Lessons on copper:
Every house on my street has been re-piped because of slab leaks. �Here in northeast Florida homes are built on a concrete slab, not a masonry foundation. �And much of the plumbing, specifically copper piping, was imbedded in the slab. �Over time, because of the very hard water here, the copper pipes sprang pin-hole leaks, causing water to leak through the slab into the home. �This all has occurred over the course of a number of years, many after just a few years, and others much later. �Mine was 18 years old when I bought it, and we went proactive and re-piped ahead of the leaks.
I suppose the lesson is: �if you have a copper radiator, make sure you only use distilled water. �If you can't be sure of that, then buy an aluminum radiator.
Anthony'89 Syncro GL (Hidalgo)

--- On Mon, 4/5/10, Janne Ruohom�ki <janne.ruohomaki@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

From: Janne Ruohom�ki <janne.ruohomaki@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Archive not. Re: Radiator flush
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Date: Monday, April 5, 2010, 8:56 AM

On Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 12:41 PM, Mike <mbucchino@charter.net> wrote:
> I�don't see why you don't�just take it out�and�send it to a radiator shop.
> That's�what�they do.�It's not expensive,�and they'll repair�any holes that
> this process�can�uncover,� and then�pressure test for leaks.
> Some things�are�best left�to�the professionals, and this is�one of them.

I would think twice before sending very old aluminum radiator to
radiator shop. I have no idea what do they charge but new aluminum
radiators are not that expensive. Copper radiator, maybe. My previous
cars have had copper ones. My van has aluminum. I dont know if mine is
original or not. Van is ~20 years old, but the radiator is in
amazingly good shape. PO said that there has never been any leaks
anywhere and actually generally forgot to check for water levels
because it did not change.

Copper is more prone to pinhole leaks than aluminum. Aluminum tends to
weaken from bigger areas. So after repairing, copper radiator would
probably have longer life expectancy than� aluminum one. This is not
to say aluminum radiator cannot have just small pinhole leak being
thick from elsewhere.

A lot probably depends on the general condition of the radiator. Maybe
get a new one and fix the old one for spare part, presuming You really
are going to keep Your van for a long time. (Dont we all ?)