Head gasket sealers

[Effieman]

A while back my radiator hose slipped off and an overheated engine blew the head gasket. I used some band-aid in a bottle (Bar's leak #1111) to fix it. No more gasses in the coolant.....
Anybody ever have any long term luck with these sealers?
The truck is a manual, and rarely sees over 3K rpm. Will that be a factor in the longevity of the 'fix'?

 

[RonD]

Its a temporary fix for sure but can be reused
Need to drain and flush the system to prevent radiator and heater core blockage, reverse heater hoses at the firewall as well

Then refill with coolant and another can of your choice of head gasket fix

They all work the same way, they use a "liquid glass" formula
When it is exposed to the 1,000+ deg heat in a cylinder it turns hard and temporarily seals the cylinder leak, but it breaks off pretty quick and is replaced by more "liquid glass", ect............

Eventually it gets used up, there is no set time, you will know when the white smoke and misfires start again
Drain, clean and refill

Keep checking the oil dipstick for signs of coolant, if it is a head gasket issue, and not a cracked head, then it may/will get worse and if coolant gets into the oil, milkshake, it will ruin the bearings so whole engine is toast and needs a full rebuild, if you catch it in time then just the heads need to be done

The head gasket fix only seals the cylinder breach not the head gaskets composite material

Used it myself a few times on different engines, usually over a winter until it was warm enough to redo the heads
Had a neighbor with a beater V6, think it was a chevy caviler, I did it for him 3 or 4 times over a few years until the transmission(automatic) failed and he got another car

You will need to fix the heads, and at that time I would plan on new radiator, heater core and water pump
Also flush the block coolant passages and head passages

 

[rhekman]

I second the "flush and treat" method, and only run with a cooling system sealer as long as you have to. I've had experience with Bars Leaks and K-Seal in farm equipment and in a couple Rangers. I prefer K-Seal for not turning the coolant brown and doing a better job keeping water pump seals alive. Still, when I recently rebuilt my 4.0 OHV at 300,000 miles, there was a lot of crud in the coolant passages in the block, and even more in the radiator. Now that I have everything clean, the heating/cooling system is way more responsive.

If you're just sealing a radiator passage or end tank seal, I'd just run it for as long as it stops leaking. If however you're getting combustion gas in the coolant, or coolant in the exhaust, it's a temporary fix at best. If you're getting coolant in the oil, then you're just done until the heads can come off.