We have an out of warranty VQ35, and it has what I've learned is the pretty common external head gasket weeping issue. I have no idea how long it has been doing this, but based on the variety of dried crust that I can see in the valley, probably a while. There's not much down there, but it's various shades of old-looking white-ish green. I am going to send the oil off for an analysis to make sure that it's clean, but there are no symptoms aside from the occasional smell of coolant when walking in front of the car (and the dried crust). The oil is clean, no smoke, no overheating, no noticeable coolant loss. Everything points to this being an external leak, and not an internal oil/coolant issue.
Now, I'm not really inclined to do this, but what do you all say about the Subaru coolant conditioner as an attempt at a "fix"? I know it's just rebranded Radweld, but can it cause any issues, aside from maybe simply being a waste of $3? It's supposed to react to the air, right? If that's the case, it seems reasonable that it may work to seal a leak to the atmosphere. Maybe. I don't really want to spend $3k to get the head gaskets replaced, as the car is probably only worth $10k, and it's not like they're anything but a smelly annoyance at this point. On the other hand, if it's been doing this for years or even since new (as seems to be the case with a lot of VQ35s), it may be OK to just leave it as it is and keep an eye on the coolant level... but I also don't want a catastrophic failure at some point.
Thanks for any help.
Now, I'm not really inclined to do this, but what do you all say about the Subaru coolant conditioner as an attempt at a "fix"? I know it's just rebranded Radweld, but can it cause any issues, aside from maybe simply being a waste of $3? It's supposed to react to the air, right? If that's the case, it seems reasonable that it may work to seal a leak to the atmosphere. Maybe. I don't really want to spend $3k to get the head gaskets replaced, as the car is probably only worth $10k, and it's not like they're anything but a smelly annoyance at this point. On the other hand, if it's been doing this for years or even since new (as seems to be the case with a lot of VQ35s), it may be OK to just leave it as it is and keep an eye on the coolant level... but I also don't want a catastrophic failure at some point.
Thanks for any help.