Russell
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 03:07 PM |
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Head Gasket "Repair" Sealer
A work colleague with no spare cash has a Vectra with a 2 litre Ecotec engine that's using water. No external leaks in the cooling system and a
bit of steam visible from the exhaust on a cold day so I'm 99.9% sure the head gasket is goosed but the car still runs and drives OK at the
moment. The guy is totally skint and I'm looking to help him out with this because there's no way he can afford a proper repair or a
replacement car.
Soooooo, I wondered if anyone on here has ever had any success using head gasket repair fluid like this:
Ebay Linky
(Don't tell me it's a lash-up, I know that!!)
I'm a bilingual illiterate. I can't read in two languages.
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NigeEss
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 03:09 PM |
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I have experience of it used as a head gasket cure on two occasions......
Both failed 
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T66
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 03:19 PM |
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I was about to suggest 3 bottles of radweld.
That gunk you linked to is just a bigger bottle by the looks of it..
Ive seen one bodged with 3 of the rad sticks, looks a bit like a knobbly turd without the bend in it lol.
Cannot say Ive seen the dogshit sticks for a few years but Ive seen a few old vans patched up with them.
Go for it, if the lad is skint its not like he has many options, however the gasket sets on ebay are not that costly either.
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mookaloid
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 03:49 PM |
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Of all of the things that you can stuff in to your cooling system to stop leaks, K-Seal is probably the best.
having said that on a head gasket, it depends where the failure is as how effective it wil be.
An altogether better solution
proper head gasket set on ebay here
Cheers
Mark
[Edited on 29/1/10 by mookaloid]
"That thing you're thinking - it wont be that."
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Davegtst
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 04:16 PM |
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I've used it on a headgasket fault before and it worked. It was onlly a very slight leak though so it would depend on how bad the leak was.
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RAYLEE29
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 04:24 PM |
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some people swear by it and you can get it off the shelf from eurocarparts if you have one local
also you can get bars leaks and radweld from local halfords
i guess it depends how bad it is leaking as to wether itll work but £5 to £10 bodge might make it last till a few more pennies are available to do it
properly
Ray
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BigFaceDave
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 05:20 PM |
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I have used it in a old 3 litre supra I had and it worked for about 500 miles until I sold it (and told the next person) and believe that it went for
quite a while after possibly still going, I guy that I work with told me about it after using it on a Rover 75 with the diesel BMW engine and that
went on for over 10,000 miles many of which he was towing a massive caravan. But that doesn't mean it always works!
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Peteff
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 05:24 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Russell
No external leaks in the cooling system and a bit of steam visible from the exhaust on a cold day so I'm 99.9% sure the head gasket is goosed
You will always get steam and water drops coming from an exhaust, it's no sign of a head gasket fault it's a by product of burning
hyrocarbons Russell. Pull the spark plugs and take a look at them and sniff the header tank it will whiff of oil/fuel if it's bad.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 07:24 PM |
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Whatever you don't put Radweld or Barrs Leaks into a modern engine.
K-Seal will only help in the type of head gasket leak where the leak is between the water jacket and the oil return channnels ie oil and water are
mixing. It won't work on leaks between the cylinder and the waterways.
Personally I would do a cold pressure test on the cooling system, while he odds are it is a cylinder head gasket it could well be a leak somewhere
else -- any leak from a hot pressurised cooling system will flash off into steam -- .steam is invisible.
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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adithorp
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 08:10 PM |
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If you must use a stop leak then this is the best and the only one I'd ever use.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Forte-Car-Radiator-Coolant-Stop-Leak-Treatment-500ml_W0QQitemZ190349163150QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?h
ash=item2c51b1ba8e
It's a bodge and we only use it in similar circumstances to what you describe as atemporary fix. However I do know of a truck that got back from
Italy with a blown headgasket on 2 bottles of it.
adrian
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire
http://jpsc.org.uk/forum/
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Russell
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 08:22 PM |
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Thanks guys - some mixed comments there. I was half expecting cries of "snake oil" but it seems that one or other of the mentioned
products could be worth a punt for a tenner or so. I think his meagre funds will stretch to that.
I was surprised at the reasonable cost of the head gasket set on eBay but I guess that's not the whole story. We'd have to factor in a
new timing belt kit and possible head skim as well.
I'm a bilingual illiterate. I can't read in two languages.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 08:43 PM |
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Just to repeat all these products except K-seal were not formulated for modern engines.
Older engines and raddiators had much larger bore water passages, for example Barrs leaks and Radweld have both been known to cause problems with
choked waterways in the cylinder head on Honda V6 engines.
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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jacko
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| posted on 29/1/10 at 09:19 PM |
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The first thing is is there Water in the Oil ?
has the oil gone white
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