Holts radweld

For all Carb and Injection engines, standard or modified plus non-standard engine transplants. Heads; Blocks; Cooling (including heater issues related to the cooling system); Mounts etc
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crimmer96
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Holts radweld

Post by crimmer96 »

Not sure if I'm posting this in the correct place but DO NOT put this stuff in to your cooling system. I had a couple cracks in the plastic on the top of the radiator where crystallised coolant had formed (the car has never suffered from major loss of coolant) so I thought I'd give it a go and see if it would stop these small leaks. A few weeks later I noticed my cooling fan was not turning off at all, I gave it 15 minutes and it was still on so I disconnected the battery and reconnected it again and the fan had turned off, all well and good. Then one hot day stuck in town traffic I notice the temp gauge far higher than it should have been and no sign whatsoever of it dropping until I hit a straight traffic free bit of road. The cooling fan was not kicking in whatsoever. Tested fan connections to find out if there was something wrong with the fan but it was working fine. But the temp sensor (at the bottom right of the radiator) turned out to be the problem. Replaced it with a brand new one an now the overheating problems are no more but the old temp sensor was absolutely caked in brown gunk (radweld) obviously preventing the correct temperature when the fan should kick in by preventing the coolant even touching the sensor. Moral of the story is DO NOT use radweld in your cooling system. Luckily for me the temp sensor was a cheap and easy fix but if my radiator had been a bit older and a blockage in there caused by this stuff would have of been a far more costly repair. I know the saying cure the disease, not the symptoms but I guess I learned that the hard way!

Just a heads up guys, if you're contemplating using this or not!

Chris

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1992 pearl green 1.8 GT2 daily
1983 Mars red 1.8 GTI project
mark1gls
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Re: Holts radweld

Post by mark1gls »

Yes I would agree, I used it once and it caused problems later on with brown junk coating everything like the water pump, thermostat etc, it took an age to flush it all out.
If you have a failing radiator buy a new radiator they are not that much money £30 ish and will save you time and money later on.
Regular coolant changes must to done if using blue coolant as that makes a difference in the life span of coolant components.


Mk1 78 Scirocco GLS 1.6 FR, weekend toy.
Mk1 88 Golf GTi cabriolet 1.8 DX. Daily drive.
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james butler
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Re: Holts radweld

Post by james butler »

totally agree, the other thing it completely destroys is heater matrix.


I dont mind project cars but I HATE SANDING!!!
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