sodium silicate? head repair

Topic: sodium silicate? head repair (Read 2600 times) previous topic - next topic

sodium silicate? head repair

December 05, 2006, 09:06:27 PM

I was just browsing the net & came across a few products that I have never heard of- both of which claim to repair internal coolant leaks including blown head gaskets as well as even cracked heads! Have any of you ever heard of these, or even ever tried them? Steel seal & heal a seal were the brand names, and I believe both use the chemical sodium silicate...AKA- water glass. I work in a steel mill and recently we started using this compound to seal up old furnaces and their gaskets, seams to be o.k. for that anyway. Anyone with anything fact based to say please respond, as I'm presently leaking coolant into a combustion chamber, and consequently blowing back into my coolant resevoir. I'm probably gonna try one or the other since I'm in this dilema.

sodium silicate? head repair

Reply #1 – December 05, 2006, 09:11:49 PM

My opinion would be to fix it right and save the trouble of replacing half the cooling system down the road

sodium silicate? head repair

Reply #2 – December 05, 2006, 09:42:27 PM

Quote from: SLEEPER T-BIRD 87;117117

My opinion would be to fix it right and save the trouble of replacing half the cooling system down the road

I agree

sodium silicate? head repair

Reply #3 – December 05, 2006, 10:47:15 PM

Pour in stuff is just a temp fix. Fix it right the first time and be done with it.

sodium silicate? head repair

Reply #4 – December 06, 2006, 08:20:21 AM

Zotiet, barsleak there all instant fixes that can’t be garneted. And pouring them into coolant can clog your heater core so block off the hoses w/ vise grips

sodium silicate? head repair

Reply #5 – December 06, 2006, 07:15:10 PM

Um...so I guess there's no fact based info? just opinions. Hmmm... quite a big difference in chemical compounds between these and Bahr's. Both products I mentioned before are guaranteed $ back after they send you a free 2nd application which must be done while in direct phone contact with their tech support, after that, if they still fail you get your $90 back. To " fix it right" will mean replacing the heads, so I'm seriously considerring the $90 gamble. So, I guess if noone here has used the stuff, I might as well let you all know if it's worth the effort.- High-lites- drain & flush system, remove thermostat, close loop by pass the heater core, fill rad. w 50/50 water-coolant & the sodium silicate. run engine to 200- 210 degrees ( 20 -30 minutes) shut down and completely drain entire system, let sit empty for 24-48 hours, refill and...supposedly...go. Mopar ( I know I know..) uses this chemical in their manufacturer's OEM coolant as a preventative maintenance tool since 2004, don't know if anyone else does or not.( still not gonna buy one though!)

sodium silicate? head repair

Reply #6 – December 07, 2006, 06:56:25 PM

Quote from: JAMEZILLA;117281

Um...so I guess there's no fact based info? just opinions. Hmmm... quite a big difference in chemical compounds between these and Bahr's. Both products I mentioned before are guaranteed $ back after they send you a free 2nd application which must be done while in direct phone contact with their tech support, after that, if they still fail you get your $90 back. To " fix it right" will mean replacing the heads, so I'm seriously considerring the $90 gamble. So, I guess if noone here has used the stuff, I might as well let you all know if it's worth the effort.- High-lites- drain & flush system, remove thermostat, close loop by pass the heater core, fill rad. w 50/50 water-coolant & the sodium silicate. run engine to 200- 210 degrees ( 20 -30 minutes) shut down and completely drain entire system, let sit empty for 24-48 hours, refill and...supposedly...go. Mopar ( I know I know..) uses this chemical in their manufacturer's OEM coolant as a preventative maintenance tool since 2004, don't know if anyone else does or not.( still not gonna buy one though!)

Good luck.

sodium silicate? head repair

Reply #7 – December 10, 2006, 02:42:45 PM

OK, originally I had major white smoke out the left tail pipe, AND worse yet, cool smoke & water out the right. Today I drained and flushed, with water only, the entire cooling system with the thermostat removed. ( 4 times) I followed the directions on the bottle ( product to remain nameless until I see end results) add this with water, start car, top off water,shut down, remove suspect spark plug, restart, 15 min @ 1500 rpm, shut down, replace plug, run @ 2500 rpm for 20 - 30 min. Almost instantly the water stopped coming from the left side and after about 1 minute at normal op. temp. no smoke from either side. Replace the plug I pulled out and refired engine. After about 10 minutes the left exhaust was begining to warm up, almost as hot as the right! Right now I have it drained completely & am "air drying" I guess. This takes 12-24hrs.Tomorrow I'm gonna do a second application just because I have the stuff and am all ready for it. I am somewhat impressed, so far, with the results, and will continue to post no matter how it ends up so at least we'll all have 1 case to refer to.

sodium silicate? head repair

Reply #8 – December 12, 2006, 01:15:29 PM

results? im interested

sodium silicate? head repair

Reply #9 – December 15, 2006, 04:59:40 PM

second application complete. Gonna test drive it tomorrow-Sat-12/16No smoke outta either exhaust pipe though...shows promise!

Results are in

Reply #10 – December 24, 2006, 10:43:01 AM

O.K.- The stuff works-in part. Have one cylinder that will not seal-turns out to be internally cracked head-F---in' NICE! But, durring the dissambly I found the areas that were in fact sealed by this stuff, typically where the sealant-RTV- had blown through on the gaskets. Bear in mind this experiment was done because I knew I had major leaking-ie.-white smoke billowing out the driver's side, and water actually flowing steadilly outta the passenger's. In summary- the driver's side was completely re-sealed, and the pass was all sealed at the head gasket anyway, but it DID NOT help with the crack in the head. So--I say it's definately worth tryin' if you're smokin, but when the water's pourin' out well--- tear it down. All in all I expected 0, and am impressed with the results.- Used Bar's block sealer, and the silver bottled one. NOT BAD!

sodium silicate? head repair

Reply #11 – December 30, 2006, 01:18:02 PM

Quote from: JAMEZILLA;119873

O.K.- The stuff works-in part. Have one cylinder that will not seal-turns out to be internally cracked head-F---in' NICE! But, durring the dissambly I found the areas that were in fact sealed by this stuff, typically where the sealant-RTV- had blown through on the gaskets. Bear in mind this experiment was done because I knew I had major leaking-ie.-white smoke billowing out the driver's side, and water actually flowing steadilly outta the passenger's. In summary- the driver's side was completely re-sealed, and the pass was all sealed at the head gasket anyway, but it DID NOT help with the crack in the head. So--I say it's definately worth tryin' if you're smokin, but when the water's pourin' out well--- tear it down. All in all I expected 0, and am impressed with the results.- Used Bar's block sealer, and the silver bottled one. NOT BAD!

:grinno: I figured it wouldnt fix it hope you get it running right.