I just used a k-seal head gasket repair and it work , bubble on reservoir coolant is gone and no more over heating, thank you You Tube Academy and people post their knowledge try to help other people to fixed their car especially like me that I'm not a auto mechanic . Head gasket repair it so expensive.
ChrisFix just released a video in October of a 2 year/10k mile test of Bar's Leak Head Sealer and it worked very well. He also said if he had to do it again, he would have likely tried CRC Head Gasket Sealer (not in your comparison). Of course, he didn't really have a bad, damaged head gasket, but a slightly warped cylinder head (1/1000th of an inch or something), so that might have played a part. That little warping still made the car undriveable without the sealer. Finally, Scotty Kilmer had a video a couple years back that said you had to be very careful when using sodium silicate (liquid glass). If there was coolant getting into the engine oil, then the sodium silicate could ruin your engine because it would get into the actual engine and not just the gasket...
I appreciate this comment so much. I get very frustrated at how to videos that start off with long introductions and yada yada yada that we don't want to hear.
Ha! Yes! I don't know why it's a thing, but I'm glad I'm not the only one that notices that; it bugs me. It's almost like the TH-cam auto DIY-ers version of a country song in that it must include those things.
I used Bars Copper on our 1992 Honda Accord wagon and it totally worked. It's been about 20,000 miles with no issues. For a vehicle with 250k miles, I'll take another 25k+ for the cost of a bottle if Bars.
@@PRATMANDI just did it a couple days ago I did it with water and coolant and you don’t have to change the coolant after. it actually needs a couple days of driving it to finish the job anyway
My car was running rough with loss of power and kept overheating after I changed out several components including the thermostat and temperature control module. Then I noticed a sweet smelling white vapor emitting from the tail pipe after I first got it started from a cold engine. Before it got to operating temp I opened the radiator cap and saw bubbles coming from inside the radiator which meant blown head gasket. I bought the Bars brand Head Gasket Repair and didn't have much hope. But I was pleasantly surprised that it did actually work. No more bubbles, no more steam from the tail pipe, no more over heating. This saved me thousands of dollars.
@@nextartm Down the radiator and NOT the overflow tank. Also, depending upon how much the gasket is leaking, you may need two applicants so don’t give up on one.
I used K-seal on my Camry that would overheat within 20 minutes. I was absolutely floored to find out it actually worked and sealed the gasket. It's still running perfectly 9,000 miles later.
Give you a like. Thank you for the review. I need one ASAP before the Gap gets bigger on my head gasket. I'm glad you're over a thousand subscribers. Keep posting
The problem with a head gasket leak is that you don't know the severity of it. That's why some products will work better than others and you will have tons of people disagreeing on which is better. Let me just say that no matter which product you use, they will only work temporarily and you can expect the "repair" to last about 5000 to 10000 miles.
@@aydenponto8808 I had bad experience with k-seal. Worked maybe 3-4k miles on my civic but my HG was totaled by then in a matter of speaking. Was pouring coolant into the system every day so I switched to water once it got nicer in the summer. Bars looks promising from ChrisFix video
Thank you for the info, stories and opinions. The BlueDevil stuff is glass btw not metal. If anyone has a Subaru make sure to follow this man's top two product suggestions. Follow the instructions of the Yellow BlueDevil THREE TIMES X3 for best results if any.... and do the difficult head gasket replacement next spring. These are band-aids FYI, meaning TEMPORARY.
A car dealer in Delavan Wi. named Mint Julep sold me a car with a leaking head gasket. Shame on me for not catching it on the test drive and whatnot. My mechanic used K Seal and so far so good. No leaks or air bubbles. I could rush to sell it or trade it in for a loss, but I'll drive it until it fails as I don't want to put that on some other poor SOB.
I used k seal on two cars with a blown head gasket. Worked on both. My civic drove for like 15000 miles and still good. Just used it on a car the other day worked so far.
Before I did my HG replacement about 85,000 miles ago on my Chevy Sonic 1.8l, I tried 12 oz K seal pour n go and it lasted about 3000 miles before a combustion leak started to pressurize the cooling system again. I then had the time to pull the head and replaced the HG. Well here I am again. 😅😅😅. These engines run at 226F which is for better fuel economy but tar heat puts more pressure on parts. 😢😢😢. I would like to take it down to 190F but the check engine light will come on. Next time I will place the best MLS HG out there and see what happens. When realized I got over pressurization in the cooling due to combustion gas leakage, I made a pin hole on the top of the expansion tank and check the coolant level every day. I am going to get a HG sealant today. Thanks for your review.
Sounds like a warped head rather than a blown gasket. I used Bars Leaks on a 600 hp Buick big block. It took 5 thermocycles (heat up and cool down) but it did work. It's a race car so I don't have many miles on it and don't know how it will perform over time but it cured the problem for a lot less work than me tearing the motor down to replace gasket
The bars leak clogged up my thermostat in a engine that has a very hard to reach and replace the thermostat. Never using there products again. Thanks for the review.
This was definitely helpful and also K-Seal is the one my mechanic recommends. Did not know about the guarantee though. Just again did put the smaller container of K-Seal that says permanently. Used the bottle before and lasted for about 2 1/2 months.
Great video. I would say the same thing from my experience. Try k-seal first, if it does not work try the blue devil. I've got a 2015 ford fusion with the 1.5 ecoboost that has a factory defect with the head gasket. k-seal has done a great job of keeping this thing on the road! My brother has a Sierra with a 6.2 in it and the blue devil did the trick for him.
I've tried the same bar leaks you're showing in the video and did nothing, waste of money. After a good radiator flush, I tried the blue devil pour and go and I must say it worked maybe a 70%, I mean is not overheating anymore but I can see still a bit of pressure in the hoses and very low bubbles so now i'm tempted to flush again and try the blue devil with yellow label. A close friend tried the kseal ultimate bottle and it worked but only lasted a week so that wasn't really an option for me. Thanks for your video!
At 108k miles on my 2015 Ford Edge Titanium 2.0L 4-cylinder EcoBoost, it developed a cylinder 3 misfire, low coolant and coolant in the oil. Combustion bubbles in the reservoir were pressurizing the coolant system, causing no flow, and overheating the engine. Luckily, I was able to limp home the half mile with no damage to the block. (But I think the better idea would have been to pull over, open the coolant reservoir to let the pressure off, and add some coolant if needed to get the flow back.) It looked like a head gasket breakthrough to cylinder 3. After assessing the condition and facing a $5k to $8k bill for either a head gasket replacement or new engine, I tried Bar's Grey goop head sealer, and it worked. Day 1, I changed the oil & filter first (cheap Walmart Brand), then used a half bottle of the goop following the instructions. Day 2, Warmed it up in idle to temp, let it cool down, then drove a few miles. All looked good, so I changed the oil & filter again. Day 3, I drove it 20 miles or so and changed oil & filter again. I think I got all the antifreeze out of the engine and oil was semi clear. Day 4, Drove more miles and all good. So replaced oil & filter again with Valvoline restore and protect. Day 5, I changed just the filter after 100 miles, and it looked really clean. I finally flushed the radiator 4 times to ensure most of the Grey Goop was gone. All good after 5 weeks and counting. Will check again after 1000 miles, but so far, so good.
Thanks man watching a few videos out there on which is the most convenient and best, don't want to drain, flush or remove thermostat since its going to be very cold for the next few weeks.
Thanks for the reviews! I tried the Bars on a 96 mustang 3.8 with no results. anti freeze blowing out # 3 now after sitting for a year found another engine. Just installed. Guess what? A guy sold me a bad engine! it had white smoke out the pipes. but the cylinders are dry and no bubbles. Suspected intake and changed. found very wet. Currently still have light white smoke. Going to try the K seal you can fallow on Dana's Garage project Stang. Keep up with constant content and you will get your 1k soon ! I've been at it for 11 years now, took me 2 years. average 45 subs a month
Had a head gasket issue on my 2005 civic, wasn’t mixing with oil but was getting lot of bubbles out radiator and steam coming from reservoir. Used blue devil pour and go, poured it and let it idle for a hour, so far so good drive 100 miles so far no bubbles and no over heating. I used to have to refill radiator after a long drive but the water has remained the same
@@1775_Freedom I also have an 05, used bar sealer. No coolant lose just overheating now. got about 8-9k miles out of it. Also, losing heat for some reason. Think the product killed the heater core which is an expensive fix and not worth it car has 230k now.
I started with the blue devil and it didn’t work I then used the k seal(there are two types, the can and the little jug, I used both) worked right away
My 2008 ford focus just started to use some coolant and dont see any signs of leaks. So its very slow leak so looking for what to try to seal a head gasket if that is the issue. I found your video very good and helpful! Thanks for posting it.
I am a die hard for replacing the gasket itself. Takes alot of the headache out of it IF, it is done correctly and with care. For V engines, do a leak down test because it may only be one head. As far as the video goes, I have had various good results with KSeal. Kseal says on bottle that water to oil and oil to water leaks are NOT recommended for repair, but I used anyway and had decent results (probably short-lived). Bar leaks pellets used to work back in the day but I've only used for a radiator that was leaking at the top seam. That repair lasted about 4 months because it was on a badly maintained vehicle with additional coolant leaks.
The only problem with my Ford 4.0 you have to pull the engine to replace the head gaskets and that's probably a pretty good about a money since it's an overhead cam engine just my little tidbit I may have to do that but right now I'm going to try some more sealant
He said the same product that Chris fixed used did not even phase it on his..... My experience is you got to give it some time to work..... But I'll definitely try the k seal ..next blown head gasket.... But it is not a permanent fix.....
Excellent video! Just how to do it. I have a 1958 Dodge D700 semi with a 354 hemi. 19k original miles, ex navy. I want to keep driving it unrestored. It puddles water on the floor under the right exhaust, but only sitting, never running, it won't use any, never in a cyl, never in the oil. There's probably a small crack in an exhaust port, probably from when the farmer I got it from who let it idle unattended for hours to circulate a nurse tank and an old hose dumped the water.. (on an early hemi the exhaust ports are almost vertical) seals when hot. I always remove pressure from it. Looks like enough of the K seal would be good to try! Aint worth a crap the way it is. What can I lose? I have other good heads, but im older and disabled now and want to enjoy it while getting the groceries! My wife loves driving it, too. Standard Bars works for a while but dissolves eventually and will plug things if you use too much. Thanks!
The impression that I got from most of them is that they are like the bars with the stuff that forms a gunky patch. The Blue devil that you have to take your thermostat out for seems to make more of a metallic braze or sloppy weld on the hole. I wonder if that would be your best bet. It's definitely more work, but when you're done you train everything out so you can rest assured that you don't have a bunch of residue running through the system clogging things afterwards. I'm not a professional mechanic, and have only used each of these once. That's my two cents.
I had a leaking head gasket on 4runner 2.7L I had to flush the system because rust was present for that I used Thermo-cure then I used K -seal Is been a month I don't see any problems works really well.
Hi, I owned and operated an air conditioning and radiator repair shop for 30 years. I opened it in 1973 and it is still open today (2023) by a former employee. Fixing things right can be guaranteed, adding stop leaks can not be guaranteed. Leaks that are flexing open and closed can not be fixed with stop leak. Also, the mechanic should be liable, not the product if something goes wrong. Stop leaks can plug up a cooling system and cause over heating and ruin an engine. I had a radiator flow tester that could tell you home many gallons per minute a radiator flowed (the radiator had to be off the car). The flow is a gravity flow with the tubes being vertical and liquid added until there is an overflow at the top tank. The flow tester has the water mixture going up a tapered glass tube with a calibrated stainless steel weight that raises up with flow. If you are a do it yourself, and want to try a stop leak, take a look at some suggestions of Scotty Kilmer. Scotty Kilmer: th-cam.com/video/Zzei00daP5M/w-d-xo.html Scotty mentions to not add stop leaks to cooling systems that are dirty. He also mentions that getting certain stop leaks in the oil can ruin the engine! Also he says certain stop leak sealers are to be used in clean cooling system with water only.
I have a head gasket leak from a defective head gasket. Before I tear the head off and replace the gasket, I wanted to see if any of the products work for reducing the amount of steam ( i chose the fiber lock ) and so far it is doing pretty well. I will say, Do not use blue devil with your thermostat in, it will brick that itch. up.
‘07 4Runner leaking head gasket and hole in the radiator, to fix it cost more than the vehicle is worth, K-SEAL Pour-n-go , I just dumped it in the coolant at operating temperature and put the cap back on, 30 seconds hole plugged, HG sealed, I let it flow through the whole system, heater core, and all did not plug up anything, they tell you to dump it in cold for safety reasons, but it works better imo if you dump it in hot and you didn’t hear that from me😮 6 mo. & 4500 mi later nothing to see here
New subscriber here!! Thanks for your video. I have a 2011 Grand Cherokee OverLand with a 5.7 Hemi. I have no coolant in oil nor oil in the coolant tank. I changed the water pump and thermostat out and it ran great for a couple of weeks. Slowly it started running pretty warm again and I believe it’s a blown head gasket. There is no smoking, nor water coming out of my pipes…. Nor a sweet smell from the exhaust. What brand Head Gasket sealer would you recommend?
I used Blue Devil (big bottle). My son has run 4.7l Dodge Dakota all summer with just water and refilling as needed. I took it to a repair shop and they confirmed head gasket leak. I drained the system, removed the thermostat. Flushed the system, clear with water. Poured in Blue Devil according to directions, drove it around for an hour. Let cool and installed new thermostat and water. It’s been a month now, it’s not overheating and the temp gauge comes up and stays just below center. The next thing is the put in antifreeze for colder weather. So far so good for now. Blue Devil is working! 😎
No power loss and doesn’t overheat. Actually runs good. I don’t think I would take it on a long trip somewhere. Around town and to and from work is fine.
Update: It been 8 months since using the Blue Devil and it’s still working fine. My son drives it to and from work 5 days a week. He had the water pump leaking about a month ago. Replaced it and it’s still working great and not overheating. So far the Blue Devil product has been great.
When you say drain your system do you mean drain the gas, the coolant and the oil? Do you mean power flush the radiator? Drain the gas and use Heat to get rid of the water? Let the engine sit before draining the oil so the water comes to rest on the bottom?
Blue devil works you have to flush the motor first. I tried bars leaks didn't work . Blue devil turns hard and fills gaps when it's exposed to hot areas from exhaust leaking in the heads
Did you ever see what the actual leak looked like? Question for you, as to what product and how much you think I should use. I have a 1995 Subaru 1.8L 4-CYL boxer Impreza, 177,000 miles. I have 76 and 78 PSI dry compression in #2 and 4 of one head (driver side). This started a few days ago, we noticed while on a highway trip the power was weak and I can hear it missing as the RPMs drop from driving to idle. I don't have overheating, excessive oil consumption (drippy seals, I add a quart about every 900 miles), smoking, or fluids cross contamination. I'm waiting to have a leak down and another dry/wet compression test at a different shop. The first shop only did dry compression and wasn't too bright or helpful. If I end up having a head gasket leak between those two cylinders, what products would I possibly try to mend it? It must not be too bad of a leak, whatever it is, for the compression to build to 78psi dry. The other two good cylinders are 130ish psi. If it ends up being a valve leak, what products and strength could I try to get them clean? After cleaning, I will have valve clearances checked, as it's probably never been done. Peace brother!
I've heard that some Subaru guys have a preferred head gasket sealer that they put in in advance to protect. I don't know which one it is it might even be Subaru specific. I know the info is out there.
I have a Pontiac g6 with a minor head gasket leak. It only makes excess white smoke and not even a big amount. I’m going to pick up a bottle of kseal in the morning. I’ll let you know my results
I had some kind of a leak which I had oil in my coolant,a little water in my oil,steam out the tailpipe, and black carbon iny coolant,I used bar's blown head gasket and it's been about 10 months and everything is still good.So I personally had luck with Bars
I sealed a minor head gasket leak on a 2JZ with two bottle of the small bars leak and a bottle blue devil flush , I emptied all my antifreeze put the mouth of the hose in the radiator and flushed it out , after I sealed the radiator back up poured blue devil flush added water let it run to operating temperature (before it overheats and start sputtering the water out ) and drained again , them poured both bottles down the radiator hose the one that leads towards the block (top hose) and added water it took 3days of cycles but it ran well for a year till my cheap water pump gave out and I didn't notice it till I overheated a bit and reopened the gasket , now I'm on this mission again to reseal it will I make it or will I have to trash the car , find outtt
The sealant failed the second time I luckily sond it for 600 , lost money but junkyard would of gavee 80$ , sold to a mechanic who planned on resurfacing head and change gasket , but in my opinion if it's the first time it blew the head gasket try it , it worked the first time for a while year and I didn't baby it I even off-road it a little and drifted , did donuts raced with it , for a while year and the gasket didn't fail my water pump did then again It was a 79 dollar kit main purchase was the timing belt wich i successfully installed while the engine was apart I made the mistake of installing the new but very cheap water pump and in a year it failed even tho the oem aisin boump was just fine , moral of the story don't use cheap components on critical engine parts belts , screws , and SOMe electronics are fine but not the main things , I have a 97 ls400 on bags now , so clean
I'll let someone else answer who's more of an expert. But typically that sounds like you do have a leak where fluid is getting into the crank case. These products could seal that leak, but if it's bad it could let the product get into the crankcase.
@@mz4176 Is the coolant getting into cylinders? If so, you can try the product. It may or may not get into crankcase. It probably wont seal the leak of coolant into oil passage, but if it seals coolant to cylinder path, then you could just use motor oil instead of coolant.
Ita been 2 years for me bars leak worked for me now it just i cant drive for over a hour i think i gotta do it again.... lol so its almost 2 years exactly had the car 4 years now
@@bonthor7515 Yes! It slowed down the exhaust steam after a short time and after about a week or 2 it no longer loses water. I haven’t added any coolant in about 3 weeks and the vapor steam is gone. I don’t know how long this patch will work but if it stopped working tomorrow it has been worth the time it has bought me. Definitely will purchase K-Seal without hesitation any time I need to patch a failing head gasket! I’m a believer!!! 👍😊
I use the Blue devil number 2 a year ago in my Ford explorer it lasts for a year and then I started having problems with it heating this time I've tried K seal and I'm not really I replaced the water pump and the thermostat housing I'm not sure if my sensor is working correctly and they're supposed to send me another unit. It can run about 15 seconds and be at halfway already be at 130°.
What’s the proper amount of Karla to use ? I used the Smallest bottle, it slowed the coolant leak drastically. Then I used my AC and that sucked a lot of coolant out. Then I used it ( K-seal) again now I can have my car parked and I leaks….😮
Hi, thanks for the breakdown. Have you heard of Steel Seal? It seems to have mixed reviews ranging from it being the best to being snake oil. Scotty Kilmer seems to like it in one of his head gasket sealer videos but I'm hesitant either way because his channel is so large he could probably be paid to say that (not hating on him). Thoughts? thank you
Well you are the first with engine problems with a Toyota, for the most part your car should last 200K.So thank for the heads up, good luck............BB
Mechanics don’t want to sign off because if you’re the type of guy to chase down a $20 money back guarantee they’re afraid signing off on something is going to bite them in the butt lol
There's a mechanic on TH-cam who said that he removes the spark plug from the cylinder where the leak is in the head gasket. And he adds k seal into the radiator and runs the engine for the required amount of time. And he says he has an 80% success rate. The car is back on the road 80% of the time just from using k seal. It makes sense. You don't want that spark plug firing and keeping the k-seal from clogging the leak. The explosion would blast the k-seal back and not allow it to plug the leak.
Wont it hurt the engine running it with the plug out to run the product? Ask cause I did use the kseal and didnt know about pulling the plug and I still had coolant lose like before the use of the product.
@@Mr.303Happy it'll run with a miss. I only know about really old cars. Sometimes, an engine in a really old car would have a miss. If it had one bad spark plug or one bad spark plug wire, the car would be running around on only seven cylinders instead of 8. Or only 5 cylinders instead of six. It wasn't all that big of a deal on the old cars. No immediate harm came from it, you just had to fix it within a reasonable amount of time. But I don't know if it would hurt the newer engines. I've never used k-seal myself. I worked on really old engines and just took them apart whenever they had a bad head gasket. And I replaced the head gasket.
My 05 corvette is loosing antifreeze and my oil looks good and I m not over heating no knocks or misses but I m having steam out my exhaust at start ive been told kseal will work but i don't know what to try as i cant afford to change the head gasket any help with what to do is appreciated
Had my sunfire was leaking coolant out of the head not buring or mixing the a slight leak on the outside and I used K seal and it fixed it right away I don't like using fixes in a bottle but I wasn't going to pull a head on a 250k mile car😂
I just used a k-seal head gasket repair and it work , bubble on reservoir coolant is gone and no more over heating, thank you You Tube Academy and people post their knowledge try to help other people to fixed their car especially like me that I'm not a auto mechanic . Head gasket repair it so expensive.
Thanks so much for this report! It helps everyone.
how did you apply it? just pour and let it idle? i heard some of those don’t mix well with antifreeze
You Tube Academy!!! EPIC! But Oh So True!!!!! I feel the same way bro!
How did it hold up?
ChrisFix just released a video in October of a 2 year/10k mile test of Bar's Leak Head Sealer and it worked very well. He also said if he had to do it again, he would have likely tried CRC Head Gasket Sealer (not in your comparison). Of course, he didn't really have a bad, damaged head gasket, but a slightly warped cylinder head (1/1000th of an inch or something), so that might have played a part. That little warping still made the car undriveable without the sealer. Finally, Scotty Kilmer had a video a couple years back that said you had to be very careful when using sodium silicate (liquid glass). If there was coolant getting into the engine oil, then the sodium silicate could ruin your engine because it would get into the actual engine and not just the gasket...
You just mentioned everything I have watched so far this morning lol. Have you had any luck with these products?
I watched both as well!
Thanks so much for this. I did not see CRC. Curious to see how it performs!
@@TheMightyBluegill I think crc is a partnered company that K&W is actually owned by so i think it would probably be the same
@@mrmusclegainz706 Very interesting!
I drive old cars and trucks. K Seal is my go to in these situations. Working so far!
sweeeet. that's how you make an informative and concise video without, "here is my dog," "here is my messy garage," "here is my bandaid," etc.
So concise he didn't even include the top of his head (LOL)
I appreciate this comment so much. I get very frustrated at how to videos that start off with long introductions and yada yada yada that we don't want to hear.
Ha! Yes! I don't know why it's a thing, but I'm glad I'm not the only one that notices that; it bugs me. It's almost like the TH-cam auto DIY-ers version of a country song in that it must include those things.
....these are the tools you will need.......disconnect your battery and your neighbor's battery for optimum safety.
I used Bars Copper on our 1992 Honda Accord wagon and it totally worked. It's been about 20,000 miles with no issues. For a vehicle with 250k miles, I'll take another 25k+ for the cost of a bottle if Bars.
Hello you use it with water or coolant? And drained it after procedure completed or kept running your car with sealer in it?
@@PRATMANDI just did it a couple days ago I did it with water and coolant and you don’t have to change the coolant after. it actually needs a couple days of driving it to finish the job anyway
Did it still have los of power?
I used bars to and is sealed everything but still had power lose
I'd use kseal ultimate. My car have leak from exhaust side. Looks like its difficult to seal. Im still running with sealer in coolant
@@PRATMANDDid it work?
My car was running rough with loss of power and kept overheating after I changed out several components including the thermostat and temperature control module. Then I noticed a sweet smelling white vapor emitting from the tail pipe after I first got it started from a cold engine. Before it got to operating temp I opened the radiator cap and saw bubbles coming from inside the radiator which meant blown head gasket. I bought the Bars brand Head Gasket Repair and didn't have much hope. But I was pleasantly surprised that it did actually work. No more bubbles, no more steam from the tail pipe, no more over heating. This saved me thousands of dollars.
Glad to hear the bars worked!
Where did you pour it?
@@nextartm Down the radiator and NOT the overflow tank. Also, depending upon how much the gasket is leaking, you may need two applicants so don’t give up on one.
Thanks A Bunch I'm gonna try today And Report back
K seal worked for me . Seems to be permanent drove my civic for I would say 15000 miles still holding strong.
Thanks for the helpful report!
I used K-seal on my Camry that would overheat within 20 minutes. I was absolutely floored to find out it actually worked and sealed the gasket. It's still running perfectly 9,000 miles later.
K seal worked for me also on 3 vehicles. V6 econoline and two 4.0L 4runners
You used it with water or coolant? Removed the thermostat beofre mixing it? And drained the coolant system after the procedure completed?
Is it still holding strong?
I used the one on the far left in box . Worked amazing . Sealed the leak completely.
Some swear by the Bars.
Give you a like. Thank you for the review. I need one ASAP before the Gap gets bigger on my head gasket. I'm glad you're over a thousand subscribers. Keep posting
Thanks for watching!
Great video, straight and to the point with no filler.
Congratulations for the 1000 subscribers!!!!!!🎉
Thank you!
The problem with a head gasket leak is that you don't know the severity of it. That's why some products will work better than others and you will have tons of people disagreeing on which is better.
Let me just say that no matter which product you use, they will only work temporarily and you can expect the "repair" to last about 5000 to 10000 miles.
Totally agree.
I would say it is permanent used k seal on a civic with a badly blown head gasket. Drove it for at least 15000 miles still runs fine.
@@mikeloke6695so k seal is the best I’m just wondering cause I have a very slow leak coolant is just barely leaking down my block externally
@@aydenponto8808 I had bad experience with k-seal. Worked maybe 3-4k miles on my civic but my HG was totaled by then in a matter of speaking. Was pouring coolant into the system every day so I switched to water once it got nicer in the summer. Bars looks promising from ChrisFix video
@@TheMightyBluegillbro, you didn't do something right with the bars, it work in my car.
Thank you for the info, stories and opinions. The BlueDevil stuff is glass btw not metal. If anyone has a Subaru make sure to follow this man's top two product suggestions. Follow the instructions of the Yellow BlueDevil THREE TIMES X3 for best results if any.... and do the difficult head gasket replacement next spring. These are band-aids FYI, meaning TEMPORARY.
K seal should sponsor you! Because I’m about to try it in my metro because of you:)
You are awesome! Very helpful and very honest. Perfect.
Thank you!
A car dealer in Delavan Wi. named Mint Julep sold me a car with a leaking head gasket. Shame on me for not catching it on the test drive and whatnot. My mechanic used K Seal and so far so good. No leaks or air bubbles. I could rush to sell it or trade it in for a loss, but I'll drive it until it fails as I don't want to put that on some other poor SOB.
I like your straightforward way of judging these. I used k seal the small one on three cars with possible fissured head gasket and so far so good.
Thanks so much for this good report!
I used k seal on two cars with a blown head gasket. Worked on both. My civic drove for like 15000 miles and still good. Just used it on a car the other day worked so far.
I just put this on my car and it's worked for me in less then 10 minutes
Before I did my HG replacement about 85,000 miles ago on my Chevy Sonic 1.8l, I tried 12 oz K seal pour n go and it lasted about 3000 miles before a combustion leak started to pressurize the cooling system again. I then had the time to pull the head and replaced the HG. Well here I am again. 😅😅😅. These engines run at 226F which is for better fuel economy but tar heat puts more pressure on parts. 😢😢😢.
I would like to take it down to 190F but the check engine light will come on.
Next time I will place the best MLS HG out there and see what happens.
When realized I got over pressurization in the cooling due to combustion gas leakage, I made a pin hole on the top of the expansion tank and check the coolant level every day. I am going to get a HG sealant today.
Thanks for your review.
Sounds like a warped head rather than a blown gasket. I used Bars Leaks on a 600 hp Buick big block. It took 5 thermocycles (heat up and cool down) but it did work. It's a race car so I don't have many miles on it and don't know how it will perform over time but it cured the problem for a lot less work than me tearing the motor down to replace gasket
How's it going with the car now
3 MINUTES IN and this guy is killing it ... these companies and their rebates LOL
The bars leak clogged up my thermostat in a engine that has a very hard to reach and replace the thermostat. Never using there products again. Thanks for the review.
This was definitely helpful and also K-Seal is the one my mechanic recommends. Did not know about the guarantee though. Just again did put the smaller container of K-Seal that says permanently. Used the bottle before and lasted for about 2 1/2 months.
Great video. I would say the same thing from my experience. Try k-seal first, if it does not work try the blue devil. I've got a 2015 ford fusion with the 1.5 ecoboost that has a factory defect with the head gasket. k-seal has done a great job of keeping this thing on the road! My brother has a Sierra with a 6.2 in it and the blue devil did the trick for him.
I've tried the same bar leaks you're showing in the video and did nothing, waste of money. After a good radiator flush, I tried the blue devil pour and go and I must say it worked maybe a 70%, I mean is not overheating anymore but I can see still a bit of pressure in the hoses and very low bubbles so now i'm tempted to flush again and try the blue devil with yellow label. A close friend tried the kseal ultimate bottle and it worked but only lasted a week so that wasn't really an option for me. Thanks for your video!
My pleasure! Thanks for adding to the knowledge bank here.
@@TheMightyBluegillthat's the wrong bars
@@David.560_- Great. Can you provide a link to the right one?
Good video thanks! I used RADIATOR stop LEAK once it froze my thermostat then popped the head gasket. Your on track with your 2 recommendations..
Good info. Thank you. Hope you're getting that 1k subscribers money 👍
i used bar's many of time and it work every time ,i will choose bar' s over the rest
At 108k miles on my 2015 Ford Edge Titanium 2.0L 4-cylinder EcoBoost, it developed a cylinder 3 misfire, low coolant and coolant in the oil. Combustion bubbles in the reservoir were pressurizing the coolant system, causing no flow, and overheating the engine. Luckily, I was able to limp home the half mile with no damage to the block. (But I think the better idea would have been to pull over, open the coolant reservoir to let the pressure off, and add some coolant if needed to get the flow back.)
It looked like a head gasket breakthrough to cylinder 3. After assessing the condition and facing a $5k to $8k bill for either a head gasket replacement or new engine, I tried Bar's Grey goop head sealer, and it worked.
Day 1, I changed the oil & filter first (cheap Walmart Brand), then used a half bottle of the goop following the instructions.
Day 2, Warmed it up in idle to temp, let it cool down, then drove a few miles. All looked good, so I changed the oil & filter again.
Day 3, I drove it 20 miles or so and changed oil & filter again. I think I got all the antifreeze out of the engine and oil was semi clear.
Day 4, Drove more miles and all good. So replaced oil & filter again with Valvoline restore and protect.
Day 5, I changed just the filter after 100 miles, and it looked really clean.
I finally flushed the radiator 4 times to ensure most of the Grey Goop was gone.
All good after 5 weeks and counting.
Will check again after 1000 miles, but so far, so good.
some good jabs in there lol, great job bud
Thanks man watching a few videos out there on which is the most convenient and best, don't want to drain, flush or remove thermostat since its going to be very cold for the next few weeks.
Glad you found it helpful! Thank you for the comment.
Thank you I found all your info super helpful God bless....
Thank you!
Thanks for the reviews! I tried the Bars on a 96 mustang 3.8 with no results. anti freeze blowing out # 3 now after sitting for a year found another engine. Just installed. Guess what? A guy sold me a bad engine! it had white smoke out the pipes. but the cylinders are dry and no bubbles. Suspected intake and changed. found very wet. Currently still have light white smoke. Going to try the K seal you can fallow on Dana's Garage project Stang. Keep up with constant content and you will get your 1k soon ! I've been at it for 11 years now, took me 2 years. average 45 subs a month
Thanks so much! So sorry about that engine. Looking forward to hearing how it goes. Thanks for the encouragement as well. I will stick with it.
Just wanted to say thanks and I subscribe to your Channel you had a lot of good information in your video I'm going to take your advice
It’s not about the money back it’s about the effectiveness of the product I care less in getting 20$ back
Thanks for your video.......great job and to the point!
and.....tHank you very much ! Very well presented findings !
kseal fixed mine in my 01 celica gt but i just had a slight leak in my head gasket
Had a head gasket issue on my 2005 civic, wasn’t mixing with oil but was getting lot of bubbles out radiator and steam coming from reservoir. Used blue devil pour and go, poured it and let it idle for a hour, so far so good drive 100 miles so far no bubbles and no over heating. I used to have to refill radiator after a long drive but the water has remained the same
Great report! Thanks!
Hey man could you give us an update hows the civic running?
@@1775_Freedom I also have an 05, used bar sealer. No coolant lose just overheating now. got about 8-9k miles out of it. Also, losing heat for some reason. Think the product killed the heater core which is an expensive fix and not worth it car has 230k now.
I'll tell you what, though... I'd hire you as an actor, any time.... Well done.
I started with the blue devil and it didn’t work
I then used the k seal(there are two types, the can and the little jug, I used both) worked right away
Yes k seal worked for me twice. Seems to be permanent like it says. Lasted at least 15000 on one of my cars still fixed.
thanks ~ going through this now with my 2018 Accord.
My 2008 ford focus just started to use some coolant and dont see any signs of leaks. So its very slow leak so looking for what to try to seal a head gasket if that is the issue. I found your video very good and helpful! Thanks for posting it.
I am a die hard for replacing the gasket itself. Takes alot of the headache out of it IF, it is done correctly and with care. For V engines, do a leak down test because it may only be one head. As far as the video goes, I have had various good results with KSeal. Kseal says on bottle that water to oil and oil to water leaks are NOT recommended for repair, but I used anyway and had decent results (probably short-lived). Bar leaks pellets used to work back in the day but I've only used for a radiator that was leaking at the top seam. That repair lasted about 4 months because it was on a badly maintained vehicle with additional coolant leaks.
Thank you for sharing these helpful experiences!
The only problem with my Ford 4.0 you have to pull the engine to replace the head gaskets and that's probably a pretty good about a money since it's an overhead cam engine just my little tidbit I may have to do that but right now I'm going to try some more sealant
Thumbs up for the form alone
Subscribed. Thank you! I had same experience with Barts :( Ill go hunt down K seal now
I appreciate it!
He said the same product that Chris fixed used did not even phase it on his.....
My experience is you got to give it some time to work.....
But I'll definitely try the k seal ..next blown head gasket....
But it is not a permanent fix.....
Excellent video! Just how to do it. I have a 1958 Dodge D700 semi with a 354 hemi. 19k original miles, ex navy. I want to keep driving it unrestored. It puddles water on the floor under the right exhaust, but only sitting, never running, it won't use any, never in a cyl, never in the oil. There's probably a small crack in an exhaust port, probably from when the farmer I got it from who let it idle unattended for hours to circulate a nurse tank and an old hose dumped the water.. (on an early hemi the exhaust ports are almost vertical) seals when hot. I always remove pressure from it. Looks like enough of the K seal would be good to try! Aint worth a crap the way it is. What can I lose? I have other good heads, but im older and disabled now and want to enjoy it while getting the groceries! My wife loves driving it, too. Standard Bars works for a while but dissolves eventually and will plug things if you use too much. Thanks!
The impression that I got from most of them is that they are like the bars with the stuff that forms a gunky patch. The Blue devil that you have to take your thermostat out for seems to make more of a metallic braze or sloppy weld on the hole. I wonder if that would be your best bet. It's definitely more work, but when you're done you train everything out so you can rest assured that you don't have a bunch of residue running through the system clogging things afterwards. I'm not a professional mechanic, and have only used each of these once. That's my two cents.
I had a leaking head gasket on 4runner 2.7L
I had to flush the system because rust was present for that I used Thermo-cure
then I used K -seal
Is been a month I don't see any problems works really well.
Great report!
Hi, I owned and operated an air conditioning and radiator repair shop for 30 years. I opened it in 1973 and it is still open today (2023) by a former employee. Fixing things right can be guaranteed, adding stop leaks can not be guaranteed. Leaks that are flexing open and closed can not be fixed with stop leak. Also, the mechanic should be liable, not the product if something goes wrong. Stop leaks can plug up a cooling system and cause over heating and ruin an engine.
I had a radiator flow tester that could tell you home many gallons per minute a radiator flowed (the radiator had to be off the car). The flow is a gravity flow with the tubes being vertical and liquid added until there is an overflow at the top tank. The flow tester has the water mixture going up a tapered glass tube with a calibrated stainless steel weight that raises up with flow.
If you are a do it yourself, and want to try a stop leak, take a look at some suggestions of Scotty Kilmer.
Scotty Kilmer:
th-cam.com/video/Zzei00daP5M/w-d-xo.html
Scotty mentions to not add stop leaks to cooling systems that are dirty. He also mentions that getting certain stop leaks in the oil can ruin the engine! Also he says certain stop leak sealers are to be used in clean cooling system with water only.
I wish I had tried one of these before giving my Honda back
I have a head gasket leak from a defective head gasket. Before I tear the head off and replace the gasket, I wanted to see if any of the products work for reducing the amount of steam ( i chose the fiber lock ) and so far it is doing pretty well.
I will say, Do not use blue devil with your thermostat in, it will brick that itch. up.
Words of wisdom!
The pour and go Blue Devil can be used without removing the thermostat. I had a small leak so it worked fine.
Just used the K-seal Ultimate Head Gasket repair just waiting to cool off an start it back up but gonna make sure it has water in it as well
I used Bars last night, it was wonderful
‘07 4Runner leaking head gasket and hole in the radiator, to fix it cost more than the vehicle is worth, K-SEAL Pour-n-go , I just dumped it in the coolant at operating temperature and put the cap back on, 30 seconds hole plugged, HG sealed, I let it flow through the whole system, heater core, and all did not plug up anything, they tell you to dump it in cold for safety reasons, but it works better imo if you dump it in hot and you didn’t hear that from me😮 6 mo. & 4500 mi later nothing to see here
Great information will follow your advice 1999 f150 4.6l v8
New subscriber here!! Thanks for your video. I have a 2011 Grand Cherokee OverLand with a 5.7 Hemi. I have no coolant in oil nor oil in the coolant tank. I changed the water pump and thermostat out and it ran great for a couple of weeks. Slowly it started running pretty warm again and I believe it’s a blown head gasket. There is no smoking, nor water coming out of my pipes…. Nor a sweet smell from the exhaust. What brand Head Gasket sealer would you recommend?
I used Blue Devil (big bottle). My son has run 4.7l Dodge Dakota all summer with just water and refilling as needed. I took it to a repair shop and they confirmed head gasket leak. I drained the system, removed the thermostat. Flushed the system, clear with water. Poured in Blue Devil according to directions, drove it around for an hour. Let cool and installed new thermostat and water. It’s been a month now, it’s not overheating and the temp gauge comes up and stays just below center. The next thing is the put in antifreeze for colder weather. So far so good for now. Blue Devil is working! 😎
Does it still have power lose?
No power loss and doesn’t overheat. Actually runs good. I don’t think I would take it on a long trip somewhere. Around town and to and from work is fine.
Great report. Thanks!
Update: It been 8 months since using the Blue Devil and it’s still working fine. My son drives it to and from work 5 days a week. He had the water pump leaking about a month ago. Replaced it and it’s still working great and not overheating. So far the Blue Devil product has been great.
@@DBMac58update?
Good job on the review
Thank you!
When you say drain your system do you mean drain the gas, the coolant and the oil? Do you mean power flush the radiator? Drain the gas and use Heat to get rid of the water? Let the engine sit before draining the oil so the water comes to rest on the bottom?
Blue devil works you have to flush the motor first. I tried bars leaks didn't work . Blue devil turns hard and fills gaps when it's exposed to hot areas from exhaust leaking in the heads
You have to use straight water no antifreeze
What do you do for a living? Whatever company you work for, they are lucky to have you. If self-employed I'm curious in what field.
Did you ever see what the actual leak looked like?
Question for you, as to what product and how much you think I should use. I have a 1995 Subaru 1.8L 4-CYL boxer Impreza, 177,000 miles. I have 76 and 78 PSI dry compression in #2 and 4 of one head (driver side). This started a few days ago, we noticed while on a highway trip the power was weak and I can hear it missing as the RPMs drop from driving to idle.
I don't have overheating, excessive oil consumption (drippy seals, I add a quart about every 900 miles), smoking, or fluids cross contamination. I'm waiting to have a leak down and another dry/wet compression test at a different shop. The first shop only did dry compression and wasn't too bright or helpful.
If I end up having a head gasket leak between those two cylinders, what products would I possibly try to mend it? It must not be too bad of a leak, whatever it is, for the compression to build to 78psi dry. The other two good cylinders are 130ish psi.
If it ends up being a valve leak, what products and strength could I try to get them clean? After cleaning, I will have valve clearances checked, as it's probably never been done.
Peace brother!
I've heard that some Subaru guys have a preferred head gasket sealer that they put in in advance to protect. I don't know which one it is it might even be Subaru specific. I know the info is out there.
Great video!!
Thank you!
I have a Pontiac g6 with a minor head gasket leak. It only makes excess white smoke and not even a big amount. I’m going to pick up a bottle of kseal in the morning. I’ll let you know my results
any updates?
Well it's been 3 months now...
Updates?
Works?
I had air compressor and is bad head gasket tomorrow I try kseal I let you know if works
I had some kind of a leak which I had oil in my coolant,a little water in my oil,steam out the tailpipe, and black carbon iny coolant,I used bar's blown head gasket and it's been about 10 months and everything is still good.So I personally had luck with Bars
Great report!
Seems like bars is getting the best rate for people using that the most and the rate of it working seems high
Grate job ,very helpfull info thanks a lot🙂
Thank you for taking your time to leave a kind comment.
Is it wise to add a small amount of one to an old northstar before the head gasket has issues? That way it should seal as it becomes damaged?
I sealed a minor head gasket leak on a 2JZ with two bottle of the small bars leak and a bottle blue devil flush , I emptied all my antifreeze put the mouth of the hose in the radiator and flushed it out , after I sealed the radiator back up poured blue devil flush added water let it run to operating temperature (before it overheats and start sputtering the water out ) and drained again , them poured both bottles down the radiator hose the one that leads towards the block (top hose) and added water it took 3days of cycles but it ran well for a year till my cheap water pump gave out and I didn't notice it till I overheated a bit and reopened the gasket , now I'm on this mission again to reseal it will I make it or will I have to trash the car , find outtt
The sealant failed the second time I luckily sond it for 600 , lost money but junkyard would of gavee 80$ , sold to a mechanic who planned on resurfacing head and change gasket , but in my opinion if it's the first time it blew the head gasket try it , it worked the first time for a while year and I didn't baby it I even off-road it a little and drifted , did donuts raced with it , for a while year and the gasket didn't fail my water pump did then again It was a 79 dollar kit main purchase was the timing belt wich i successfully installed while the engine was apart I made the mistake of installing the new but very cheap water pump and in a year it failed even tho the oem aisin boump was just fine , moral of the story don't use cheap components on critical engine parts belts , screws , and SOMe electronics are fine but not the main things , I have a 97 ls400 on bags now , so clean
@@BayAreaWrecker this would be why your head gasket blew 😊
So if there is milky substance in engine and on oil cap , are these products no good to use ??
I'll let someone else answer who's more of an expert. But typically that sounds like you do have a leak where fluid is getting into the crank case. These products could seal that leak, but if it's bad it could let the product get into the crankcase.
@@TheMightyBluegill any input is appreciated
Anything helps and give another person knowledge
@@mz4176 Is the coolant getting into cylinders? If so, you can try the product. It may or may not get into crankcase. It probably wont seal the leak of coolant into oil passage, but if it seals coolant to cylinder path, then you could just use motor oil instead of coolant.
Ita been 2 years for me bars leak worked for me now it just i cant drive for over a hour i think i gotta do it again.... lol so its almost 2 years exactly had the car 4 years now
I decided to try the K-Seal. I will let you know if it stops my steam smoke. 👍
Let us know! Hope it works well.
So did it worked? Lmk thanks
@@bonthor7515 Yes! It slowed down the exhaust steam after a short time and after about a week or 2 it no longer loses water. I haven’t added any coolant in about 3 weeks and the vapor steam is gone. I don’t know how long this patch will work but if it stopped working tomorrow it has been worth the time it has bought me. Definitely will purchase K-Seal without hesitation any time I need to patch a failing head gasket! I’m a believer!!! 👍😊
@@DroneManMurphy ty
Thanks for the help!
I use the Blue devil number 2 a year ago in my Ford explorer it lasts for a year and then I started having problems with it heating this time I've tried K seal and I'm not really I replaced the water pump and the thermostat housing I'm not sure if my sensor is working correctly and they're supposed to send me another unit. It can run about 15 seconds and be at halfway already be at 130°.
Yikes! Hope you're able to figure it out.
Liked the vid hope u get your money back 😅
Hello k seal requires to remove thermostat before use? And we should drained the coolant after procedure completes?
What’s the proper amount of Karla to use ? I used the Smallest bottle, it slowed the coolant leak drastically. Then I used my AC and that sucked a lot of coolant out. Then I used it ( K-seal) again now I can have my car parked and I leaks….😮
Hi, thanks for the breakdown. Have you heard of Steel Seal? It seems to have mixed reviews ranging from it being the best to being snake oil. Scotty Kilmer seems to like it in one of his head gasket sealer videos but I'm hesitant either way because his channel is so large he could probably be paid to say that (not hating on him). Thoughts? thank you
5 products.......5 different vehicles I assume. How can you then compare?
The best sealer is a new head gasket
Nice video! Let’s see the jeep! Haha
Ha! I can do that. Probably should.
Well you are the first with engine problems with a Toyota, for the most part your car should last 200K.So thank for the heads up, good luck............BB
Mechanics don’t want to sign off because if you’re the type of guy to chase down a $20 money back guarantee they’re afraid signing off on something is going to bite them in the butt lol
Great review and helpful
Thanks so much!
There's a mechanic on TH-cam who said that he removes the spark plug from the cylinder where the leak is in the head gasket. And he adds k seal into the radiator and runs the engine for the required amount of time. And he says he has an 80% success rate. The car is back on the road 80% of the time just from using k seal.
It makes sense. You don't want that spark plug firing and keeping the k-seal from clogging the leak. The explosion would blast the k-seal back and not allow it to plug the leak.
Wont it hurt the engine running it with the plug out to run the product? Ask cause I did use the kseal and didnt know about pulling the plug and I still had coolant lose like before the use of the product.
@@Mr.303Happy it'll run with a miss. I only know about really old cars. Sometimes, an engine in a really old car would have a miss. If it had one bad spark plug or one bad spark plug wire, the car would be running around on only seven cylinders instead of 8. Or only 5 cylinders instead of six. It wasn't all that big of a deal on the old cars. No immediate harm came from it, you just had to fix it within a reasonable amount of time. But I don't know if it would hurt the newer engines.
I've never used k-seal myself. I worked on really old engines and just took them apart whenever they had a bad head gasket. And I replaced the head gasket.
Nice video. Thanks
My pleasure! Thanks for the comment!
My 05 corvette is loosing antifreeze and my oil looks good and I m not over heating no knocks or misses but I m having steam out my exhaust at start ive been told kseal will work but i don't know what to try as i cant afford to change the head gasket any help with what to do is appreciated
Did k seal work v
This reminds me of when mackgyver used an egg to seal readiater leak.
what did you do with the Previa?
Sold it to a kid who is going to rebuild the engine.
Had my sunfire was leaking coolant out of the head not buring or mixing the a slight leak on the outside and I used K seal and it fixed it right away I don't like using fixes in a bottle but I wasn't going to pull a head on a 250k mile car😂
K seal works
Thank you so much!
My pleasure!
Bars sh1 worked for me
I am canceling my Bars Leak purchase.
Subscribed..thanks!!
Thanks so much!
I heard good things about blue devil. Never used it though.
I was impressed
Subscribed 👍
Thank you!
THANK YOU🙏🙏!!!
So glad it was helpful.
Alright, I'm gambling with this video. I'm at the car store now, that are our of the one I used last time.
Let us know how it goes!
What was the cost of each one ? Thank you
I'm so sorry that I don't remember. I'm sure you could Google it.
You should post the footage of using these
Thanks so much. I did video footage of the whole thing and it ended up being quite a chunk of video that I did not want to mess with.
@@TheMightyBluegill I agree with your approach. Less is more - just want to know if they work. Great video!