Bars Leaks Head Gasket Fix, after the treatment?

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I recently used this product, Bars Leaks Head Gasket Fix. Here's a link: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=newpost&Board=35 I realize that this is a controversial product but I feel that my situation rationalized its use. The car is not worth much and I will not have the money to pull the head until January.

I was driving my wife to school one morning and noticed the temp gauge rise above operating temp and then back down for the first time ever. It went up and down 5 or 6 times before I got home. Total driving time like this was 3-4 miles and the temp gauge never even came close to maxing out (i realize they are not that accurate though). My first thought was the thermostat but I thought I would check coolant level. It was about 6 ounces low. I topped it off and the problem went away.

To make a long story short I quickly realized that the antifreeze was leaking into the oil. Unfortunately the car was driven on intermix for awhile and who knows the actual damage. I stopped driving as soon as i realized what was going on.

Do to the value of the car, the higher miles, and not knowing the damage done to the bottom end I decided to use the bars leaks. It worked immediately and did not plug the heater core. I have done many short interval oil changes to clean things up. There are many products that I would have rather used but this particular one allowed me to add it to the existing antifreeze while the others required flushing to just water. I live in university housing and that was not an option.

The car seems to be back to normal, at least for now, so it has bought me some time. I would like to know if you guys would leave the product in as bars leaks suggests. It has been a year since I flushed the coolant so it would not be too much of a waste to flush it. But I also wonder if it might be to my benefit to keep it in there to seal up any future leaks. Especially since I don't know if this was a head gasket leak, cracked head, or cracked block. I also only used less than half the bottle considering the extremely small coolant capacity.
 
I have an external head gasket leak on my Saturn and adding a full bottle of Bar's Leak Liquid Aluminum to the existing coolant has stopped the leak completely after 800 miles. I have not had to add any coolant at all in the last three weeks, and prior to adding the Bar's Leak, I had to add 12 ounces of coolant every week.
 
If it worked in your car and did not plug the heater core so that you still heat in winter, you should leave it in there no need to flush it out.
 
Just FYI, when I had my Subaru, anytime the coolant was serviced you had to put a "coolant conditioner" which was basically a stop leak product. It never gave me any problems, but the weak EJ25 head gasket still weeped coolant externally.
 
Don' mean to go "OT" here, but with the successes of the Bars Leak head gasket product, I was wondering if anyone had tried or had any experience with their "rear main seal" leak stopper?? Thanks all!
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Summerwind
Don' mean to go "OT" here, but with the successes of the Bars Leak head gasket product, I was wondering if anyone had tried or had any experience with their "rear main seal" leak stopper?? Thanks all!
smile.gif

Worked for me mostly, until I replaced the seal and stopped it entirely.
 
Thank you River!! Need to do it on my Old Cutlass..but would like to get it thru the winter before I have to replace it..
 
I appreciate everyone's input. I think I will leave it in there until I pull the head. It should only be a couple of months before I am ready to do that.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
I have an external head gasket leak on my Saturn and adding a full bottle of Bar's Leak Liquid Aluminum to the existing coolant has stopped the leak completely after 800 miles. I have not had to add any coolant at all in the last three weeks, and prior to adding the Bar's Leak, I had to add 12 ounces of coolant every week.


good info. my 96 sunfire is starting lose the same amount of coolant every week. I can't find the source.
 
another good product, appear to be www. steelsealdotcom, since we are not allowed to write the excact URL, here.
It has lifetime guarantee, and it can be mixed with any type of coolant.
It is working only on the head gasket, and will not do anything if you have a leaking radiator.
It does not contain any fillers, to do the job.

Could be worth to take a look at, for someone who has this kind of problem.
 
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If its working leave it in there.If the radiator uses a regular cap you could use one with a lower rating like 7lb instead of the one that is on it now which is probably double that.If it uses a bottle with a pressure screw cap then leave the cap loose (not off).The pressure increases the boiling point so it shouldn't present any real problem in the winter.
We did this year ago on cars with iffy cooling systems.

As coolant went into the oil its possible that there is no leak into the combustion chambers (that's a good thing in this case because they are almost impossible to stop due to the extreme pressure) so you just may get the couple of extra months out of it before doing the head gasket.
 
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