I was flipping through a back issue of Maxim magazine where a reader's tip said that whole black pepper (not ground) sprinkled into a leaky radiator will plug the leaks.

Any ever try this?

I've tried this with black pepper but in the ground form. About the amount that is in those little single serving packets you can get at McDonalds is all you need. It plugged a pin-hole leak in the top radiator hose of my old Plymouth and held for about three months before I got around to replacing the hose. About the only side affect that I noticed was a faint smell of pepper on hot days when the system blew out some excess collant into the overflow bottle.

jlc

I'm going to try it.

I have a tiny pinhole in the radiator neck which I don't think is worth the time to fix, since it is easier to spend 60 seconds adding a pint or so of water each week than to spend 2 hours patching the leak.

Out of curiosity, what do you use for oil leaks? Please, please, don't say...salt.

jfujimoto,

I realize how goofy it sounds, but it's worth a try and seems harmless -- unlike the metal powder solutions available in stores, which I refuse to use.

This goes back to the birth of water colled autos,and it works.

Do not use ground pepper.
The water pump will take care of the grounding.,
JackD

Maxim magazine. They know...

Joking aside, that's an old trick. Crushed acorns are another old home remedy.

Well, I'm sold. (After all, why would Maxim lie. )

Todays cooling systems run at higher pressures and temperatures but "back in the day " my grandfather used to use "oatmeal", he'd just throw a 1/2 cup dry regular Quaker Oats or so into the radiator and run it, I withnessed it work twice. stopped the leaks after an hour or so of running and the plug lasted over a year one time and the second one lasted longer than he did! at least four or five years, on 1960s-70s pickups. These where pickups that ran five days a week in his nursery business. He was born in Colonge, Germany 1896-1982,Smart?Cheap? either way it worked! Good Luck