the sealer is little globes of something akin to tar that becomes a permanent part of the coolant.
my foggy memory says I ended up getting the heater core replaced, had to tear apart dash. later the radiator failed, had it flushed. the mechanic asked did you use bards leak? yep.......
you need a new radiator, the coolant was clogging the rad.
so do what you want, but i would get the cooling system pressure tested
Used according to manufacturer's directions, most engine sealers / stop-leaks can be used safely without plugging heater cores. Been using them for over 40 years. The lesson I learned, was "follow manufacturer's instructions"
Generally it works in less than half an hour or it doesn't work. Still hjave not told us what year/model/engine. Cast iron heads and block pretty much means it is an old technology engine?? You might have a cracked head instead of a bad gasket, but the engine sealer can address that too in most cases.
Normal engine sealer won't be a problem down the line. boiler sealer could!!. Can'temember the brand of "boiler seal" we used to use on old machinery - but the stuff really worked. We only used it on stuff that we didn't plan on taking apart to fix properly later, and I don't even remember ever plugging a rad or heater core with it. The old Brs Leaks rad sealer pelets wouuld do a job on a heater if you didn't follow the instructions - One that I used a LOT of over the decades was Knights AlumaSeal. (also sold as Gold Eagle and several other brands).
Sodium Silicate (aka "waterglass" is also an effective crack sealer that won't plug heater cores and is the "active ingredient" in BarsLeaks "Liquid Copper" rad sealer. (used to be in a lot of others too - not sure if it still is)
No it won't. Not if you follow the instructions But if someone is really worried about that they can bypass the heater for the duration of the installation of the gunk.
I forget the exact instructions and sequence but when I used the stuff I could tell in the first 10 minutes of 'put it in and run the engine". Within that short time it had already plugged up the leak that was making one cylinder fail. A friend of mine tired it on his old jeep flathead with a wide crack in the block you could see on the outside. It almost worked on that but the crack was just too big.
And we still don't know if it's a '47 straight eight, a nailhead, or a
430 wildcat, or - - - - They all have different problems, and all have fast iron blocks and heads .snipped-for-privacy@snyder.on.ca posted for all of us...
+1
that the engine runs rough all the time. Watch does with it is not my concern.
increases rapidly. If he puts in neutral and revs the engine, he says it drops to normal quickly. Radiator, fan clutch, thermostat, water pump all checked out and working normally.
coolant pressure drops, which could be letting more exhaust leak into the coolant and raise the temp? Says when the temp goes high, he can smell antifreeze, probably blowing out the overflow.
I guess I misunderstood the neighbor. He has a Buick and a 98 Ford Ranger. It's the Ranger with the problem.
4 cyl, 3 liter or 4 liter. If it's a 4, he has a cracked head - 99% if he overheated it.
that the engine runs rough all the time. Watch does with it is not my concern.
increases rapidly. If he puts in neutral and revs the engine, he says it drops to normal quickly. Radiator, fan clutch, thermostat, water pump all checked out and working normally.
the coolant pressure drops, which could be letting more exhaust leak into the coolant and raise the temp? Says when the temp goes high, he can smell antifreeze, probably blowing out the overflow.
Ranger. It's the Ranger with the problem.
3 liter
I've had a few 3.0 vulcans in Aerostars - the only problem I ever had temperature-wize was a stuck thermostat (240,000km+ on both)
Go to:
so that the engine runs rough all the time. Watch does with it is not my concern.
increases rapidly. If he puts in neutral and revs the engine, he says it drops to normal quickly. Radiator, fan clutch, thermostat, water pump all checked out and working normally.
the the coolant pressure drops, which could be letting more exhaust leak into the coolant and raise the temp? Says when the temp goes high, he can smell antifreeze, probably blowing out the overflow.
nailhead, or a
Ford Ranger. It's the Ranger with the problem.
Thanks will check it out. I'm going to 'help' him tomorrow if I can.
I stopped in at the parts store today. This is the one that always has good info and not trying to sell everybody. Manager said people who used
Others were K&W Block Seal
Looking at the ones in the clear bottles, it just looks like sand and copper filings. I'm sure they work at least sometimes, but I don't see how these things move into the leaks without getting blown out again. Seems like any stop leaks would work better if they were in the fuel, then the compression would force some into the leaks. Just guessing.
so that the engine runs rough all the time. Watch does with it is not my concern.
increases rapidly. If he puts in neutral and revs the engine, he says it drops to normal quickly. Radiator, fan clutch, thermostat, water pump all checked out and working normally.
the the coolant pressure drops, which could be letting more exhaust leak into the coolant and raise the temp? Says when the temp goes high, he can smell antifreeze, probably blowing out the overflow.
nailhead, or a
Ford Ranger. It's the Ranger with the problem.
Thanks will check it out. I'm going to 'help' him tomorrow if I can.
I stopped in at the parts store today. This is the one that always has good info and not trying to sell everybody. Manager said people who used
Others were K&W Block Seal
Looking at the ones in the clear bottles, it just looks like sand and copper filings. I'm sure they work at least sometimes, but I don't see how these things move into the leaks without getting blown out again. Seems like any stop leaks would work better if they were in the fuel, then the compression would force some into the leaks. Just guessing.
From kseal.com...
Q: My cooling system is pressurising and coolant is being blown out of the expansion tank. How can K-Seal fix this?
A: K-Seal can fix this type of leak but you need to get K-Seal into the cooling system without it first being blown out by the gases blowing back from the cylinders. A couple of solutions are:
so that the engine runs rough all the time. Watch does with it is not my concern.
increases rapidly. If he puts in neutral and revs the engine, he says it drops to normal quickly. Radiator, fan clutch, thermostat, water pump all checked out and working normally.
the the coolant pressure drops, which could be letting more exhaust leak into the coolant and raise the temp? Says when the temp goes high, he can smell antifreeze, probably blowing out the overflow.
nailhead, or a
Ford Ranger. It's the Ranger with the problem.
Thanks will check it out. I'm going to 'help' him tomorrow if I can.
I stopped in at the parts store today. This is the one that always has good info and not trying to sell everybody. Manager said people who used
Others were K&W Block Seal
Looking at the ones in the clear bottles, it just looks like sand and copper filings. I'm sure they work at least sometimes, but I don't see how these things move into the leaks without getting blown out again. Seems like any stop leaks would work better if they were in the fuel, then the compression would force some into the leaks. Just guessing.
From kseal.com...
Q: My cooling system is pressurising and coolant is being blown out of the expansion tank. How can K-Seal fix this?
A: K-Seal can fix this type of leak but you need to get K-Seal into the cooling system without it first being blown out by the gases blowing back from the cylinders. A couple of solutions are:
Fun to watch this feller demonstrating the Motor Purr products...
No such product and it wouldn't work because it would seal your rings and valves as well. The sealer HAS to be in the coolant.
Believe it or not finely ground black pepper has worked as a cooling system sealer, as have egg yolks. A Scottish guy I used to work with in Zambia was down in Rhodesia with his Rover 2000 and blew a head gasket. He dropped a few egg yolks into the cold rad, started the car and drove it untill fully warmed up. It got him home from Bullawayo to Livingston, and the car kept running for another 2 years. He finally replaced the head gasket (still not leaking) before he sold the car over 3 years later.
McK> >> >>
practical matter.
enough so that the engine runs rough all the time. Watch does with it is not my concern.
temp increases rapidly. If he puts in neutral and revs the engine, he says it drops to normal quickly. Radiator, fan clutch, thermostat, water pump all checked out and working normally.
if the the coolant pressure drops, which could be letting more exhaust leak into the coolant and raise the temp? Says when the temp goes high, he can smell antifreeze, probably blowing out the overflow.
Ford Ranger. It's the Ranger with the problem.
has good info and not trying to sell everybody. Manager said people who used
$3 for enough for one system, Bars Head Gasket Fix $30,
copper filings. I'm sure they work at least sometimes, but I don't see how these things move into the leaks without getting blown out again. Seems like any stop leaks would work better if they were in the fuel, then the compression would force some into the leaks. Just guessing.
I'm headed to the car swap meet to chat with the fellers and find a good rebuild shop. Will pick up a dozen eggs on the way!
heater & valve would take that out of the loop. Will pass that on to the neighbor and let him decide. Pretty mild weather here - won't need a car heater for at least 6 months.
head done, would the seal residue be a problem?
From what I can tell after reading mf info, the stop leaks with sodium silicate say to flush the glycols out of the radiator first. The ones without it say OK to pour in with coolant.
McK> >> >>
that the engine runs rough all the time. Watch does with it is not my concern.
increases rapidly. If he puts in neutral and revs the engine, he says it drops to normal quickly. Radiator, fan clutch, thermostat, water pump all checked out and working normally.
the coolant pressure drops, which could be letting more exhaust leak into the coolant and raise the temp? Says when the temp goes high, he can smell antifreeze, probably blowing out the overflow.
I asked neighbor about the white smoke. He said he never noticed any. When we started it today, engine ran rough as usual until warmed up, but no steam or smoke of any color out the tail pipe.
He says the other day after driving and engine was up to normal temp, he noticed steam coming from under the hood and smelled coolant, stopped the engine and looked under the hood but did not see any coming from the engine area. He didn't know to check the overflow reservoir but I saw that it was full to the top. Last time I checked it was less than half full.
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