Hi,

I am the 3rd owner of a 1997 GMC Jimmy with 55k miles and for a few weeks now my truck has been leaking anifreeze. I'm a single mother and I don't have a lot of money to get it fixed. I hate the idea of taking the truck in and having the wolfs eat me alive with "Oh you need this $$$ and that done $$$". Is there any way to seal the leak? Or could the radiator be cracked or maybe I have some bad seals.

Please any help would be really great! I need a knight in shining armor!

~Mylilprincess~

 

Err....Well..... Hmmmm
First. Lets not get hasty and put stop leak in it yet.
I would advise to go to a local shop with a good reputation and set up an appointment to do a pressure test on the cooling system where you can watch and see for yourself. When I worked for shops I use to do it.
Its an air pump/pressure gauge tool that is hooked up to the radiator where the liquid goes in. Just remove the rad cap and screw it on. The mechanic then pumps it up putting pressure on the system and looks where the coolant is coming out. The mechanic shows you and tells you the part that is leaking and you take a picture or write down what they tell you.
You then tell us what they said or show the picture and get a bunch of opinions. Pay the mechanic for this test and tell them you will have to think about the repair.

Another way would be to find a friend who has a husband or son or another friend that is good with vehicles and ask them to take a quick look for $5 or something around there. My wife has a friend that gets me to look and I do it for free but it feels nice to have her offer $5 anyway.

For us to guess where the leak is without information is difficult to impossible.
I would first look for a local person that is handy to find the problem first and then get back to us.

Good luck

 

Whatever you do, don't use that Bars leak stuff that you pour into a radiator to stop leaks. From what I hear you will be having more problems, such as the bars leak clogging up the heater core and possibly the thermostat also. If anything try to fix the leak externally and not internally. I've heard of emergency repairs such as taking a potatoe and cramming it into the hole and when the radiator heats up it bakes the potatoe stopping the leak. I have used JB Weld before and it worked. http://jbweld.net/products/water.php
WATER WELD Part No. 8277 Description:
WATERWELD will plug or seal practically anything that leaks.
WATERWELD can be applied under water; surfaces to be repaired do not need to be clean and dry.Properties (psi) Hardness: 65-75 psi
Resistant to: 300° F
This sounds good since a cooling system pressure is about 15 psi and the temp that water boils is 212° F. Coolant should protect well over 212.
This looks like it would work. Plus you should think of buying a 7 lb. radiator cap and ease some of the pressure that builds up in the radiator. Most caps are rated at 15 lb's and a 7 lb cap would allow less pressure to build up and thus less leakage. If the leak is near the top of the radiator, within lets say 3 inches then you could just not fill the radiator all the way up. That small air pocket at the top would lower the pressure, too. The best method by far is to remove the radiator and solder the hole. This can be done with a propane torch and some muratic acid to clean and some I believe Acid core solder.
Also check the boil over protection of your coolant using a tester. If the coolant doesn't have good boil over protection than the fluid will boil at a lower temperature and boiling water is pressure. You want to relieve that pressure. Also if you find that you want to remove and solder the radiator than by all means run a flush through the radiator first to unclog all the holes first so you can repair them all. If the holes are around the neck where the cap is than you would have to heat up the neck with a torch, remove it clean both parts with the acid and sweat them back together. If the leaks are along the seals and the tanks than heat up all the old solder along the tanks and use a rubber hammer to hammer off the tank and clean with the muratic acid and place the tank back on the radiator core and run brand new solder. If the holes are on the core itself which is the big square thing in the middle which has very many small tubes with cooling fins on them then you can solder them also, but clean them up first with acid and a wire brush but be carefull not to bend too may fins. If when repairing the cooling tubes they seam so old they begin to just crack up and get ruined then you could just cut them off completely at each end bend the tube over with a pair of pliars and solder them shut. Just dont cut out too many tubes cause you will loose cooling capacity. 3-4 should be safe.

 

Homeowner,
Try to keep your posts shorter. You may have some good info within them, but by the time a reader finishes, they probably forgot what was said at the beginning and end.