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 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.