only 45 hours.

 

[N459RC]

Radiator repair

I've been in the radiator repair business for 30 years. If it is aluminum I would use low temp aluminum rod with appropriate flux. I would not recommend attempting this yourself unless you are good at aluminum welding. Any good radiator repair shop should be able to do the job for you.

 

[664781]

Repair

Rapid Fix will work just fine here. You can order it on line.

 

[dick seiders]

I have repaired pin holes in vehicles just fine with J B Weld. Curt knows his stuff so his recommendation is probably a good one. Me? This is an airplane, and pinholes have a tendency to get larger. I would have it welded and pressure tested. You don't want to have to worry about cooking your cylinder heads when you least expect it.
Dick Seiders

 

[[email protected]]

Radiator Leak Solution

Thank for everyone's input. We have removed the radiator and have sent it out to a local shop to be re-welded. Dick, your right - it's only going to get worse. I'll heed Robert's advice and make the repair permanent.

 

[KALEWIS]

Just an "addition" to this thread ... same scenario .... tiny leak from the bottom weld. Pinhole leak fixed by a local radiator shop. He said the paint hid it well. Might send a note to vans and let them know about it. Not sure how many other out there might have this issue. 330 hours on the Hobbs / flying since 2012

 

[RFSchaller]

If it was me I would add stop leak and see if it sops. Before you guys start yelling "Heretic" read "Nautilus 90 North". It stopped a nuclear leak!

 

[RFSchaller]

Well, now I have a slight leak on the upper radiator hose connection. I tightened the hose clamp, but given that it had not leaked in 5 years and 540 hours I'm thinking I may have a hair line crack on the weld between the radiator outlet nozzle and the radiator. I plan to fly a few hours while monitoring the overflow bottle cold level and connection to see if tightening the hose clamp worked. If not, I'll do a dye penetrant test of the weld at annual in a couple of months and decide whether I have to go beyond the Stop Leak option.

 

[Walt]

Stop-Leak in your aircraft engine, you can't be serious. I wouldn't use this stuff in my 15 year old car unless it was an emergency.

It's easier to grab a big mac, prepared in 20 seconds, than to go home and cook a meal... the long term effects can come back to haunt you.

 

[RFSchaller]

Walt, sure I'm serious. I'm a serious guy!

 

[RFSchaller]

Well, for once Murphy took pity on me. Looks like my leak stopped after tightening the hose clamp. Regarding my Stop Leak comments I'd like to clarify that I regard it as a temporary fix to get to annual if the defect morphology was not a threat to structural integrity. In plain English I would not use it to address a circumferential crack on a radiator nozzle, but I would use it to stop a radiator tube pinhole leak until replacement at annual.

 

[BillL]

Well, for once Murphy took pity on me. Looks like my leak stopped after tightening the hose clamp. Regarding my Stop Leak comments I'd like to clarify that I regard it as a temporary fix to get to annual if the defect morphology was not a threat to structural integrity. In plain English I would not use it to address a circumferential crack on a radiator nozzle, but I would use it to stop a radiator tube pinhole leak until replacement at annual.

Bob, you might want to investigate, and invest in, some constant force hose clamps. The elastomers used in hoses ( many esp silicone) will creep and loose contact pressure with a normal hose clamp. There are some threads here on VAF that address this. The clamps are a little more expensive, but outstanding for retaining their load under thermal cycling and time. This is an old issue.

 

[DaleB]

Well, for once Murphy took pity on me. Looks like my leak stopped after tightening the hose clamp.

Do you not have the standard spring type hose clamps normally used on a Rotax?

 

[RFSchaller]

Dale, the radiator hoses are Vans scope of supply, not ROTAX, so they are screw type as opposed to the ROTAX clamps on the 5/8" hoses ( yeah, purists, I know they are metric, but 5/8" is close enough for us Yanks!).

 

[DaleB]

Ah -- my mistake. You did specifically say it was the RADIATOR hose clamp, not a coolant hose clamp. Silly me. Carry on.