Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

I am not a fan of "magic stuff in a bottle" as a few of you know.
I took a 59$ risk and tried it for my leaking heater core.
my heater core allowed coolant to flow out the escape tube along the lower pass fire wall in a steady stream.

i bought this and **********FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS!!!!!! >hint

I have held off for a month to allow this post to become valid by my test.
The product did exactly what it said it would do.

I was attracted to the lable because of all the "tall claims" it was making.
I was litterally in disbelief as i read what the product said it would do so i tried it.

it has been 4 weeks and about 3k miles later and all is well.

if i had to rate a product, and there were only 5 stars, i would try like hell to give it 10 stars!!!

works as advertised for my symptom.  cant speak to the other claims it makes but now that i have leaned a few things about it, i am sure it does as it claims.

http://barsproducts.com/catalog/view/7-head-gasket-cooling-sealant-hg-1

I was told to use all items used for plugging leaks with moderation. They are usually doing the same thing to your water pump.

you have to follow the instructions which i was able to do "while doing other things to another car".
it will appear like its not working at first but "phase2" yields the final result.

i am parking over a piece of cardboard checking for drips and leaks, non so far

Be careful with that stuff, if it seems too good to be true it probably is.

I know, a lot of this stuff is really tricky but I'm just saying this work for me

i used a product called k-seal on my 1984 3.8 cougar for the head gaskets leaking. it worked for about 1 and half years and then i had to do the head gaskets,
i also used it on the daily driver a 98 lumina with 160,000  miles  which had the coolant leaking into the oil  really bad, so much that the oil was more white then oil color. it has been working for almost 2 years now in december and i have put 30,000 miles on since with no coolant leaks since.

It may work a year or two, but not a permanent fix. Nothing like solid metal.

Well a blown head gasket is a blown head gasket. The stuff is BAD BIG TIME. I would not use it in anything i want to keep. If selling the car use MOMS PEPPER. If it is to good to be true it probably will mess you cooling system up. I have broken down many an engine intrenched with this . DONT USE IT. Sorry J just me.

Note how does it seal a head gasket with a blown out compression seal. IT CANT!!!

Probably good advise.

i second tom's remarks. not to be a jerk, but  this is the stuff we used when cash for clunker's was going on. we'd drain the oil, put bars leak in. and run em.

Thanks 42 i always wondered what they used.

there was only a few engines that could handle it. one i clearly remember. a 92 f150 inline six. we drained the oil from it, put the bars leak in. she wouldnt die. added a quart of water wouldnt die. added a gallon of water, and 45 minutes later. the  finally went.

but yes tom, we used bars leak. i'm pretty sure that was the standard. for every one that partited.

Okay guys I was just reporting the product performance. I don't like magic stuff in a bottle either but it worked and hopefully it will continue but I will certainly let you all know when it fails

I saw a post on another forum where the guy mixed up some of the magic stuff with hot water, disconnected his heater hoses, and poured the mixture through the heater core a few times.  He did this to keep the magic stuff away from the rest of the cooling system.  Report was that it worked.

Just a thought! Replacing a leaky heater core with a new one works better!!! Just something to think about?????

yep, and putting it off is even better LOL.
i have a FoMoCo core new in the box to boot.
you sure can tell the difference in the kneck design for sure.

this one isnt leaking now so lets see how the winter goes.  ~yeah i may regreat saying that.

for the small enough leak that it was even though it did run out the fire wall in a thin but stead stream, and now all is dry and good, ill milk the core for every day it can give up.

i dont want to tear out this dash till i absolutly have no choice,,,,,thats been the advice for the dealer as well who quoted a 4 digit number to turn key the job.

If I was to try anything it would be steel seal. Guaranteed and has no particulants to clog system. I'd flush first to get it all clean and add new green coolant before trying it. The other products worry me that I might be getting it collecting in places I didn't want it.

No personal experience either way, so take it for what it's worth.

I'm glad it's working for you!

I think the key here is the subject the product is being used on, not the product it self.  I've used Aluma-seal and it worked great too, for a small leak at a waterpump bolt.  Aluma-seal also gets great reviews.

If you have a situation were it doesn't make sense to pour time and $$$ in to a car, why not pour some some 'Magic' in to it? 

Of course if it's a blown head gasket, I doubt if any of the products will claim to fix that.

There are 2 ends of the spectrum here, cheap/quick/magic fix on a car not worth tearing down, and the 'right way' to fix something worth fixing and a bunch of grey in between.

So everyone can be 'right'.  :hick:

Most of those additives will instruct you to drive the car for 20 minutes or so or 20 miles or so. What I did once was I kept the car running as I added it to the radiator, then drove it around for about a half an hour. When I got home I drained the cooling system, flushed the system out with clean water, then I added anti-freeze. I figured that's probably as good as it gets. Maybe you'll get lucky and it will hold you over through the winter. Good luck!

wrong,

thats why i posted this thread by the way,, the written claims in bold print on the bottle.  thread purpose is nothing more than to point out the claims on the bottle and did the claim they make work.

a lot of you are chiming in and not taking 30 seconds to click or look at the product specs.

i could care less about my core or the leak, thats a given. 
The issue is the product and its claims and my discussion with tech support on how it works.  They offered to refund me and coupon the hell out of my mailbox but i declined.

from the tech data sheet as well.......................


Bar's Leaks® Professional Carbon Fiber Block Seal Head Gasket & Cooling
Sealant is the strongest antifreeze compatible repair on the market. A key
benefit of this product is the material stays in the cooling system to seal up
any future minor cooling system leaks the vehicle might have. Your vehicle
is a good candidate for this product if it can idle for 15 minutes without
overheating or having to add coolant. Sealant penetrates leaking, blown or
damaged head gasket area drying to form a seal actually stronger than the
original head gasket itself. The best formula to stop all other coolant leaks
in plastic, cast iron, copper and aluminum radiators, heater cores, freeze
plugs, gaskets, intake manifolds, cylinder heads and engine blocks. Use on
hard to stop leaks, even on Northstar engines. The special formulation
contains a combination of antifreeze compatible sodium silicate sealing
liquid and various size gasket sealing particles reinforced with carbon fiber
which penetrate gaps & cracks and harden to permanently stop leaks. It
also contains Xtreme Cool™ which stops overheating and reduces water
temperature. Use with ALL types of antifreeze including conventional green
or blue (Silicate-Based) and extended life red/orange or yellow
(OAT/HOAT) coolant. No draining of the cooling system is required. For
racing applications works great in straight water.


DIRECTIONS
1) Install only in a cold engine. Shake well.
Pour Bar’s Leaks HEAD GASKET & COOLING SEALANT directly into radiator
per the dosage chart. Fill radiator and overflow tank to proper level and reinstall
radiator cap.
TIP: If direct access to radiator is not available and if overflow tank is pressurized, you can install in tank.
2) Turn heater on hot and fan on high. Runengine until thermostat opens or normal operating temperature is reached. Turn vehicle off and allow engine to cool.
3) Top off radiator and run engine at high idle(approximately 1200 RPM’s for vehicles with a tachometer) for 15 minutes. Turn vehicle off and allow engine to cool.
4) Top off radiator and leave Bar’s Leaks HEAD GASKET & COOLING SEALANT in system for continued protection. Drive vehicle as normal

DOSAGE
One (1 liter) bottle treats cooling systems from 10 quarts (2.5 gallons) to 20 quarts (5.0 gallons). Use ½ bottle for smaller cooling systems from 6 quarts (1.5 gallons) to 9.5 quarts (2.4 gallons). For larger systems use 1 bottle for every 5
gallons.

SEALANT – Carbon Fiber
High strength Carbon Fibers work like rebar in concrete to stop larger leaks
and create a truly permanent seal.

XTREME COOL™
Xtreme Cool™ reduces the surface tension of coolant
increasing the wetting ability. This improves heat
transfer reducing coolant temperature helping to
prevent overheating and leaks.

ASTM D3147 LABORATORY TEST
Standard Test Method for Testing Stop-Leak Additives for Engine Coolants.
This test method covers screening procedures for the preliminary evaluation of leak-stopping
materials intended for use in engine cooling systems.

Gum Particles Screen Final Round Final Slot Fluid Lost
Before After Before After mL
The results of this test show that a .025 round hole and a .015 wide slot can quickly and successfully
be sealed with this product

Here's a pic of the product

opps

like i said i used k-seal anyway it did work for awhile on the cougar ,then i did the head gaskets, the lumina is still kicking it, and i am not going to do the head gaskets on that! its a chevy LOL.  hey cassity  is that a cats tail in the picture too?

yep, 1 of 13

because.... ive used it personally to destroy engines as enforced by the government. i'm sorry, i just don't believe in it.

if it worked for you great. but to me its nothing more then a band aid. and seen radiators can get clogged from it.

 
i saw your post and didnt understand why you would spend money to crash a motor when you drained the oil anyway,,, you should have started the car without bars leak, sounds like your shop wasted a lot of money

this stuff is 60$ a bottle.

where did you pour the bars leak after you drained your oil and restarted the car(s)?

jcassity,
          Honestly, you might end up doing more damage than good using that stuff. For $60.00 you could have almost bought a whole gasket set and do it right. Your asking guys who live cars.... sure they are going to tell you to do it the right way. Right now my engine is pretty much all apart except the lower end. The heads are in my living room. Chances of my car running for any length of time is slim to none and I think every body here knows that. I'm doing it to learn because I have time. You don't sound like you have time. I'm pretty slow at taking an engine apart, but I could probably have both heads done in the time it's taken to write this thread until today. If I get lucky and my car runs, I'm still taking a chance of being stranded on the side of the road every time I drive it and so will you. I'm ok with that, I have towing insurance and I don't have to really be anywhere in a hurry anymore. I'm also the only one who drives my car. See at 202,000 miles on my engine I already know it's old and tired...it's done. All I need for a whole new car is an engine, transmission, and paint. I've already built just about every thing else up, or I have the parts waiting. If you have a lot of money in your car, think about what your doing. I have nothing to lose, you might.

for the third time, i dont care about my heater core, nor time, i have a core and i can make time. (time is always at a premium for a lot of us and my core is shot)
i found a product with unbelievable "claims" made and decided to try it and follow the instructions in order to just share the results, as i stated first off i took a "risk".
i wanted to report back the results because i typically dont use bottled magic.  I am choosing to guinea pig this product for no other reason than to test it.
My mind was set on "how can they make such claims?", i was lured in hook line and sinker so like i said, ill let you all know when it fails. 

at this point, it appears to be holding true to its claims.

I agree totally with everyones opinions here and thier thoughts, i feel the same way..thats been the toughest thing to explain on this thread but hope im getting through.

Because I worked at a dealership and that's what the government mandated we do. Every car we had to sign a form saying we complied to the rules.

Yo all,
still working , just an update.


as to using this product for the Cash for Clunkers program to make an engine fail per the FED Gov't,,,, here is further information from Bar's Leak tech support.
the product was a different part number.  Thanks 84Tbird,, Bars leak did appreciate the hard question i asked and they were honest per my call with them.

here is the email below

------------------------------------
From: Fred Mannix
To: Jcassity
Date: 26 Nov, 2012


Hey James,
Thanks for the reply and allowing us to post your HG 1 Testimonial. Much appreciated and I’ll kick this over to Jeff who does all the fun stuff on our social media sites.

As for the Q on the product for cash for clunkers program, the recommended product was PN 1100 Bar’s Leaks Head Gasket Repair. It is a product that is not compatible with antifreeze.

Have a great week.

Kind regards,

 

Fred Mannix | Quality Control Mgr & Product Specialist

Bar's Products, Inc.

810-603-1204 (direct)

810-603-1335 (fax)

fred.mannix@barsproducts.com

Thanks for the follow up.  I had a hard time believing that it was used to destroy engines.

they gave me a bottle labeled bars leak, what would you think? we used it to destroy engines. sorry you weren't there to believe it.

i believe what the government intended us to do was to run the vehicle at 2000 rpm's get it to seize, and this product wold finish it off i guess. well. the vehicles would get hot, sieze up,  and then fire up 45 minutes later. i think there thought was to try and eliminate the coolant passages so the block would be useless.

i dont really understand the reasoning for any of the things that were done during cash for clunkers.

but it still put a sour taste in my mouth for bars leak.

i'm glad it seems to have worked for you though.

We clunked a lot of S10's at our shop, and if it had a 4.3L you could rely on it to puke its rotating parts out the bottom.  Didn't see anything else that exploded the bottom end like that. There were 1 or 2 here and there, but with these motors you could expect it.
And incidentally, we put it in the crankcase. 2 qts in place of whatever oil it had in it.  We didn't put sodium silicate in the cooling system.  Maybe we should have, we had a didge minivan that spit a rod cap into the radiator the hard way. Made a big mess.

If you're trying to destroy an engine, crankcase makes more sense and that was what I heard was supposed to be done with the CFC cars.  I suppose there's a few ways to wreck an engine that will get the job done.

i wasnt questioning you 84TBirdTurbo42, i took it to the next level asking Bars Leak to confirm thier product useage as you had described , and they did honestly say it was fact in that they indicated on that email that there "is" another pn that was used just for that.

I spoke with them today and he asked if i ever saw the 55gal drums of it yet... i said no

jj

appreciate it, and i for some reason was having mad brain fade in one of my posts. we put the bars leak in the engine, not the cooling system. drained the oil and put this right down the fill hole.

today it failed, i figured i would give it a try... as i said in post 1, i dont believe in magic stuff in a bottle.
will see about getting a refund.
For a "gotta milk it for a little while" , this did the job.  As far as the product claims, there is the issue in permanantly repairing.

now on to the hard part,, but i am being encouraged to go in from the fire wall.
I would much rather take the upper intake off than take out the dash.
Make a nice cover and so forth.

thoughts?

Scott, its really not that hard to do the dash. Especially if you do not have working ac or a center console. I can have it done in about an hour now. If you follow the coolcats write up, you could easily have it done in an afternoon with minimal effort.

hh

I'm with 'stack and Tom. Pull the dash. That firewall is part of the structure and if you whack it open, you'll wish you hadn't.  I could probably do one in my driveway in about 6 beers. 12 if I get an assistant to help handle the dash.

yep, thinking tomorrow is as good as any day. I think ill dive in and just do it.
I have yet to still have anyone chime in on a car with climate control, this should be an adventure.

no one took me up on my offer of 600$ to change the core .... dealer had a 4 digit quote to do it.. but oh well.

There are some really cool videos on Youtube from Cash For Clunkers. One of my favourites is a Jeep Cherokee with the 4.0. The thing runs for about three minutes, making God-awful sounds, then blows up (lots of smoke & steam, engine parts flying, the ground underneath catches fire)... Then it keeps running. For another three minutes or so. Those old 4.0's were tough...

I can change my core in about an hour to an hour and a half  as well. Eric gave me a couple of tips, and it can be done. I pull the console, then drop the column, and pull the dash back. Not nearly as hard as it all sounds. Minimal fasteners to deal with. It's a  job, but, it's also a "just do it and get it over with" job.

http://youtu.be/yqW-iOJqEMU

Holy shiznit! That 3.8 just wouldn't die! You could hear it throwing rods one by one, but it kept running til it only had 1 left.  I might just change the way I think about those old 3.8's.

wont change my opinion lol. to many head gaskets done on them.

i did my first set in a sable, at 12 years old. (with my dads help of course)

its odd, i put over 375k miles on my white coug 3.8L, never had a headgasket blow.

this car has climate control and to that note, per Erics comments / updates to the coolcats.net, tech article, "IF your car has ATC, then teh whole air box must come completely out".  not sure how many beers this would take, usually a beer for me at the grill is 15minutes.
Since that is the case from what i verified again today by double checking the adise mentioned on his site, i opt'd to just not go this route.
too many varibles inside the dash of my 20th to risk. 
i dont see my mod being a structural issue, there are holes all in the fire wall anyway for everything from brakes, AC core, wire harnesses, ect.  one more carefully cut hole shouldnt be an issue.  i could be wrong though.

The existing holes are usually rolled.

for what its worth, take the dash out. its not hard. just time consuming. mark everything, take tons of pictures.

i would never think of cutting a hole in a unibody firewall. these cars flex enough as is.

Just done my heater core a month or so ago. Mine has ATC as well. Did not have to pull whole air box. It wasn't pretty though.

thanks chrome,  better late than never, this is something eric could add to his tech article.

pulling the core though the engine bay was second choice,