1st day working the 53.... radiator leak.....

[Drfting1]

Well that's my luck..... Doing a little work with the old girl and radiator sprung a leak , right in the middle of the radiator.. Couple quick questions.... are the old radiators worth repairing or should I just go ahead and order a new one, also, should there have been a non-pressure cap on her, she had a pressure cap on her when I got her, so I left it that way, was wondering when she heated up and built up pressure, that maybe caused leak?

Thanks Bill.

Really appreciate all the advice I have been receiving from the members here, been extremely helpful with my first cub

[Bob McCarty]

The problem with replacement radiators is that a lot of them have thinner cores and the necks do not line up correctly. There is one made by Clancy (Ireland) that seems to be the best replacement and can be found on eBay and from other sources. Case/IH shows OEM for $513.00 but It may not even be available. If the leak is accessible, I'd try and have it repaired. I live in a town of 90,000 and the shops here only work on plastic radiators. Recoring is another possibility but may be more than a replacement and hard to find someone to do (depending on where you live).

Bob

Edit: If you overfilled the radiator, and the overflow tube is missing, the leak you see may be excess coolant running out the overflow hole in the neck. Coolant should come just to the top of the fins. Cap should be non-pressure.

[Stevetractor]

I would make sure, like bob said, that leak isn't from around overflow tube. If that checks out ok the rad can be fixed if you can find a reliable shop that can do it. Most likely could use rodding and a good flush out anyway. If a tube is damaged it can be soldiered and or plugged. The shop will know. One or two plugged tubes won't hurt. Also I had one recored a few years back but wonder if the cores are still available

[Eugene]

I'm on my 2nd Irish radiator. Fan took out the first one. Quality.

The original radiator can be recored, if you can find a shop still doing that. But, check the recore price compared to the Irish radiator.

One problem with trying to repair the current radiator is that the metal gets week over the years. Most likely, repair one leak and another one will develop.

[JohnMihevic]

If you can afford the $$, get the Clancey. I bought mine a couple of months ago from TMtractor; fantastic build quality with a perfect fit.

About 5 years ago, I had my '48 cub engine rebuilt and got a new radiator from CNH. It was made in China and the core leaked from the "get go". I got the free replacement. The height of the filler neck opening was too short, so I ground down the radiator cap, but it still dragged on the hood and was a bear to get off every time I went to check the coolant level. A couple of years ago I decided to take my original cub radiator to an old time repair local shop. They repaired a few bad spots and pressure tested it. This summer it starting leaking, so I decided to "bite the bullet" after reading posts on the forum about the Clancey made in Ireland. I ordered it from TMtractor--It cools very well--Filler neck is the right height--I am very happy with it. This is the link: http://www.tmtractor.com/new/co/671fp.htm

John M.

[Drfting1]

Thanks everybody for there advice, took hood off this morning, put a little pressure in radiator, actually found 2 leaks I could see, crack in the overflow and somewhere in the middle, getting to be like NASCAR taking her apart, think it only took about 15 min lol (not including me pressuring radiator up and looking)....well going to take the advice of going with a Clancy radiator from TM tractor, might have to wait a week or so $$, mean time since the hood is off, going to work on a few bugs, want to extend wires to headlights and I might as well take the touch control off and replace that seal I damaged.... Thanks again Bill

[Dale Finch]

.... since the.hood is off.....

[Don McCombs]

Check the oil in the fan hub and change the governor spring and belts (if needed) while you have the hood and radiator off.

And don't scrap the radiator. It can quite likely be repaired.

[Drfting1]

Lol..... on the "hood off" most other maintenance stuff I pretty much did before I reassembled her, but will be replacing belt to alternator, was pointed out to me, little to big and can't adjust, my original was to small and the parts store didn't have the in between size I would have preferred, but I was in a rush to get her back together, can use the old/New belt and set up some kind of a belt toss game in my garage and I'll take the advice of having the old one checked out before I order a new one.... Thanks Bill

[Drfting1]

Just a quick update, "since I have the hood off" lol, going to work on a couple small things until I get radiator issues resolved. One of the main things after I first got her, I checked compression and seen it was low, figure she was do for an overhaul, don't have the spare change for that at the moment, but went ahead with the restore, was planning maybe next year for that, I read posts on here about using sea foam, I never used that before, so figured while tractor is down, let me go ahead and give a try.... Poured some in each plug hole (nice carbon I can see lol) and let it sit in there while I do the restore, I'd turn her over by hand every few days, few weeks into it poured a little more, last week when I got her running again, I poured some in the oil and gas.... All I can say is WOW, just checked compression after maybe a couple hours of run time I'm amazed, first readings dry when i got her were 88 70 70 88. Wet were at the time were 105 90 89 93. Now I have 101 105 105 110 dry.... Maybe I can hold off on that overhaul

[Drfting1]

Went ahead and ordered a new Clancey radiator from TM ..... received it today... good to know I'll have her back up and running before St Patricks day with her new Irish radiator, maybe my luck will change

I'll keep the old one and get it checked out one day, have it as a spare that I hope will never need

[Stanton]

I don't think you'll be disappointed buying the Clancey.

[Drfting1]

Thank you for the heads up on the Clancey radiator.... perfect fit! Well worth the extra $, I think it even sits in there better than the old one....Just ran her around, put hear under a load (slight sputter, one of the bugs I have to work on) heated her up, no issues at all...

Update.... fixed the sputter.... choke lever was loose and shifted.... she was running on half choke, while I was at it, researched the forum made adjustments to throttle linkage, and rechecked valves... wow she's running like New, once again, thanks for this forum or I would have a bunch of metal parts sitting behind chicken coop (wife wouldn't like that to much).... put the plow back on and see how much snow we get, I'll play around in the back yard making dug runs if we get enough.... I'll keep posted... Bill

[Jackman]

Who would have thought that Ireland made a Cub radiator I'd buy that just because it's made in Ireland

You have a nice clean Cub, very nice

[Glen]

Hi,
Good to hear that the radiator fits good, and the Cub works again.