What's the best stopleak for coolant?

[callbay]

I have an old 98 Ford Ranger 3.0 V6 with 210,000 miles on it. It has a small leak that looks like it is in the block behind the water pump. I had some Bar's stop leak in it. The one with the pellets. It worked for about a year but now leaks again.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Rand]

fix it? The 3.0 is relatively easy to work on.

and alot of space in the engine bay around it.

 

[Drew99GT]

Is it the actual pump gasket or pump itself leaking, or like the timing cover?

I've had great luck using the Bars old school style liquid stop leak; not the brass or silver stuff, the old ginger root muddy looking stuff.

If the leak is in the timing cover/block etc., the best way to install the stuff is, pop the lower rad hose off and pour the stop leak into the hose, then reinstall. That way the water pump will suck it right into the leak area instead of it sitting in the radiator fins.

 

[tommygunn]

Back in the day it was black pepper, dunno if it would work in today's cars.

 

[actionstan]

I have had good luck so far with the bars stop leak that comes in a silver little tube, its usually 1 or 2 dollars.

HOWEVER

If you already used a stop leak once.. its probably best just to fix it at this point if you plan on keeping the truck for any period of time. Right now in my opinion you are on borrowed time, and more than likely the leak will get worse, or the seal will just completely fail. Stop leaks are a temporary fix, not a permanent one.

 

[morepwr]

I had good luck with the Bars leak as well. I had a steel shim head gasket leaking in an old chevy truck but it was leaking to outside and not hurting the way it ran. I used the Bars leak and drove another 50K miles without it ever leaking there again.

 

[kyxtremetuber]

Fix it as a Ford tech I can almost guarantee it the front cover leaking at these can also leek coolant into the oil it's simple to replace and takes only a few hours

 

[another Todd]

Bars Leak, with the pellets.

 

[jeepman3071]

After seeing what stop leak does to the cooling passages in the cylinder head and block, do not put more of that in! Fix the leak or you will have much bigger headaches.

 

[ColdCanuk]

Remember using cinnamon as a kid when I had no money

 

[Wilhelm_D]

Originally Posted By: callbay
I have an old 98 Ford Ranger 3.0 V6 with 210,000 miles on it. It has a small leak that looks like it is in the block behind the water pump. I had some Bar's stop leak in it. The one with the pellets. It worked for about a year but now leaks again.

Bar's Leaks is pretty much the gold standard.

However, I keep a container of Alumaseal in my trunk emergency box.

You may want to look for a block seal product like:

Bar's Block Seal

if you actually think it's cracked. If it works, park in the front yard with a "FOR SALE" sign on it and wave goodbye to it.

 

[tommygunn]

I remember my mechanic going to the drug store and buying something called liquid glass and it worked on my Toyota 20 years ago. Lasted long enough for me to trade it in and several cans of STP stopped that oil drip!

 

[Bgallagher]

Originally Posted By: tommygunn
I remember my mechanic going to the drug store and buying something called liquid glass and it worked on my Toyota 20 years ago. Lasted long enough for me to trade it in and several cans of STP stopped that oil drip!


Maybe they also made a sealer but Liquid glass is an old school sealant for car finishes. If he used the sealant I bet the inside of your coolant was nice and shiny

 

[doitmyself]

"sodium silicate liquid glass formula," in Wilhelm_D's link.

 

[MarkM66]

If the Bars leaked worked for a year without damaging anything else, just use it again for another year.

 

[cptbarkey]

uh, fix the water pump. its not behind it, it IS the water pump leaking.