Bar's Leak for engine leaks

[DNS]

Anyone care to voice their opinion about using Bar's Leak Engine Oil Stop Leak? I've got an old Plymouth Voyager with 122k miles on it. It runs fine but has developed an oil leak which I suspect is from deteriated seals. The engine has had a regular diet of synthetic oil so I think the internals are fairly clean. I know Auto-Rx is supposed to rejuvinate old seals but since I'm not looking for its cleaning power, I was thinking of using something locally available (and cheaper). The Bar's Leak label says it contains no solids that could clog oil passages.

 

[Spector]

IMO these stop leaks are only temporary fixes and if they work are only for those that really don't intend to keep the car that long. It is true that RX is a long time consuming process ( I have a similar situation and for me it will take at least 4 months to complete the cycle) but if it works and does the job so what, worth a shot. The price, yea, steep compared to a stop leak but I feel that they simply swell the seals temporarily (as opossed to cleaning/reconditioning) and then they can never be the same again. Maybe not. RX may not work either but a more probable long term solution then stop leak. Depends on your intention for the car in the next year.

 

[DNS]

Well, the car spends a lot more time in the driveway than on the road, it's my second vehicle for those rare times that my motorcycle isn't appropriate because of weather or hauling capacity. The Bar's leak claims to clean and recondition the seals. I was hoping someone on this forum might have had experience with it.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I would only use something like that you have tried something really gentel like AUto-Rx. Most stop leaks are really just Naptha or Toulene type solvent in a fancy bottle. They do swell the seal for a while but in the long run they cause more problems! Always use these types of products as a last resort for just getting buy until you can afford to fix it right!

 

[eldawg4100]

ok, i used to dump like every engine stop leak no smoke treatment in an old beater i had when i was 16-17 (not very long ago) and it didnt do a **** thing except probably lead to the demise of one engine.

 

[JohnBrowning]

eldawg4100, "stop leak" products are much different then "no smoke" products. I think that if you tried you additives with the benifit of UOA you would see how bad they are. I am sure that if you added a "no smoke" product to your oil and checked it with UOA you would not like what you saw.

 

[eldawg4100]

quote:

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Originally posted by JohnBrowning:
eldawg4100, "stop leak" products are much different then "no smoke" products. I think that if you tried you additives with the benifit of UOA you would see how bad they are. I am sure that if you added a "no smoke" product to your oil and checked it with UOA you would not like what you saw.

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i know, this was many years ago, i didnt know any better, now my car is 2001 and i dont have these problems.... The no smoke, were usually thick motor honey, and the stop leaks were thin for the most part... it was stupid on my part, but you live you learn

 

[SteveD2]

I tried some STP stop leak in my jeep before I wrecked it. The rear main was leaking about 1 quart/25 miles. It slowed it down to about 1 quart/150 miles.

 

[highmiles]

I have had absolutely no good luck with engine oil stop leaks. But I will give the Bar's Leaks engine oil stop leak a try the next time i have an engine seal leaking problem. This based solely on how well the Bar's Leaks cooling system sealer works.

 

[oilcan]

I have never used BARS LEAK engine stop leak, but I have used alot of their radiator stop leak and like that alot. for engines I prefer LUCAS.