Radiator Stop Leak

[mweidner]

Ok, so I have a small leak in the radiator itsself, am losing probably a quart a week or so, the guy at autozone told me to put in "Bar's Leaks, liquid aluminum radiator stop leak" I wanted to see what you guys thought before I put it in.

I have heard a decent amount of people that are against the stop leak stuff, most of them mention the pellets stuff, this stuff looks like silver glitter, I don't care much about the radiator as I would probably have to replace it anyways, my concern is more for the engine.

I just got done rebuilding the top half of the engine (coolant leak on the lower intake manifold), truck is running great don't want to break something else.

So suggestions?

 

[Bob Ayers]

Either get your radiator fixed, or replace it! Stay away from the stop-leak products!!!!

 

[Ranger44]

Truthfully I don't like cheap fixes, wether they work or not. The right thing to do is replace the radiator (when your wallet will allow for it). I can see this leak stop trying to plug up a coolant passage or the water pump.

 

[mjonesjr]

fix it.....the stop leak wont hurt your engine, but you are better off replacing the radiator...

 

[mweidner]

Yeah, that is what I had figured, just thought I would ask, a $3 fix would be nice since I just put $250 in last week re-doing the engine for the last leak.

 

[MAKG]

fix it.....the stop leak wont hurt your engine, but you are better off replacing the radiator...

Stop leak MIGHT not hurt your engine. If you're lucky.

There is cause for concern that it WILL cause problems, though. Take a good look at the front end of a new head gasket to see why. And how you can claim a plugged radiator won't hurt an engine is more than a little beyond me.

Now, stop-leak is very often not effective, and it circulates junk through the engine indefinitely.

New radiators aren't very expensive. Well under 1/10 of the cost of rebuilding the engine.

 

[TayCo 7s]

stay away from that crap, buy a radiator at a junk yard i just got one for a 120 bucks and i think it was expensive but it wont kill me

 

[94redranger]

Bar's leaks worked for me and my buddy had a leak in his heater core and we could see it leaking. He put it in and his leak eventually stopped. It does work and both my buddy and I don't have any other problems from this stuff. The particles do look big when they are in the bottle but they decrease in size as you run the engine. On Bar's leaks web site it says they are small enough to pass through a specific size set by the big three auto manufacturer's.

 

[Jspafford]

I used stop leak once. It didn't work.

I was lucky and found a brand new radiator (from a radiator shop) for under $100. That was less than 2 years ago. You may try a specialty radiator shop and get one cheaper.

 

[MAKG]

stay away from that crap, buy a radiator at a junk yard i just got one for a 120 bucks and i think it was expensive but it wont kill me

I just bought a brand new 2-row for my Exploder for $115 by mail order with free shipping. You got ripped off.

 

[mjonesjr]

I just bought a brand new 2-row for my Exploder for $115 by mail order with free shipping. You got ripped off.

agreed... even new radiators from parts stores are cheaper than that.

 

[shadetree]

Stop leak additives are for temporary fixes. Some are better than others depending on the leak.

The best in my opinion is K&W. It will stop a serious leak if used properly. It gets it's formula from an old method we used years ago. Silicone silicate(egg preserver) is the main ingredient. We used to use this stuff mixed with flax seed. It will stop cracks cause by winter freezes. We got many a tractor thru the winter with the stuff.

Most of the formulas that I am familiar with do not harm the cooling system. Most radiators used today are aluminum and must be replaced when leaks develop, so in using a temporary fix you haven't lost anything. shady

 

[94redranger]

Ya I've heard of that. My grandpa told me how he used to put egg white in his tractor to stop leaks. To stop a leak really good and if you want to spend a little money use steel seal. It will stop rad leaks and engine block cylinder heads etc.

 

[mhughes165]

now, this may be a little of this topic, but u know the eternal problem when u blow a headgasket, the inevitably of pulling the heads and etc.....

well on a vehcile i had purchased for cheap (300) a 93 t-bird with the notorious 3.8 it had bad headgaskets, well, i had the head and block decked, and did new gaskets but it was STILL putting coolant out the tail pipe....

now normally i am not a believer of fixes in a bottle, however i figured id give this shit my pop reccomended a try, called Therma Gasket, i followed the instructions to the T, and to my surprise it fixed the headgasket leak 100%, the car has been driven now since i did that in 2005 about 10k miles a year without a single issue since then, was wondering if anyone else has used that stuff before

 

[darkranger]

Stop leak would be a temporary fix only in my opinion.