Radiator pressure tester kit

[woody367]

I bought a coolant pressure tester kit from Amazon a few weeks back. I is pretty nice but it leaked air at the quick disconnect. I returned it and they sent me another, same issue. It has the adapters to fit all my cars. Can anyone recommend a test kit that won't leak? I will not be use much so do not want to spend a lot. The link below is what I bought. Thank you

Amazon.com

 

[dnschmidt]

Astro

 

[Rusted Nut]

I bought the Maddox one at HF. Seems pretty good, worked well. Not the best selection of adaptors, but not as expensive as some of the other makes charge for a set. You can buy a set of universal adaptors that work reasonably well from Maddox.

 

[KnurledNut]

Stant or any of their rebrands.

 

[cgrutt]

I bought the HF Pittsburgh brand only used it once on my boat but worked good and diagnosed bad heat exchanger. Comes with alot of different adapters did what I needed it to do.

 

[zendriver]

I've used the basic HF test kit a couple of different times no leaks. I thought it was very nice quality for the price.

Love the brand name of the OP's unit, maybe it was telling

 

[CobraRed]

The China ones all seem to leak. The Taiwan ones are good, though even MasterCool is no longer Taiwan i believe so it's getting more difficult

 

[MattGarage]

Some car part places have tool lending - you put a full price deposit on the tool, use it and return within usually 3 or 7 days and get money back. They do it for good will and it works! Oreilly is one. I have used many of their loaner tools for one off jobs. I do believe they offer a radiator pressure tester.

 

[j3rf]

Redline Detection I suspect makes the tool truck brands cooling system pressure testers. I bought the Mac Tools one as it was on sale and came with the adapters I needed because they are expensive (something like $50-$60 per adapter). You can buy the Redline version on Amazon but they only sell them with the universal adapters rather than the direct fit adapters.
Looking at the Stant kit, it looks similar, but made of plastic rather than metal. Also notes COO as made in China.
The other one that caught my eye was the OEM Tools version. Looks pretty similar to the Redline, made of metal. Only downside is it doesn't come with any cap adapters (not even universal adapters). Though it is pretty inexpensive.

 

[pilotmotor]

you could just buy an extra cap and attach an air fitting and use your compressor with a regulator

 

[Qualitytools]

Not sure how often you’re going to be pressure testing cooling systems. However, you can always rent one for free from your favorite auto parts store.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I've got a Stant, it's gotta be 40 years old. Still works fine.

 

[Jeepster04]

I too bought the HF pressure tester. Its ok, but I wish I wouldve bought the astro kit.

I did add a T and a valve so I can release the pressure without having coolant spray everywhere.

 

[woody367]

Thank you everyone for all the input. I did what pilotmotor said. I had an extra cap in the shop and turned the compressor way down to 12psi. It worked and founf a pinhole in one of the hoses from rubbing. Now I can take my time if I get a pressure kit. ASTRO is nice but I do not need a $200+ unit.

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[Jeepster04]

Did you drill a hole in the cap and screw a fitting in it?

 

[Copymutt]

Carful checking older vehicles. Many including tri fives operated at 7#. Exceed that and you might end up w/ the nightmare of replacing a heater core.

 

[decableguy2000]

Astro Pneumatic

 

[woody367]

Did you drill a hole in the cap and screw a fitting in it?

Carful checking older vehicles. Many including tri fives operated at 7#. Exceed that and you might end up w/ the nightmare of replacing a heater core.

My system is 15psi so I did 12. I always check system pressure before pressurizing any system.

 

[woody367]

Astro Pneumatic

Is like $230. To rich for me and I do not use them enough to warrant spending that much.

 

[LXCam]

you could just buy an extra cap and attach an air fitting and use your compressor with a regulator

That's what I did but with the addition of a dedicated regulator and pressure gauge. That way I can start off with no pressure and slowly adjust it up.

 

[decableguy2000]

Is like $230. To rich for me and I do not use them enough to warrant spending that much.

Not sure what your budget is, but this one is looking just like the Astro, wish I knew before I bought the Astro
Pressure tester

 

[CobraRed]

They ALL look like the Astro, that's the point.
Then you're chasing a leak looking for the fluid dripping down and it's the cap slowly leaking.

Find something made in Taiwan

 

[hasco]

I got a Stant tester off E bay a few years back.
That Amazon China brand "KUNTEC" is bound to give your problems,if ya know what i mean !

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[pbon]

Many BMW from the past 20 years have 29 psi caps. Always seemed high to me. Maybe the engines don’t actually operate close to the cap rating, but I never tested to see.

 

[Vwpower]

Hard to believe the one from amazon failed twice. I figured Kunt-tec had the best engineers.

 

[zmotorsports]

Stant or any of their rebrands.

^^This. I have an old Snap-on pressure tester that is just a rebranded Stant and at least 30 years old. Still work perfectly after all these years and gets quite a bit of use.

 

[dnschmidt]

That's what I did but with the addition of a dedicated regulator and pressure gauge. That way I can start off with no pressure and slowly adjust it up.

Don't need to go to the trouble Cam. Astro makes one just like that: https://www.astrotools.com/product/universal-air-powered-cooling-system-pressure-tester/

 

[LXCam]

Don't need to go to the trouble Cam. Astro makes one just like that: https://www.astrotools.com/product/universal-air-powered-cooling-system-pressure-tester/

Oh ya?, where was Astro at midnight the day before I needed to leave for SEMA with a running ride UH?!!...ya nowhere to be found.

 

[LXCam]

And one more thing..



I mighta wised up after the fact

 

[HeadsUp]

Some car part places have tool lending - you put a full price deposit on the tool, use it and return within usually 3 or 7 days and get money back. They do it for good will and it works! Oreilly is one. I have used many of their loaner tools for one off jobs. I do believe they offer a radiator pressure tester.

Just rented a pressure tester from the local autozone. Worked great on my kids Jeep XJ. Had 90days before I would be charged full price. Returned it after 2 days