so i noticed some water leaking from the radiator of my 00 ram 5.2the other day and checked it out. sure enough it was low. i filled it back up and drove it nice and easy and it stayed full. however if i drive it kinda hard it will leak more. i thought about using some sort ofradiator stop leak, but i have been told that it will clog up the radiator. any thoughts on this? any particular kind to get, or avoid? if that doesnt help, roughlyabout how much should a new radiator and install. cost.

 

my heater core blew, i used the radiator stop leak and it didnt help, or hurt, the hole in the heater core must be too big

i used the stop leak and had to trouble with clogs

 

It's better to change a radiator than fill it with stop leak... I know because I tried stop leak - and it only made the problem worse. I suspect that it plugged some of the tubes in the radiator - and the truck was just running up the temp scale and never really leveled off or cooled down. I finally found the leak when I hooked up a prestone back flush kit...



Yeah... it's not a Dodge, but a cooling system is a cooling system.

If you have a shop do a repair... it can be spendy. However, if you are mechanically inclined, you should be able to perfrom the repair yourself and save some money. You'd be suprised how cheap you can find a decent radiator. Try someplace like Radiator.com or RadiatorBarn.com. I looked up the cost for a 2001 1500 w/ 5.9 and AC... 166 delivered. When I got a radiator for my Toyota - it was 150 bucks delivered - and that was for an all brass/copper radiator. The cheapest one I could find locally was plastic and aluminum for 190.

If you do go through radiator.com- just be forewarned that when you think you are talking to a tech - you are actually dealing with a computer script. Type this question - are you a person? and it will give you a $20 discount coupon code. I ended up going with RadiatorBarn for my specific application because they had a better radiator at a lower price.

I think the generic going rate for mechanic labor is about 80/hour. You should plan on 2-3 hours of labor on top of that if you go to a shop. Not sure if they will use your part, or if they will force you to buy from them...

Good luck!


Good luck!
Cartman

 

thanks cartman! i think i will try thatcause i figured it cost some change to have someone else put it in.

 

If it ever starts leakin when your driving you can put an egg white in there and it should make it stop leakin for a bit.