any way to plug a pinhole in radiator hose?
 

i have a small hole in my upper radiator hose and it has developed into a tiny crack about 3mm long. i tried to use some JB kwik on the hole, but it lasted for a while and got brittle and fell off. is there anything i can use to plug this little hole? i cant get a new rad hose for 3-4 days and i have to drive in the heat until then.

duct tape :) True red-neck style :)

Duct Tape!!!

Get Er Done!

That's funny, I don't care who you are...

um yeah that doesnt work. ask me how i know :)

try some JBweld see if that works.

yeah...

crack an egg open and drop it in the radiator. itll stop the leak once it gets warm... but im pretty sure its not good to have egg in your coolant system. its just an old trick if your coolant system springs a leak and you are sol in the middle of nowhere, you have to keep driving, and you just happen to have an egg on you.

yeah i keep a dozen eggs in my passenger storage bin for a rainy day.

We use some special "tape" on aircraft that would help you, if you could find it at the auto parts store. Basically it's a rubber compound, and when stretched around something it will stick to itself so well that you'll have to cut it off when needed, it will not unwrap again, and will "swell" with the hose. The kinds I've used are orange colored with a small green stripe down the middle, or black stuff with a colored stripe (green, I think), it's about the width of electrical tape, and has a plastic "no-stick" backing that peels off as you're applying it. I've successfully used this stuff for blown radiator hoses in the past, and still keep some in all of my cars for emergencies. Wish I could give you a trade name, but if the auto parts place has it, the counter guy/girl should know what you want by my descriptions I gave if they have it...

If all else fails, clean up the area real good, and fill with black RTV liberally. Let it cure for at least 30 minutes before pressurizing the system. This might not work on the upper or heater hoses, then again, it might for the three days it needs to...

i just used a tire patch (one of the 1" circle ones), that ones that you have to use the rubber adhesive compound (basically rubber cement) i figured that would be able to stretch/bend a little with the pressure in the hose.

Spend $10.00, get a new hose!!

Lol, he will- in 3 days, he has to drive it until then (read the first post) :)

Go to the auto parts store, get a worm gear hose clamp, and clamp it on over the hole. This held for something like 6 months on my beater/parts hauler. Only reason it's not still holding is because the other hoses sprang leaks, I got sick of it, and replaced all the radiator hoses.

-=Russ=-

i used that tire patch and the outer edge of the patches are thinner, so it fuckin busted. i hate this fucking hose.

its not bad enough to make anything overheat, just enough to piss me off

And, as we all know, it doesn't take much to piss you off, lol... :)

Hell, even electrical tape will help a little, if it's just for 3 days (wrap it TIGHT)...

ok i just put some gasketmaker (the right stuff, baby) and i'm gonna let it sit and then drive back to work. wish me luck

if you have some plastic pipe laying around about the same size as the hose use a section of that and put a couple clamps on it.

Worked for MacGyver! I think he used only the whites, though. :D

Duct tape didnt work? I popped a hole at the drag strip, found some duct tape, wrapped it around about 10 times, drove home with no problem.

Try some liquid gasket and then wrap it around with duct tape a couple times. I dont see how it couldnt work.

Just use duct tape. That will take care of it untill you get a replacement hose. If I remember right JB weld will just eat the hose.

Yah, like silicone. I forgot about that, that's what I used another time too. Put a bunch of silicone on over the hole/crack, let it fully dry, then wrapped in duct tape and it worked really well.

There's a silicone tape that would work on that. I think Wal-mart sells it.