TheExaminer

Sorry for the length but I wanted to explain the situation to get good input.

I've been losing coolant lately, and my L98 (92 Formula) flunked a chemical block test the other night. I just did a coolant flush a week or two ago, so I'm going to flush with clean water ASAP, refill and try the test one more time to make sure the cleaner residue isn't giving me a false positive, because I'm sure there is still some of it in the block. I'm going to pull the block plug and probably KS too to make sure I get it all out. But I'm still losing coolant, so if it fails again, I've probably got a head gasket issue. Not the end of the world, I can pull the heads. It's a pain, but it can be done so Im not afraid of that too much.

Here's my issue. Money is super, super short right now, and I'm looking at a couple hundred in tools/parts just to do it myself--and that's not including if I had to get a new head. The old head may also need to be machined. Plus, I've never done it before so I want to study/watch/read/ask to make sure I do it right. (First time for everything...) What I want to do is use a head gasket sealer to tide me over til next spring. I only drive this car 30-40 miles a week at the very most, and it will be less than that when the ice starts hitting.

Now, before you Senior members start yelling, know that I understand two important things. 1: There is no such thing as mechanic in a can. I know, it's only temporary, and the gasket needs to be replaced to be fixed right. 2: "You can't just replace the gasket, you have to know WHY it failed or you're wasting your time". I know. In my case I'm pretty sure it's overheating. In the 8 mo's I've owned the car, it's never cracked 200 degrees except once (see below), but in the back I found a receipt for a water pump from 8/2012. "Well THERES your problem". Bet money that's when it happened, although it passed a block test and pressure test 7 months ago, it could be the leak was too small to show up and has gotten worse since. I'm going to pressure test it again as soon as I can get a tester. BTW, we put in a new heater core in January, so it ain't leakin' there.

My numbers are pretty good at 155k. I've not tested compression yet, will do as soon as I get a tester. But, my oil pressure is 60+ at startup, 30-40 at warm idle, and 50-55 at hyway speed when warmed up. No trouble there. The car never runs hotter than 190-210, and the only time it broke 200 was when the bad heater core was still in there, and I had a questionable 160 therm that has since been replaced with a 195. I'm getting awful gas mileage too, another sign of a possible head gasket leak. But, no frothiness in the oil (although the level is a little high, going to change it to be safe this weekend), and no smoke of any kind in the exhaust. Pulled the plugs a couple weeks back, and all 8 looked exactly the same. Besides being gapped at 55 by the PO for some reason, they looked ok. They all had a tan/grey dusting on them, no evidence of coolant that I could see, and all were dry. I gapped at 35 and put them back in.

But here's my question to the forum. Now that you know the situation, where do you stand on using a gasket leak stopper to tide me over til spring? I've read the reviews, and like anything else, it ranges from "this stuff is awesome, it worked just like it said" to "blue chunks started forming in my radiator, then they came together, came alive, killed my entire family, blew up the house and I spent 8 weeks in the hospital. DO NOT use this stuff!". Most of the customer reviews on Blue Devil and K & W Nano were good, so if I use one, it will probably be one of those unless someone has something better. The stark reality is, I simply cannot afford to do a head job on this car right now myself, much less pay some other slob a grand to do something I can do myself with a little work and study. But I also am not willing to let it sit for 6 months and collect dust. I love driving it, and it's also not good for the car--esp over the winter! Story for the length of this post, guys. Put this to tell me I'm mouthy, but let me know what you think.

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

You ask a very tough question indeed


Thing is , I have seen the goop in a can actually seal an internal engine leak , but I never have seen or heard of lasting results from it's use . We have all heard the stories of the stuff clogging heater cores and heater control valves which is yet another point to ponder . Personally , unless this was an "end of it's life beater" that I was just trying to stretch till new car time , I wouldn't use it . Now , if your future plans include a new engine along with a radiator , heater core , heater control valve , and all hoses , then by all means feel free to try it . Keep a good eye on your waterpump if you do use it , as I have also heard of leaks from the waterpump seal right after the stopleak was added also.

A good eye on the temp gauge goes along with it as well .....

TheExaminer

Definitely not a beater. My plan was to do a rebuild in 2-3 years myself if it needed it. By that time I'd have learned how to do it myself. I plan on keeping this car forever. I don't disagree with what you said, but the quandary still remains. It's either that, or let it sit for months. Don't like either, but have to choose one, because I don't dare drive it like this anymore. By the time I have the money cushion I need to do this job with some financial safety nets, it might be crappy weather. We'll see what the compression and pressure tests tell us, and go from there I guess. What you said about the temp issue after adding goop was covered quite a bit by reviewers. They said the way to avoid that is to do multiple flushes after the treatment.

TheExaminer

BTW, a bad intake gasket could lead to a lot of these symptoms too huh? I mean, exhaust enters the intake through the egr, so a bad seal there would put exhaust in the coolant system, plus allow a leak into the air mixture couldn't it? That could be why all 8 plugs looked the same. Could be the coolant is dissipated equally into all intake valves from leaking into the intake. Just a thought.....I may be wrong.

8Mike9

Yes.

TheExaminer

I've had a pesky code 32 for a while too. I have a new egr, I have continuity in the wiring, a new ECM, and full power at the solenoid, yet still get a code 32 after 5 min or so of hyway driving. The only thing I haven't changed is the solenoid. Any connection there with a possible bad intake gasket? It might be worth the risk of taking the intake off, cleaning it completely, putting on a new gasket and re-testing the block. But like I said, we'll see what the pressure test says about the cylinders themselves. I may get an inspection camera and look in there too. But, most intake leaks make you run lean, and if anything I'm running a little rich because I'm getting bad gas mileage. But then, there's the idea that running lean can actually hurt mileage because the throttle is forced to be open more to compensate. Also, occasionally I'll start the car and it will immediately die if I don't give it gas, and it won't idle more than about 500 rpm unless you give it gas. It doesn't do it every time, but once or twice every couple weeks. After taking it out and driving it a couple miles, it quits doing that.