1994 Lincoln Continental - Leaking radiator home remedy ideas

[Tester]

@George_San_Jose1

My theory, as you drive, and from cars in head of you, road grit get kicked up from the road surface & eventually wears away enough of the metal surface at the front of the radiator to cause a leak.

Wouldn’t the AC condenser spring a leak before the radiator would from road debris?

Tester

[George_San_Jose1]

@Tester

AC condenser

What’s that? No AC condenser in any of my cars.

[bing]

Just something else to go wrong George

[Nevada_545]

@George_San_Jose1

If you have automatic trans, will have to remove the trans cooler lines.

What year was it when a Lincoln came with a manual transmission?

[PvtPublic]

@Nevada_545

What year was it when a Lincoln came with a manual transmission?

Or what 1994 Lincoln came without A/C?

[Purebred]

My pappy said, “Son, you’re gonna’ drive me to drinkin’
If you don’t stop drivin’ that Hot Rod Lincoln.”

It’s got a Lincoln motor
And it’s really souped up.
And that model A body makes it look like a pup
It’s got eight cylinders; uses them all.
It’s got overdrive, just won’t stall.

@Nevada_545

What year was it when a Lincoln came with a manual transmission?

My guess, early 50s or late 40s.

[George_San_Jose1]

@Nevada_545

What year was it when a Lincoln came with a manual transmission?

@PvtPublic

Or what 1994 Lincoln came without A/C?

Pro mechanics may, but diy’ers don’t know and shouldn’t be expected to know the engine/transmission configuration of every car ever made. That’s why the usual recommendation here — in order for the OP to get the best results — is to include make/model/year/engine/transmission/& relevant options for their car in the title post.

If OP prefers responses only from the pro-mechanics here, I expect they’ll say so. I expect most of the diy’ers will just move on to the next post.

[old_mopar_guy]

Perhaps 1947 was the last year. They started buying HydraMatic from GM in 1948.

[ken2116]

Subaru specifies adding their leak stopper with each coolant change, at least on the 2.5L 4cyl. engines prone to head gasket leaks. I believe the sealant is clay based, and there’s a chance the one made by Peak is the same or similar (the last time I checked, ~ 5 yrs ago, Peak made Subaru’s coolant).

My experience with radiators with plastic end tanks is they leak either at the rubber seal between tank and core, at cracked hose nipples, or through the plastic itself. With one of the latter, after I’d replaced the radiator I attacked the leaky spot, on a corner, with a sledge hammer which rebounded almost to my face. After several minutes beating on it without satisfaction, I cut out the corner section with a hack saw, finding the leak to be not much more than a pin hole in otherwise intact plastic - in this case sealant might have served for awhile, though others have reported tanks becoming brittle and almost crumbling.

Bottom line, after 10yrs a radiator doesn’t owe you anything and if you live where salt is used in the winter the aluminum tubes might be corroded, best just to replace it.