Technical Advice on the use of wondarweld please??

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Technical Advice on the use of wondarweld please??

sezndave

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Has anyone ever used it?? I've heard it supposed to be abit of a nightmare.. The instructions are quite daunting and to be honest I don't quite get the proceedure.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance :D
 
I bought some for a temporary rad repair and never used it. The risks of damage elsewhere are too great and it only works if the coolant channels are clean. How likely is that?

A waste of money and not worth the risk.

If the head gasket has failed fit a new one. If the rad leaked fit a new one.
 
I bought some for a temporary rad repair and never used it. The risks of damage elsewhere are too great and it only works if the coolant channels are clean. How likely is that?

A waste of money and not worth the risk.

If the head gasket has failed fit a new one. If the rad leaked fit a new one.

I think the hg is possibly on its way out, n can't really afford to have it done at present but need my car on the road for work, I have used the radweld stuff before on radiator n had no problems with it, just an idea with cash being tight. Thanks for the advice
 
Wouldn't use it for a head gasket, i tryed it on mine and it got alot worse as soon as I put it in :s dunno why! But DIY it if it's an 8v you have. Less than £100 and not actually that hard
 
Using Radweld in your radiator could well be the reason you have suspected head gasket failure now. Cooling channels are very small in the head and Radweld has a habit of welding up these channels, causing localised overheating. Not worth it in my opinion, particularly that you can get brand new radiators for less than £30 and it's DIY fitment.
 
It's great if you are planning on selling the car tomorrow, not so great if you want to keep it for more than a few days.

For sealing headgaskets, see above. It will likely increase the pressure in the unblocked channels (the ones that are leaking into the cylinders at the moment), causing it to fail even faster.

My dad just changed the coolant on his Rover 416; the coolant was a bright yellow/green colour, caused by the use of similar stuff by the previous owner. When we took the rad out the top and bottom 1/3 were completed rotted through (but not leaking). After finding that it was pretty obvious why it was getting warm when sat in traffic.
 
Head gaskets are £50 Rads about £50 and cam belt kits about the same for an 8V engine. Do the job yourself using the Fiat Forum guide.

If you keep driving the engine will be damaged and you may well take out the exhaust catalyst and lambda sensor, at least doubling the repair parts costs.

If you use Wondarweld its gonna cost £15 plus cost of chemical cleaning the cooling system and doing a thorough flush afterwards. Its also virtually impossible to get all of the wondarweld out so you risk blocking even a new radiator and clogging who-knows what inside the engine. That £15 pack could soon be £150 on top of what you need to buy anyway to repair the engine.

On the good side, the car cant be used until its repaired so at least you wont be spending your non-existent cash on petrol etc.
 
So good you posted twice eh WhiteSei? It may be worth pointing out that £50 for the head gasket is £25 for the gasket, and £25 to have a machine shop skim your head. No point even attempting to do it without skimming the head since it will have been localised warping of ther head that caused gasket failure in the first place. Need it to be machined flat for the new gasket to be effective. You will also need inlet and exhaust manifold gaskets too. Take the opportunity to flush the cooling system and refill with the correct coolant/water mixture. Might be worth replacing the oil and filter too to eliminate cross-contamination with the coolant.

Also worth pointing out that the £50 for the timing belt kit should include a tensioner and a new pump too.
 
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What ever you do, DON'T put it in with the oil !!! :eek:

http://www.hiluxsurf.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=56270

Trev

That's class :worship:

As for Radweld etc. I put some in the rad of my Punto when I first picked it up as it was leaking. Got it up to temperature, and it was still peeing water all over the floor. Ordered a new Rad, flushed the water system thoroughly (Had a hose blasting through it for a good 30 mins), then fitted the new radiator. Fitting a few one takes less than an hour DIY.
 
I used rad weld in my leaking rad (but it wasnt P-ing out) and it held for nearly a month. When I fitted the new rad I couldnt see where the original fault was.

BTW it deffo was the rad - coolant was dripping off the front bumper.

I wouldnt trust Wonderweld - too aggressive and its not going to work out which holes you want clogged up and which ones you dont.
 
Mine had split between the radiator and the plastic tubing, so no amount of radweld was going to sort it out. Supposedly cracking an egg into the cooling system can sort minor leaks.... :D Not sure I'd trust that myself
 
I suspect mine was neglect - rotten from inside - I should chop it open and take a look.

When I bought it the car seemed well cared for, but I suspect that was all cosmetic and it had hardly been serviced or the work that had been done was bodged.
 
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