Pepper in radiator

[Buick35]

A mechanic friend told me that putting pepper in a radiator will seal coolant leaks and won't do any harm.Has anybody else done that with good results?Just wondered.Thanks.

[Mikefit]

Yes and no I drove my International Scout from Northern Indiana to Florida using ground pepper . The radiator leaked along the seam on the tank as you filled it you shoes would get very wet . Put the cap on start it up and as soon as the pressure started to come up it forced the pepper in the seam and would seal it up . Shut it off as the pressure went down it would start to leak 

I had a never ending supply of pepper from the restaurants we stopped to eat at along with the shaker

When pepper is ground it is done what thin and flat and would act like an arrows sticking in the leak as long as there was pressure on it 

Don't know of long term damage it did but have a, good time at Disney World

[Skvitt]

Mustard powder does the same.

[billorn]

This is also how stop leak works. Only works on pressurized systems and not a permanent fix. Do proper repairs if possible. 

[Brass is Best]

I have also heard that an egg will get you home.

 

[Harold]

Oatmeal worked in my father's '38 Pontiac.

[George Smolinski]

If that stuff is stopping leaks in your radiator, don’t you think it’s stopping or slowing the flow in the rest of the system, including water passages in the engine?

[dodgebrother]

Assuming you are going to repair the radiator at some point the best thing you can use as a temporary "ranch fix" is

"Bars Leak". A cheap and effective temporary fix.

The other thing we have used in a pinch is "Egg Water Glass".

But remember what you put in the rad will circulate in the block.

No guarantees but I personally have used both with some success.

 

[JFranklin]

I use AlumaSeal, it won't clog and works in my non pressure radiators.

[JamesR]

Pepper...eggs...mustard...sounds tasty. Just don't put any salt in there.😉

[Andy J]

I've done this several times.My '87 Buick had a tiny radiator leak one time and I peppered the thing.Lasted two years before it leaked again.I never had the radiator fixed,just kept adding more pepper.

[1937hd45]

I was told that boiled potatoes can be forced into block cracks, once dry they have  sealed the block. 

 

Bob 

[edinmass]

Sounds like a spice list to make Hot Italian Sausage!

[intimeold]

I can attest to the use of Black Pepper; for a stop leak.

 

A few years ago I was driving a US Army Truck, and making a trip to an Army school, and the radiator was punctured but some road cinders.  I am calling it a cinder, but was probably a piece of shale.; as the roads were snow and ice covered.  The State Road crew was putting down some sort of anti-skid gravel.

 

A piece found it's way through a grill opening and put a nice ding in the radiator core. It was about 8pm and blowing and snowing; and no help out on the road.  I stopped at the only open grocery and got a can of pepper, maybe a pound; but I think less. 

 

The antifreeze was pizzing out through the grill, and within minutes after putting the whole can in the radiator, not the overflow tank,; the leak stopped.

 

I continued on with my journey, about 85 miles and stayed at that school for a week; and drove that truck everyday to my motel, from school.  Then drove back to my home base, about 150 miles; and no sign of a leak.  

 

Yes, Black pepper works in a pinch

 

intimeold

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by intimeold (see edit history)

[greenie]

36 minutes ago, intimeold said:

I can attest to the use of Black Pepper; for a stop leak.

 

A few years ago I had a US Army Truck, and making a trip to an Army school, and the radiator was punctured but some road cinders.  I am calling it a cinder, but was probably a piece of shale.; as the roads were snow and ice covered.  The State Road crew was putting down some sort of anti-skid gravel.

 

A piece found it's way through a grill opening and put a nice ding in the radiator core. It was about 8pm and blowing and snowing; and no help out on the road.  I stopped at the only open grocery and got a can of pepper, maybe a pound; but I think less. 

 

The antifreeze was pizzing out through the grill, and within minutes after putting the whole can in the radiator, not the overflow tank,; the leak stopped.

 

I continued on with my journey, about 85 miles and stayed at that school for a week; and drove that truck everyday to my motel, from school.  Then drove back to my home base, about 150 miles; and no sign of a leak.  

 

Yes, Black pepper works in a pinch

 

intimeold

 

……I always thought it was corn meal, dang!

[EmTee]

Ginger Root:

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by EmTee (see edit history)

[Hudsy Wudsy]

Wasn't there a Laurel and Hardy movie with oatmeal?

[SC38dls]

Another fine mess you’ve gotten me into, Stanly ! 

[edinmass]

Pepper in the radiator..........   Gesundheit! 🤧 

[hook]

19 hours ago, dodgebrother said:

Assuming you are going to repair the radiator at some point the best thing you can use as a temporary "ranch fix" is

"Bars Leak". A cheap and effective temporary fix.

The other thing we have used in a pinch is "Egg Water Glass".

But remember what you put in the rad will circulate in the block.

No guarantees but I personally have used both with some success.

 

I can personally attest to the use of Bars Leak. I used it on a car with a leaking core plug back in the sixties. The leak was the size of a large pencil lead and it stopped it. Used the car for several weeks before bringing it in and tearing it down. As fare as antique cars are concerned, I switched over to Franklins and never had a water leak again.

[Brass is Best]

These are all meant to be temporary get you home from the wilderness solutions. Not permanent solutions. Although the definition of permanent seems to vary in relation to one's ambition and finances. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Brass is Best (see edit history)

[tcslr]

Years ago, sawdust was routinely added to steam power plant condenser system when leaks were discovered. That was simply to get one to weekend of lower-price time to perform a proper repair. 
it worked. Not desirable though. Sometimes worked for a long period. Problem was them finding it. 

[Paul Dobbin]

There is more than one way to fix a leak.  I  bought a car a few years ago that came with a stack of receipts for work that had been done by the previous owner. 

One was from a Radiator Shop in his town.   The more I drove it the more it ran hot an smelled hot.   Then it started to leak again, so I ordered a new Aluminum Radiator.

When I took the old radiator out, I saw the repair that was made behind the radiator support on the back of the radiator.   It was Duct Tape painted black!..

The new radiator was the cure, for $149,00 with Free shipping.

[Bud Tierney]

Many thxx to a all  for a lovely trip back into my youth---Christmas music in the background, memories of all the Mickey NMuse "repairs" we cane up with has made my day---again, many thxx!!

[Bloo]

On 12/18/2021 at 10:06 AM, JFranklin said:

I use AlumaSeal, it won't clog and works in my non pressure radiators.

 

I don't know if it makes any difference, but I bought a tube of AlumaSeal last year to get some powdered aluminum for a paint experiment. Much to my surprise it isn't aluminum anymore. It is whatever the competition uses (ginger root or turmeric or some other brown substance) in a silver colored tube.

 

[58L-Y8]

Both the small-town garages here still in the 1960's kept cans of black pepper on the shelf for leaky radiators. 

[Oregon Desert model 45]

Below is a photo of a Chevy 216 water pump from a motor that sat for 30 years with a radiator stop leak product I believe was "Silver Seal" dumped into the radiator.  The shaft is stuck fast.   The adjacent 2 coolant ports into the head were plugged solid with a rusty material that had a radial pattern similar to iron filings on a sheet of paper with a magnet held underneath.   The sediment and gunk in the engine cooling jacket was probably no worse than any other engine of similar age and was not difficult to clean out.    I cannot explain what chemistry was taking place in this old motor, or if any other stop leak product could possibly create a similar mess. Just be aware that whatever you pour into the radiator could continue to haunt that motor years later. 

[HarryLime]

I am waiting for Gordon Ramsey Master Chef to weigh in here  on what's best . A Michelin Three Star is needed .

[Digger914]

21 hours ago, intimeold said:

Yes, Black pepper works in a pinch

Punny, very punny

[5219]

I used Aluma-seal in my 2003 Ford Taurus daily driver. The front cover of the engine was leaking coolant. I still had the leak, but my heater core clogged up. Fortunately, the heater started working again after I had it backflushed. I also had the front cover fixed.

 

My grandfather, who began driving around 1920, loved to say that they used to fix radiator leaks by picking up horse manure off the street and putting it in the radiator. If you think about it, the manure has seeds and chewed up vegetable matter in it which would swell up in hot water. It was also free. Of course, our cities today don't have many horse droppings lying around for the taking.

 

Has anybody else here ever heard of this?

[Bloo]

Yes. Don't do that. I bought a Studebaker back in the 80s that I suspect someone had done that to. The stench coming from the cooling system by the time I got it was unbearable. The end result was the car got junked.

[5219]

Don't worry. It's not something I would be tempted to do, but it's nice to know that my grandfather didn't imagine this.

[hook]

21 hours ago, Brass is Best said:

These are all mean to be temporary get you home from the wilderness solutions. Not permanent solutions. Although the definition of permanent seems to vary in relation to one's ambition and finances. 

The way I look at Bars Leak is that if 140 clandestinely purchased quarts of it is good enough to stop a leak the the condenser of the first nuclear submarine in 1958 it's good enough for me. And, of course it's a temporary fix.