Tech tip: Four places to look for radiator leaks

June 25, 2018

2 min read

Coolant leaks may start small, but they grow quickly, sapping the radiator’s ability to protect the engine from overheating. It’s important to find and address them early, before they can grow into expensive problems. Help your customers locate radiator leaks by knowing these four common leak locations — and then hook them up with the appropriate stop leak product to get them back on the road.

4 Common Radiator Leak Locations

The radiator core. Thermal expansion, vibrations, impacts and corrosion can all degrade a radiator, and eventually cause leaks.
The radiator reservoir tanks. These tanks are either directly welded to the radiator core or consist of crimped plastic tanks that make use of a rubber gasket.
Radiator hoses and tubes. Rubber radiator hoses are susceptible to drying out and cracking, especially on older cars or those that sit for a long time without being driven. Clamps and clips can wear out over time, and they might allow leaks where the hoses attach to the radiator.
The filler neck and radiator cap. The spring in the cap can weaken and allow coolant to leak.

If a coolant leak is detected at any of these locations, it’s important to repair it quickly. Help your customer choose an appropriate chemical stop leak solution based on the leak location, size and severity, as well as your customer’s budget and how much work your customer is willing to do. Bar’s Leaks has been helping customers stop cooling system leaks since 1947 and today offers a wide range of radiator stop-leak products that stop most leaks immediately and permanently.

For more information about the full line of Bar’s Leaks stop-leak solutions, visit barsleaks.com . You can also follow Bar's Leaks on Twitter at twitter.com/barsleaks, Facebook at facebook.com/barsleaks and through the blog at barsleaks.com/blog.

Bar’s Leaks, America’s most trusted stop-leak brand since 1947, offers a full line of chemical repair tools. All Bar’s Leaks products are proudly made in the U.S.A. Based in Holly, Michigan, Bar’s Leaks is ISO 9001 certified.