As I was pulling the exhaust manifold off of my engine, I accidentally leaned on the hose attached to the coolant resevoir, snapping the hose off at the top of the radiator. Is there any way that I could epoxy the thing back on , or do I need a new radiator?

*&$#, the things that I forget always seem to bite me in the rear.

#1 09-26-2006, 03:24 PM
Bens lover
Benz Whisperer Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Vancouver,British Columbia Canada
Posts: 256


Dont touch the over flow hose on your radiator!

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Hey folk's..
Your damn if you do and your damn if you dont!
I was doing a winter check up on my 1983 300SD when all I did was touch the small hose that goes from the over flow bottle to the rad....And guess what.The darn nipple broke off on the top of the radiator where the other end of the hose goes in too....Grrrrrrr f*^%$$#@@#%$%.
Well I had to get myself a new rad..300$
And the story goes like this...Only do a visual and dont touch the darn thing! lol
Yall come back now!
Regards
Dan
Vancouver Canada

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Cheers
Big Dan MEng

Visit my Blog..
http://allformercedesbenz.blogspot.com/

www.benzguy.piczo.com



If at first you don't succeed,
Skydiving is not for you.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS NO
MATCH FOR NATURAL STUPIDITY.

If anything can go wrong,fix it!
The hell with Murphy!!
I never think of the future.It comes soon enough.

If you have a real radiator shop in town, give them a call.

__________________
1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes

I would think you sure should be able too.

Find a drill bit that fits snuggly inside the nipple that was broken off
insert the bit into the broke off piece and the radiator, line up the
fit on the two parts and JB weld it in to place.

What are you out if it does not work?

That's probably a sign you could use a new radiator...

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Another consideration. If the nipple was that brittle. Your plastic was very old and the radiator could have failed while driving. Stranding you somewhere.

Dave

__________________
Cheers
Big Dan MEng

Visit my Blog..
http://allformercedesbenz.blogspot.com/

www.benzguy.piczo.com



If at first you don't succeed,
Skydiving is not for you.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS NO
MATCH FOR NATURAL STUPIDITY.

If anything can go wrong,fix it!
The hell with Murphy!!
I never think of the future.It comes soon enough.

Yep, happened on my SD... didn't drive it further until the rad was swapped!

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

An overheated engine?

If there's a stub attached to the radiator you might be able to fit an internal sleeve to hold the rest of the nipple. It usually snaps off cleanly such that a sleeve won't hold.

Sixto
87 300D

Are we not talking about the overflow hose?

Good point. I thought it was the nipple. Who'd bother to fix a hose with epoxy?

Sixto
87 300D

I have managed to make a similar repair in the past, by drilling the broken nipple stub and the stub still on the radiator out far enough to slip in a short run of copper tubing. I JB welded the copper tubing in the holes, and joined the nipples over the copper tube. Then I put the hose back on. Worked fine for quite a while, but, like someone noted the plastic is probably rotten from using Prestone green antifreeze. The main connection at the top of the radiator broke off, which I tried to fix the same way. That didn't last more than a year, so the radiator was changed out.

The failing plastic is not a good sign, but I would be inclined to fix the nipple first. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Bens lover hit the nail on the head. Radiators are not cheap, but they are much chaeper than engine rebuilds. Fastlane has radiators available. The only way I would try to fix a radiator like that is if I knew the car was on it's last legs and I was praparing to part it out when it quit. If your car was ever run for any time with the green antifreeze in it the plastic in the radiator is likely weakened.

__________________
Sedecrem

82 300SD 290k(needs engine swap)
79 240D 354k with new heart transplant w/220k
82 240D w/auto tranny soon to be manual 4 speed

I drilled and tapped that small fitting on the top of the rad using a 1/8th npt+ hose barb, it worked ok for a few years.

__________________
1984 Euro 300SDC, (4spd standard)
1986 Toyota Landcruiser Diesel HJ60 5spd X2

Gone but not forgotten (some sold, some stripped)
1983 300 SD, 1985 300 SD, 1983 240D, 1986 300 SDL, 1985 300 SDL, 1983 300 D, 1984 300 D, 1985 300SD, 1987 300 SDL, 1983 300 SD, 1985 300 TD Euro, 1983 380SEC, 1990 300 D, 1987 300D, 1982 300D, 1982 300D, 1994 E420, 1987 300 TD, 1987 300 D, 1984 300 D

You can use a piece of the larger vacum hose like the stuff that goes to the switch over valve from the alda as a liner. Use JB as noted. Also you can take the broken nipple piece in to the hardware section and find a threaded barbed hose fitting that will slide over the piece that is still on the radiator. Use JB weld. All of these things will work to get you through but it is time for a new radiator, the neck on top will be next (ask me how I know!).

__________________
If it ain't broke take it apart and find out why.

1983 300SD, 4 speed
1994 C280
1987 300TD wagon
1996 HD Road King

Ride in Peace Eric Peterson, Harley of Macon

Yes, snapped the nipple off. Per Larry Bible there is a repair involving a tire valve stem. I will try this first. If it leaks, its new radiator time.