Looking for advice.

[Lachlan]

Good morning.

Needing a little help.  While changing the belt for power  steering I've managed to crack the top plastic on the radiator. This is now allowing fluid out. Needless to say I haven't run the car as yet.  Does anyone know if any type of Radweld would plug this, if a plastiweld would work or is it a case of a new radiator.  This is on my wifes 07 Impreza so no brownie points left 😁.

[Jamina]

Definitely change the rad, not worth the risk, the plastic top radiators are prone to failure over time anyway so might be a good excuse to change.

You really don't want to be somewhere remote, radiator fails after a temporary fix and then you have an overheating Impreza on your hands. You will run the risk of frying the gaskets which will be a much heavier bill than a new radiator.

[Jay762]

Change the rad - dont use rad weld, that stuff will kill your cooling system, you can get a replacement with 5 year warranty for £45 on eBay. That will get you back on the road whilst you hold out for something like an all alloy Koyorad

[Mr B]

change it is the sensible route .
You could probably do a repair plastic welding it if really had to but simply not worth messing with and cooling system issues can end badly and your wife giving you a black eye & kick in the crown jewels  .
Those plastic end cap rads are garbage long term as the hot coolant and heat cycles leaches chemicals from plastic and they become as fragile as an egg Shell .
Generally we add a rad to a quote on few jobs when know they likely best replaced and likely be a problem .
Have had pay for a radiator for a customer myself as they moaned I broke it and to be fair I hadn't highlighted the risk and it wasn't directly linked to work being done, they can get really bad, good old pressed metal was far better, alloy is great and do find some pretty good options at sensible money .