CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Bars leak

snowdriver

1/2 ton status
 Premium
Joined
Jan 18, 2012
Posts
942
Reaction score
1,011
Location
oregon
Any body here use this stuff ,my boy put some in his bronco2,and he is not losing coolant anymore,just curious how long it may last????
 
Sometimes it holds. Usually just temporary. Especially if its coming from the water pump weep hole. If it's a vehicle you care about at all, I'd fix the problem and flush it out with water a couple times. That stuff not only plugs the leaks, but lines the surfaces of the coolant system. This inhibits heat transfer. It may be fine, but I just don't like the idea of it. I'd rather fix the leak than not know when it's going to overheat next.
 
yup, it's like fix a flat in a tire... I'd only use it in an extreme emergency...
 
Well what happened is he had a head gasket fail,then he tore it down got it all fixed,supposedly,put new coolant and oil in it,and he was still getting coolant in the oil,in his frustration he went and got the bars leak,and he was as surprised as I was that it seemed to work
 
I helped a friend of mine flush out as much as we could with all of the freeze plugs removed, the previous owner had used it.

That stuff gummed up the entire block, a lot of it was sitting at the bottom, plugging up some freeze plug openings. Was nasty stuff.

I wouldn't use it, can only imagine what it does to smaller openings and heater cores.
 
Can't fault him for the frustration thing. I've been there.

Are you sure it was new water getting in? A single oil change usually won't get the water out of oil and it can turn milky again after it gets all stirred up. There's a chance that the head gasket is fixed, the engine is just slowly burning off the water from the oil and maybe the Bars was unnecessary.

There's also a chance that it was overheated and the head is warped/cracked or whatever and the head gasket didn't take.

Either way, I'm still on the 'I'd rather know' side of the fence.
 
Used it on my 1990 to get us home from California to Nebraska.

Then I blew up the engine a few weeks later.

Martin
 
Its the only one of those I would use. And then only the original stuff. I admit its some of the worst looking stuff I have ever put in a car, and that includes a couple of girlfriends.....
But, if you don't go overboard with it, and put in more than they say, I have never had any problems with it.
Its always better to fix the problem, but if its going to require a major repair on an engine that is not worth it, then go for it.

Its not going to seal bad water pumps, or large holes, but in its range it does a good job.
 
There are several types of "Bars-Leaks"....the hard "cookies" that are put in the radiator at the assembly line work well to seal up and minor leaks and prevent new ones,but the jars with the tarry rabbit poop pellets or "Bars Leaks Head Gasket Repair" can often clog things like heater cores,radiators,and can be very difficult to flush out later on...

I've always like Aluma-Seal best,its an aluminum powder that only hardens after it escapes from the leaking area and air hits it...it does not clog things,and flushes out easily if desired..there are some copper seal products very similar that also work well now too...

I've found very few things claiming to work on leaking head gaskets ever do,or last for long if they did...worst stuff I've seen yet is "Blue Devil",it clogs things up BAD and hardens like portland cement...its main ingredient is "water glass" and it coats everything with a cement like glassy coating that a hammer and chisel has a hard time removing...used car dealers like it because it "fixes" bad leaks and head gaskets just long enough for the 30 day warranty to expire when they sell an old clunker...
 
The head gasket bottle I used performed great
It was a liquid with some copper colored solids in it
I used it in a car that developed a head gasket leak at the the head/block surface I added the bottle drove it for 200 mi and then cleaned out the radiator bottle and traded it in to a dealer
 
I read a lot of stuff before using a bit in my Scout for some minor seepage. Lots of sources claim that OEMs use it at the factory. My opinion is that it should be fine if you use it sparingly and don't attempt to solve anything other than a pinhole with it.
 
That stuff is always sold in what I call the "snake oil" section of the parts store, with all the additives of dubious value that claim to fix everything from oil burning on old engines to slipping transmissions to noisy steering pumps. It's a buyer beware type of thing. Much of the time they are at best a temporary band-aid or ineffectual, at worst they can gum up internals, cause additional problems, or mask a more severe problem. Use it in a tight spot if you have to, and then correct the actual problem ASAP. If stuff like this was actually effective and without side effects, nobody would replace head gaskets, radiators, etc any more.
 
We used the original powder in the clear tube in a 1989 Cavalier in 1991 when their crappy head gasket failed. 150k miles later in 2003 I flushed the radiator (in my innosence) and it started leaking again. Another tube got it to 232k miles when I sold it without issue. Gotta love a beater!
 
"Porter-Seal" is the old stand by,it was developed during WWII to seal up bullet holes in radiators and cracked blocks--it was made of ground up feldspar...it was also great for sealing up cracked home heating boilers too..but it was gauranteed to clog the heater core,or your money back too...that was one brand I told customers to avoid if they liked having heat in their cars !..it was one of few sealers that often worked on leaky head gaskets though..
I wonder if its still around,I haven't seen any for sale lately..
 
Top Bottom