Radiator leak

Has anyone used K-SEAL to resolve a small radiator leak? Do any of you have a strong objection to using it? According to the product description, it claims to work even in glycol-based fluid environment, which answers my mechanic's objection. It also claims to work by sealing only the gaps that create a low-pressure void (in other words, it claims it won't seal up the tight passages of an LR radiator; it will only seal up the gap where there is a leak). My 2011 LR4 has about 83K miles, and I'd like to squeeze another 20K out of this radiator before I replace it. Any advice or comments welcome.

I wouldn't use that in ANY vehicle I owned ever ..... Just sludge up passages and heater cores and not likely "fix" the leak.

I guess part 2 of my question is, if you would not use K-SEAL, would it be better to have a radiator shop fix the leak, or to buy a new (either OEM or cheaper) radiator? Please don't be shy, while I await your answers, a puddle is forming. . .

Speaking from someone that just replaced the water pump, Y flange and radiator + hoses. you can try it but be ready to spend the money to replace them. Mine was leaking to warning light every 3 days.

sgh71 said:

Speaking from someone that just replaced the water pump, Y flange and radiator + hoses. you can try it but be ready to spend the money to replace them. Mine was leaking to warning light every 3 days.

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Did you replace with an OEM radiator, or did you buy a $200 one off EBay?

Ric in Richmond said:

I wouldn't use that in ANY vehicle I owned ever ..... Just sludge up passages and heater cores and not likely "fix" the leak.

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As someone who worked on vehicles to pay his way through college, I agree with this gentlemen wholeheartedly. Never saw a stop-leak actually stop a leak, but I saw it clog up lots of expensive and hard to replace ****.

Firstly, are you 100% sure it is the radiator? The LR4 5.0L V8 has a known issue with leaky water pump / crossover pipe. There's actually a Technical Service Bulletin about it. That said, if it were the radiator I would look to find one used online or out of a scrap yard. No point in paying full OEM for a new one. The radiators themselves aren't usually ever an issue. They seem solid and reliable.

Changing my radiator as we speak. 220k on the old one. It all started with the bleeder valve hose ****** breaking off under the intake manifold, needed a new thermostat housing too ($139.00), then grabbing the hoses one by one the radiator ****** (plastic) came off at which part I decided to replace the radiator, while disassembling , I noticed the upper hose inlet being soft and totally disintegrate when I squeezed little harder. I'll pull it out and will take pictures of the rest of the inlets just to see if they've all gone soft. JLR OEM radiator goes for over 600, parts dude would have given it to me around 500 after taxes, in the end he ordered me an aftermarket one they use themselves, cost me around 350.00... ,no contest, buy a new one either online for little less +shipping, or for few bucks more talk to your local Landy shop and get a "local" 4 year warranty with your purchase. By the end of the day, I'll probably have to shell out another 500 for all the hoses, hope not.

Mine had leak, UV dye you could see it leaking. Tried K seal turns orange radiator fluid to green fluid. Worked for 2 days then totally threw a clot. Wouldnt waste your time. I bought new radiator off rmEuropean. Cheaper and seems just as good as oem. Pain to remove and change but totally doable.

Surfrider77 said:

Firstly, are you 100% sure it is the radiator? The LR4 5.0L V8 has a known issue with leaky water pump / crossover pipe. There's actually a Technical Service Bulletin about it. That said, if it were the radiator I would look to find one used online or out of a scrap yard. No point in paying full OEM for a new one. The radiators themselves aren't usually ever an issue. They seem solid and reliable.

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Thank you for the input. My mechanic pressure tested, and told me the leak is in the body of the radiator.