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Holts radweld worth bothering with?

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  • vaio
    vaio Posts: 12,287 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Volcano wrote: »
    ……. I remember an old sierra of mine with a failed pump that went from a trickle to a flood (and breakdown) within a week.

    We had one that did that, took the cam-belt and 4 inlet valves with it too
  • surfsister
    surfsister Posts: 7,527 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    how much is radweld and how do you you use it please?
  • surfsister
    surfsister Posts: 7,527 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    Just got a second hand car yesterday and today picked up a chipped windscreen!! My old car just got a chip last week so not doing so well. Anyone know of a cheapish repair kit? Or which is the cheapest repair service? Ta

    Both small chips.
  • Inactive
    Inactive Posts: 14,509 Forumite
    surfsister wrote: »
    Just got a second hand car yesterday and today picked up a chipped windscreen!! My old car just got a chip last week so not doing so well. Anyone know of a cheapish repair kit? Or which is the cheapest repair service? Ta

    Both small chips.

    Most insurance companies will repair it for free, as long as you have Fully Comp. Insurance, it will not make any difference to your NCB.
  • LandyAndy
    LandyAndy Posts: 26,377 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts
    Anyone who has an old Haynes manual will be familiar with the 'bodywork repair' section that shows a sill being repaired with chicken wire and Isopon.

    Radweld is in the same category.
  • CHR15
    CHR15 Posts: 5,193 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    LandyAndy wrote: »
    Anyone who has an old Haynes manual will be familiar with the 'bodywork repair' section that shows a sill being repaired with chicken wire and Isopon.
    .

    You mean there is a NEW way???

    Bah! you'll be telling us it is bad to wrap a blown fuse in tinfoil next!!!
  • asbokid
    asbokid Posts: 2,008 Forumite
    I think RadWeld is a bad idea.. except for absolute emergencies like when you are stuck on the hard shoulder in the pouring rain with no AA cover..

    Once it's in the cooling system, you can't get it out, no matter how many times you flush it through with clean water..

    It leaves an orange/rust-coloured powdery residue under the rad caps, in the bores of the radiator hoses, all around the thermostat - in fact everywhere the coolant goes..

    It can't be good for the engine in the long term. I am sure it could eventually clog the tiny coolant channels in the engine and possibly the heater matrix. If the car is of any great value, I definitely would not use RadWeld. It's not like it contains itself to the radiator! It gets everywhere.. and a discerning buyer would soon figure out that your car has had (and may still have) a coolant problem.
  • asbokid
    asbokid Posts: 2,008 Forumite
    As for anewman's leak.. i wonder if it's the water pump.. they can be difficult !!!!!!s to diagnose..

    water pumps typically have a weep hole on the shaft. once the pump bearings have gone, the water tends to leak down the shaft and out of that weep hole.

    except it tends to be that the leak only happens when the shaft is in a certain position. often you can park the car and it won't leak. but park it again tomorrow and quite a puddle will form underneath, simply because the pump shaft has come to rest in a slightly different position.

    another issue that makes diagnosis difficult is that the leak vanishes once the engine is hot.. because what was originally a liquid leak that leaves obvious drips on the ground, is now (an invisible) leak of steam into the air!

    Also, since the pump is hidden behind the timing belt covers, the leaks from a pump can be dispersed by the rotating cambelt. Often the water is flicked away from the belt area, and onto the radiator, for example, causing a puddle to form in a misleading place.
  • surfsister
    surfsister Posts: 7,527 Forumite
    I've been Money Tipped!
    thanks all so basicaly you bung it in the rad? Just interested as I had a rad leak on an old car I was about to sell, always the way!
  • as an ex mechanic, i have used radweld in my own cars a few times, but i have alwats replaced the radiator within a few weeks, and given it a damn good flush out when i have.

    as for the winscreen repair, try glasweld
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