Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator?

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
What do you think of Elon Musk? Have your say | No thanks
View Threaded
Wed 17 Aug 2005 16:30
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - blacklabel
My radiator is leaking nearly all the coolant out after the engine is turned off. I've heard that putting some black pepper in can work as a temporary fix,does anyone know if this works? If so ,how much should go in,and should it be coarsely or finely ground? Cheers.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 17 Aug 2005 16:37
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Armitage Shanks {p}
I can't imagine why black pepper would work. If you can still get hold of Holt's Radweld it was good but I don't know if it will work in high(ish) pressure modern systems. I dimly recall something about egg white but I don't know what one did.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 17 Aug 2005 16:37
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Xileno {P}
I've not heard that one before.
Try some Radweld, or better still, change the radiator.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 17 Aug 2005 16:40
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Armitage Shanks {p}
Link to Radweld supplier

tinyurl.com/9pkmu

Try "Holts Radweld" in Google and you will get loads of results. If you can spare your car for 48 hours Serck service will repair your existing one, well they used to, years ago!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 17 Aug 2005 16:43
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Armitage Shanks {p}
here is a link to a radiator repair service in Leeds

www.radiatorsonline.co.uk/
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 17 Aug 2005 16:38
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Old Banger
My radiator is leaking nearly all the coolant out after the
engine is turned off. I've heard that putting some black pepper
in can work as a temporary fix,does anyone know if this
works?


I've heard that putting an egg in can block up holes and works as a temporary fix. Perhaps pouring in a puree'd Full English Breakfast would help? Also, putting a "dog poo" in will act as a temporary fix. However, actually getting a proper fix done is much better, and won't leave you at risk of being marooned in the middle of nowhere in a puddle of hot water and a cloud of steam, with a possibly knackered engine.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 17 Aug 2005 17:02
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - jc
Most Serck (and Halfords as Serck agents)do exchange rads and will sell you a recon one against deposit till you return the old one.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 17 Aug 2005 17:39
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - David Horn
Mythbusters found that putting an egg in the radiator did indeed stop a fairly sizable leak. They also discovered the engine ran fine after pouring a bag of sugar into the petrol tank...
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 17 Aug 2005 18:01
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Old Banger
Mythbusters found that putting an egg in the radiator did indeed
stop a fairly sizable leak.


It can also block up galleries that you don't want blocked!
They also discovered the engine ran fine after pouring a
bag of sugar into the petrol tank...


This is true - I cleaned out a tank from a car belonging to someone wh'd had a run-in with a neighbour - there was a lot of caster sugar at the bottom! However, I suspect that if enough sugar was tipped in, the lines would get blocked.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 17 Aug 2005 19:19
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - madf
" They also discovered the engine ran fine after pouring a
bag of sugar into the petrol tank..."


Pouring sugar in is a waste of time as most does not dissolve. If you mix it up with petrol and stir until all dissolved, and then add it to the petrol tank it works perfectly and the engine stops after about 3 miles as a student friend discovered in a student rag week in around 1967:-) (it was a clapped out banger so no loss.

On a modern fuel injected car I imagine it would cause about £3- £5 k damage depending on the costs of decoking the cylinder head and inlet and exhasut manifolds and replacing the fuel injectors pump and probably other buits and pieces...

madf


Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 18 Aug 2005 09:17
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Cliff Pope
I think the point about these old tricks for sealing radiators is that they make use of the property some substances have, that when stirred up into a suspension in water, they solidify when the sludge meets air. So a little bit leaks out through the hole, and then progressively seals itself.
Cornflour was an old favourite, also mustard. Radweld is just a more scientifically based concoction.
But they do tend to gunge up the bits you don't want blocked, and won't work on bigger leaks because it runs out before the oxidation process gets a chance to work.
If a radiator is in a state that it has one hole, then the rest won't be long in following.
Possibly it's a good get you home measure, but I'd always just buy a new radiator - they are pretty cheap anyway.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 18 Aug 2005 12:51
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Old Banger
Also, putting a "dog poo" in will act as a temporary fix.


Whoever edited that also edited out the product name in my footnote. The product name is Bars Leaks. Is it OK to say that? Can't quite see why it's OK to say "poo" but not "t---", but never mind.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 18 Aug 2005 11:59
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - pug3
I have used porrage oats successfully in a rover V8. With the radiator cap removed and the engine at normal temperature I sprinkled the flakes into the top of the rad and kept the engine running.
The best product I have used is Bars Leaks. Unlike Radweld it does not seem to clog other components(i.e. heater matrix) and contains a lubricant which helps the water pump.I think it also contains fine granules of cork.
When my 205gti developed a leak from behind the thermostat housing after the warranty period had expired, a dose of Barks leaks cured the problem permanantly. Even after changing the antifreeze later, during a service, the leak did not return.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 19 Aug 2005 17:40
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - DrS
Remind me never to buy a car from Pug3!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 18 Aug 2005 13:31
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Collos25
Why is it loosing water when the engine is switched off,surely it is more more likely to come through a hole under pressure.Are you sure it is not back pressure that is causing it ie head gasget ,stat, pump fault or even an air lock..
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 20 Aug 2005 10:22
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Cyd
I'd go with those that suggest a new rad. You can try Bars Leak or Rad Weld, both available from Halfords, but your leak sounds quite bad so these products might not be effective. Also if your rad is in a poor state then bunging up the leak is very much a temporary measure - it will spring another leak in the near future.

Also, I presume you're just filling it up all the time with plain water? The worst thing you can do for your cooling system. This will promote internal corrosion which will cut cooling efficiency dramatically in a fairly short time. The system needs a flush and the proper coolant mix.

I've just got a new rad for my brothers Honda Accord from eBay seller rollsroyce237 for a little less than £60 incl delivery. Go to any eBay page and click 'advanced search' in the top right, then find the 'find member' section in the list on the left.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 21 Aug 2005 02:29
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - huggy
If the car is leaking after its turned off make sure that its not a vacuum operated heater valve letting go when it looses its vacuum from the engine.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 21 Aug 2005 23:09
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Civic8
If your Rad is losing water when cold,it will be worse when hot unless you have partly released the cap.But on a modern rad, it is not a good idea to use any TEMP fix`s as the rad tubes are so small now, you are liable to overheat faster.Best to get replaced rather than risk any other damage through blocked rad!
--
Steve
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 6 Jun 2011 11:53
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Tarak

Pepper works a charm - I've used white pepper - it softens in water and forms a scab to seal the leak - its an old bushy trick (I'm Australian) - I always carry pepper in the 4x4 toolkit. It is also easy to clean out when fixing the leak on a more permanent basis, if you every get round to it.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 6 Jun 2011 12:40
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Ethan Edwards

Dunno about the specific Pepper but I have heard of egg white's effectiveness. Radweld though is a great temporary 'get you home' solution.

If nothing else the Black pepper should make the egg white tastier if you get a bit peckish on the way? Why not fry some bacon on the exhaust manifold too, to complete your mobile feast.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 6 Jun 2011 13:31
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Bobbin Threadbare

Take it to a mechanic and have it fixed so you don't end up stranded with an undriveable car. On no account must you add ketchup or black pudding. I'm not condoning other non-Newtonian liquids like custard either ;-)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 7 Jun 2011 10:14
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - captain chaos

IIRC the Jaguar owners manual used to stipulate adding Barrs leaks to the cooling system once a year (owned a '75 XJ12 many moons ago).

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 7 Jun 2011 13:56
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - glowplug

K Seal is another alternative sealing solution.

Steve.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 7 Jun 2011 22:18
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Big John

Last time I used RadWeld (many moons ago) it fixed my radiator for a while but ruined my heater matrix!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 8 Jun 2011 08:09
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - Collos25
It reminds me of when we blew a radiator out in the bush radioed back to base they said put an egg in it we could only get ostrich eggs so we used half of one and it worked till we got back to base.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 4 Nov 2014 00:59
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - TB10

Hi

New here .... but I like what I hear... Here!! (read)

So, I am SD Cal and living in Mexico.... I am rebuilding my 454 suburban which put carless... A freind offered to let me use her car... I can't speak for the fellow blogers but I hate to use other peoples cars.... because as we all know .... that is when there "baby" breaks down.... I didn't use it for the first 10 days but I the 11th day I needed to make a store run got in the car and sure enough 15 miles into the trip it started to overheat....

I was stuck on a main HWY could not pull off and the car starting to run real ruff....Lucky I was able to get to a gas station ... just before the engine killed .... I let cool athen started back up and noticed white smoke from the tail pipe ( The smoke was present before) but let say I inhanced the amount of smoke coming out and was thinking (I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN)

I got the car home ....... Simply by luck and chance,,, And I was thinking head gasket it probably is the head...... so I decide to do the peper egg fix.... I used 3 eggs and 15 to 20 gram of peper .....

So far this is working and working well........ I will give it a few day to update the blog...Boottom Line

EGGWHITES AND PEPER WORK??

TIME WILL TELL,,,,,,

POST IN A FEW DAY........ AND UP DATE THE STORY

TB10

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 5 Feb 2015 16:01
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - AnnieMcK

Hi there! Have just been reading this thread and I thought you might find this video useful (Edit- no we wouldn't. Link removed) I hadn't a clue how to fix a leak in my radiator so while having a search online I came across these videos and found that there were a few by the same company that were extremley useful! Hope they help you too!

Edited by Avant on 06/02/2015 at 16:31

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 5 Feb 2015 17:43
Will Black Pepper fix leaking radiator? - FP

Nice try.

"Have just been reading this thread ..." I don't think so. This thread is about car radiators. Your video is about central heating radiators.

"I came across these videos and found that there were a few by the same company that were extremley useful..."

Spam, in other words.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link