So what do you guys think about using stop leak additives in modern motors? I have a Cummins M11 that is weeping from under the plate on the right hand side of the block. Probably only a $2 gasket but would require extensive surgery to get at. Cheers, Greg
Not a fan...
Me neither. The best way of fixing a coolant leak IMHO is a proper repair job using the correct seals and/or gaskets. I've always considered all these chemical leak stoppers as a bodge, and heard some fair horror stories about what they do to the inside of cooling systems. Although to be fair I haven't seen it for myself - wait a minute, that's possibly 'cos I don't use them, duuuuuuuuuh.
Nige, we just had to replace the whole engine in our truck b/c of some bonehead using stop leak in it. Quick fixes arent.
Stop leak is the devil! I'm not sure about the core sizes on heavy equip/trucks. But on passenger vehicles I've seen rads clogged with that garbage. Blue devil additive is the only stuff I've seen not destroy the system. Works well in slight combustion chamber leaks.
had a fellow tell me to put a couple of eggs and pepper in the coolant system if you spring a leak to get yourself outter trouble well after i stopped laughing at him i said i wouldn`t be hungry if i sprung a radiator leak . well 6 months later we were irrigating and the pump motor sprung a water leak and i did not want to stop from watering till i finished the paddock so with the biggest smile on me face i thought about the egg and pepper trick. well , off i go and raids mums fridge of some eggs and find the pepper pot , mum looks a me and i tell her not to ask . down i go take the cap off cracks the egg in and i think the blood egg instantly went hard boiled halve way in . find a screw driver and poke it all in , now i`m laughing at myself thinking what the flam`n heck are you doing . ended up putting three eggs in and a good handfull of pepper , well here i am watching the radiator still leaking water and looking at boiled eggs sitting in the top radiator tank and again thinking what am i doing , you idiot . off i go and see how long before the next change was due so i could shut the pump down and do what should have been done in the first place . about an hour later i gets back to this motor and bugger me it had taken up and the radiator is still full of water with no sign of eggs floating around , ended up finishing the watering out and doing the next time around two because i forgot about getting it fixed . So fellows remember eggs and pepper will get you outter trouble in a pinch
I've heard that yarn before as well, Greeniron, but always thought it was an old wifes tale. You may have seen an Aust. made product called Scotts Superior Radiator Sealer. I have used it before in much older motors with good results and no ill effects, but am hesitant to use anything in this one, because of the reasons mentioned above and also because it is the most expensive motor I own. Cheers, Greg
Yeh, but you don`t have to put both the egg and the pepper in, a handfull of pepper or just a couple of egg whites will suffice.
Well Im a fan of stopleak. Here in the cold climate's salt is used on our roadways yeararound... in the winter for ice control, summer for dust control. The fins on our radiators take a severe beating. Salt can make little pinholes in your radiator and the stopleak fix's them. I have some radiators with lots of fins eaten off by the salt but yet still function properly year round. Where the leak is from seal's and gaskets, by all means replace it properly,,,, but THERE is a time and place for everything,,,,, just sayin,
I am not a big fan of using any of them , but as has been said, they are good if you're in a pinch. If you use them, when you do make the repair, the entire cooling system needs to be flushed and back flushed. Years back, there was a truck being used on a jobsite . It had a 573 Gasser that had a external crack in one of the heads. Bars Leak was used in that for the duration of the job. It did plug the leak for a week or so with each new application. Not sure what it did to the rest of the cooling system though.
have used this with good results http://www.k-seal.co.uk/
I will second K-seal. It has worked wonders on my landrover with no ill affects. It did over 100,000 miles on it and still going strong untill it got written off in a roll over. The only thing to remember is to add fresh every time you change the water.
I used it on my old Bronco. It worked. I have also seen the mess it makes when it didnt work and more and more was added.
go to conklin.com i use there stop leak. but stop leak only stops the leak for a short time
That's the secret. Give it a go as per the directions on the bottle /packet. If it doesn't work, you are better off fixing it properly however much it hurts rather than thinking a few more bottles/ pills/ eggs might work. That's when the trouble starts.
I've heard of using pepper for stop leak, but not eggs, I prefer them for breakfast. I've tried Bars Leak a few times, never had any luck with it. The best product I have used is the stuff that comes in a clear plastic tube with a stopper at one end and looks like aluminum powder. I've seen that stuff seal up split tubes in a rad. Can't remember the name of it at the moment.
conklin DIKE* it dont hurt anything and like all stop leaks its a temp fix
If memory serve's me right it was called silver seal,, but dunno who labeled it.
I think I remember something like that too, but just in case... click here , grandpa... :cool2 OCR...
Where?
On the blue word... → here. OCR
I have used that a time or two. It works good for a while but it seems to wear off over time, especially if you have only slowed the leak and have to add water from time to time to keep up with the leaking. It gets flushed out then. It looked to me like aluminum powder mixed with walnut shell powder. ----------- One other thing I don't think was mentioned here, is that when you have a leaker, so long as conditions allow, the first thing to do is to make sure the radiator cap cannot build pressure. There is the possibility for boiling when you do this but most older vehicles don't get that hot under normal operation. If you still have something approaching 30% glycol in the system then your boiling point is even higher. The way I do it is to push a pine needle or small stick under the small center (return) part of the radiator cap, you know the part that is about 5/8" diameter and held back by a small spring or sometimes no spring at all. If no spring then use a small loop of wire carefully tied so it doesn't damage the radiator or get loose inside the cooling system. This method can turn a significant leak into no leak at all due to the lack of constant pressure from the system on it. Obviously it is primarily to be used for getting yourself home where it can be repaired properly and the engine is to be monitored very carefully while operating this way.
:lmao You sound like your about Ocr's and my age.... don't know all the new fancy terms and gizmo's, but we can getter home if we have too!!
My radiator guy likes pepper for leaks, he says it is easy to flush out later when repairing the radiator. Of couse you have to remember to shut off the water filter(when so equipped) so the pepper can circulate to the spot.