Has anyone had any experience with K Seal/Head gasket/rad sealants?

[finlay666]

As per the pitstop thread, for a bit more visibility....

Car radiator went (in epic fashion as always with me and cars), new rad fitted and it's leaking a little water (no water in the oil I can see) from an unknown location (seemed to be a little out the exhaust but that has stopped)

Has anyone used these radweld style products to fix up little holes? I'm not sure if it's a crack in a piston/gasket but they claim to fix that too, saw a bottle of a Holts one for £8 in Halfrauds (will get it from my local place as it's a lot cheaper) but was wondering what peoples experience is with them

[Sputnik]

I think it depends on what the actual problem is, If the headgasket has failed between the cylinder and the water jacket then I would say it is unlikely to be that successful in my experience with K-seal. If it is a small leak say in the heater matrix it would probably work but, I prefer 'bars leak' or something without all those copper flakes.

Have you had a good look around for the leak, It will show as a white stain or build up of white chalk like deposit. Heater matrix's often spring leaks.

[finlay666]

It's a brand new radiator and I can't see anything (It's totally black) and as it's not water mixing with oil it's not too bad so not sure if it's a hose or somewhere else

Had the engine heated up then running it a while with the bonnet up & cant see steam coming out anywhere so it must be a small crack if anything

[GoNz0]

it can take a week to disolve the air into the water, if you get under the car after a run can you see anything ?

dont look to far into the problem yet m8, bleedings a bitch and can take time!

[Yosh]

I was looking into this back along, a car i bought had been bodged up with this stuff, i sold the car again, but during me thinking about fixing it myself i was looking into Leak Detector Dye, i saw a bloke on the internet using UV based dye and a UV light to detect leaks, i thought that was a great idea, but didn't get any further.

[Sputnik]

Like Gonzo said it could just be pockets of air in the system if you have drained it recently. Has is the coolant level dropping by the same amount every time or does it appear to be losing less?

Does the heater blow a continuous stream of hot air ? If not it indicates some air in the system.

What car is it ?

[kalniel]

You could always try a raw egg

[finlay666]

You could always try a raw egg

My eggs get fried and added to bacon and then eaten, or scrambled and added to bacon then eaten