Radiator leaking

[AA-ron]

About a month ago I noticed a few drops of coolant on the floor below the radiator. I assumed it was a leaking connection and went through and tightened all the hose clamps. Now I'm realizing that it's the radiator. It's difficult to see exactly where it's leaking but I've narrowed it down the passenger's side upper portion. The fluid is presenting where the fins meet the side of the radiator a few inches below the inlet at the top. The leak is gradually getting worse (they don't get better right...).
The radiator is 2 years old and has about 5500 miles on it.
Two questions: Is this a common area for these to fail? I did not use the Breeze mounting technique and I'm wondering if this is a result of not doing that.
Second question, as I'm assuming it's not repairable, what would you all recommend for a replacement? Should I order a new FFR unit or is there a better option?

[Papa]

Welcome to the leaking radiator club. I also had a radiator fail after about two years on the road. Mine leaked on the top left area.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159613&d=1641183140

I also had mounted the radiator per the FFR manual, but opted to add the Breeze top mount when I replaced mine. I had used the bottom mount, just not the top. I will tell you that doing the Breeze top mount on a completed and painted car is not simple and you need to be very careful about protecting the paint when cutting off the tabs that FFR intended for the top mount. Having a lift made the actual job of removing the radiator easier as you can more easily get it out from under the car and then reinstall the same way. I could not find a local radiator shop that would repair mine, so I bought a replacement from FFR. There are other sources that may be better quality, but regardless of which way you go, I would recommend the Breeze top mount. It spreads the stresses out across the entire top of the radiator rather than having just two fixed points carrying the stress from weight and vibration.

[John4337]

Mine failed there as well, had it mounted per FFR and it developed a small leak at the top while under pressure. Drove me crazy for a while because the fan shroud was collecting the coolant, so I was losing coolant, could catch a whiff of it, but couldn’t find where is was leaking. Must have been a quart in the bottom of the shroud. No one would attempt a repair, so I bought a new one, along with the Breeze upper and lower. They are the way to go, but like Papa said, not easy on a completed car, but it’s doable.

[AA-ron]

Thanks for the intel. I truly wished I'd used the Breeze mount. I was just assessing the radiator replacement and it doesn't look easy now that the car is assembled AND because my muffler in my funky exhaust system is mounted directly below my radiator and will need to be removed-- not the end of the world, but a pain for sure.

[bobl]

I installed my radiator like the manual shows, with one major exception. I put rubber between the upper radiator support and did not make it real tight. The radiator can move quite a bit with no apparent strain. I also built a lower support similar to the Breeze bracket. I attached it to carry most of the radiator weight. Been on the road 9 years and 20k miles with no issues(knock on wood).

Bob

[CraigS]

Mine was the same as bobl. Breeze lower mount and rubber insulators at the top. Be sure there is no metal to metal contact.

[Blitzboy54]

Ron, you can’t seem to catch a break. Sorry about the bad luck. Your car is amazing.

[Ted G]

Same leaky radiator. I did use the breeze mount but was still pretty hard to remove. FFR replaced the radiator with no questions. I did re-mount my fan where it is much easier to remove without pulling the radiator or the shroud. I went with an aftermarket radiator fan this time with less CFM, so I wanted an easy change back if I had to. My FFR fan was so loud, so I bought another one that is half only 2,000 CFM and so much quieter. No issues going lower on the fan's CFM at all.

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[J R Jones]

Ron,
Radiators have hundreds of joints and numerous welds, all must succeed, one failure and you are done. A high level of quality is required, buy appropriately.
My (Subaru) vertical flow donor is an example of OEM engineering.
Plastic tanks crimped/bonded to the core.
Radiator mounts on the tanks.
Fan mounts on the tanks. All good for strength and fatigue resistance.

Some radiators have the tubes bonded to the end plates. That is a challenge for the heat of weld modification.

My Michimoto cross flow has broad spaced isolation mounts top and bottom, studs floating in biscuit grommets.
The tubes are sweat-welded to the end plates. Tanks are aluminum.

Your description suggests a leak in the field of tube attachments to the end plate. If the leak is not near a mount or a plumbing weld, it is likely not stress, heat or fatigue related. Just quality related.
jim

[Kbl7td]

Mine is leaking too. Brand new radiator from the kit delivered in January. On the couple mine is passenger side lower area somewhere.

[Mike.Bray]

I went with an aftermarket radiator fan this time with less CFM, so I wanted an easy change back if I had to. My FFR fan was so loud, so I bought another one that is half only 2,000 CFM and so much quieter. No issues going lower on the fan's CFM at all.

I was put off by a fan that was louder than the exhaust so I went with an aftermarket one also. Mine pulls almost double the CFM as the Factory Five one at less than half the decibels.

[Rebostar]

Ron, It seems as though the common consences is to use the Breeze mounts to spread the wieght of the full radiator over more than just two points. If it looks like the Breeze mounts will be an S.O.B. to do with the body on, think about rubber isloators mount from McMaster Carr. Thats what I did along with making my own version of the lower mount.

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[Kbl7td]

Everyone mentioning different mounts when most of these are clearly faulty from the factory. Mine has zero road time and already failed. His failed where the runners meet the side tanks. It’s just poorly build rads.

Mine has also failed where one of the lower runners meets into the side tank.

[AA-ron]

Hey thanks for all the replies. I've decided to finish out my summer (which is ending very quickly here in Maine) with my leaky rad, and then replace it in the fall when I'm not driving as much. I might look for a different radiator as I really hope to not go through this again. I'm only losing a few table spoons per drive (or so) and I can live with that for now.

[MPTech]

I installed my radiator like the manual shows, with one major exception. I put rubber between the upper radiator support and did not make it real tight. The radiator can move quite a bit with no apparent strain. I also built a lower support similar to the Breeze bracket. I attached it to carry most of the radiator weight. Been on the road 9 years and 20k miles with no issues(knock on wood).

Bob

Hey Bob, just an FYI. I too mounted mine one the top with grommets & rubber and fab'd a support on the bottom, similar to the Breeze unit. My build is 11 years old and 36k miles. I removed the body last year to install a new engine and do several other updates. As I was cleaning and inspecting everything, I discovered the passenger-side mount was just about to fail. No warning, just found it visually. The aluminum radiator tab was severely distorted and starting to split. Drivers side was fine, but the PS had a very small "bridge" of aluminum on the top of the tab that was weight bearing and fatiguing badly. If I didn't have the lower support and hadn't caught and addressed it, I'm sure it would have broke soon. I was able to repair it without removing the radiator, but I know it would have been MUCH harder with the body on. Good Luck

[thwrightstuff]

I was put off by a fan that was louder than the exhaust so I went with an aftermarket one also. Mine pulls almost double the CFM as the Factory Five one at less than half the decibels.
Sorry to revive an old thread, but my radiator just started leaking, right at the beginning of driving season. Mike, what fan did you buy? This would be a golden opportunity to quiet down my car a bit.

[Blitzboy54]

If you want to make your factory fan virtually silent run one of these. It runs the fan at the minimum speed needed to maintain the preset temperature. It works incredibly well.

http://www.dccontrol.com/constant_temperature_controllers.htm

You can find details in my 2nd build thread post 299

[Mike.Bray]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but my radiator just started leaking, right at the beginning of driving season. Mike, what fan did you buy? This would be a golden opportunity to quiet down my car a bit.

This one with a Breeze shroud. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/flx-105390

[AC Bill]

Curious... are most of these leaky rad's mentioned here, ones that had been supplied from FFR? I notice the ones pictured by builders having issues, all have aluminum side tanks. Is that a common denominator?

I used an aftermarket radiator, made as a replacement rad for the 87-93 5.0 Mustang. That was a very common practice used a decade or more ago when donor builds were still very common place. I think most builders back then opted not to use a donor rad, and sprung for a new replacement rad. The new one I purchased was listed as a performance rad. It was aluminum, but had plastic side tanks. It has 16 years under it's belt now, and (knock on wood ) has never leaked.

Prior to the Breeze rad mount, or any manufactured mount system now available, many builders would simply follow the FFR build manual's simple instructions for rad mounting. Fortunately, there were some very skilled builders inventing their own improved designs for mounts. Like so many items commonly found in FFR building today, it was these early innovators that came up with the ways to build things better. I cobbled together a mount using some of these innovations.

226731

[thwrightstuff]

Curious... are most of these leaky rad's mentioned here, ones that had been supplied from FFR? I notice the ones pictured by builders having issues, all have aluminum side tanks. Is that a common denominator?

I used an aftermarket radiator, made as a replacement rad for the 87-93 5.0 Mustang. That was a very common practice used a decade or more ago when donor builds were still very common place. I think most builders back then opted not to use a donor rad, and sprung for a new replacement rad. The new one I purchased was listed as a performance rad. It was aluminum, but had plastic side tanks. It has 16 years under it's belt now, and (knock on wood ) has never leaked.

Prior to the Breeze rad mount, or any manufactured mount system now available, many builders would simply follow the FFR build manual's simple instructions for rad mounting. Fortunately, there were some very skilled builders inventing their own improved designs for mounts. Like so many items commonly found in FFR building today, it was these early innovators that came up with the ways to build things better. I cobbled together a mount using some of these innovations.

226731
You drive it with the clamps on there still, right? :D

I saw someone post that they used an '81 mustang rad and haven't had any issues for over 10 years. It's kind ugly, but my car isn't a trailer queen, so I'm kind of tempted for $100 vs the $300 FFR POS. If I'm spending $300, I'm going to get a nice one that is high quality.

Jesse, that controller is brilliant, I think i'm going to order one of those.