Hello,
I've heard about engines torn apart which had used Blue Devil, and coolant passages were clogged with a hard, epoxy-like substance.
I wouldn't go that route if I were you, as I'll share a similar experience with another product, as follows:
I had disastrous results using Steel Seal, for my 1989 Toyota Camry LE wagon, with V-6. The car overheated one night. I pulled it over, waited over an hour and a half to let it cool down, then re-started it and drove it the remaining 20 miles home, with the heater on high. This kept the temp gauge a bit above normal, but not to the point of overheating.
The following weekend, I used K & W's Block Sealer. This is a good product, but very tedious to install. You must evacuate ALL WATER from the block and radiator, then flush, add the product, and I believe, flush again, then fill with appropriate coolant mix.
I should have been happy with the K & W, as it stopped the white smoke from the exhaust, returned the car's normal idle, and it ran smoothly. I was still losing a small amount of coolant in the next few weeks. Perhaps 8 oz., or a cup, over a 3-4 week period.
I had heard about Steel Seal, so I thought I'd give it a try. At least for my car, it ended up being a BIG MISTAKE!
I followed the jobber's instructions for the product, which are more detailed than those of the home user.
This product gelled and coagulated immediately in my system. It looked liked a giant jellyfish had clogged all of the cores in my radiator. My vehicle was rendered inoperable, rapidly overheating in a very short period of time.
I tore the 2VZ-FE, V-6 apart a couple months later, and all of the coolant passages of the head had clumps of white deposits, the color of a shark's tooth, or ivory.
I had to use a micro-vac to remove all of this [censored]. To the company's credit, they refunded my purchase price. They didn't believe my claim that the product caused clogging of my cooling system, including a heater core that still won't give heat. I managed to salvage the radiator, but only after I completed a head gasket job, and brought the car up to operating temperature. You wouldn't believe the amount of milky-brown, sandstone-colored junk that came out of the radiator! Given the tedious process of the K & W product, and the amount of flushing required, I don't think it caused my problems, but I can't rule out that the Steel Seal may have had a violent reaction with the K & W product remnants, but I highly doubt it, haviing read the MSD sheet of each, and noting similar base ingredients.
After the failed Steel Seal experience, I tore the motor apart, sent the heads out to a machine shop, had it checked for warpage (none), dipped in acid tank, and new valve seals installed.
I put Felpro's newest and best Permatorque head gaskets (black)on the car, using a new set of head bolts. I replaced all of the fuel injector insulators and seals, along with a new exhaust manifold kit. The car has 274,000 miles and runs like a freakin' LEXUS!
Now, more recently, I've had good results working on various friends' high mileage cars, with beginning signs of head gasket failure, using a product known as K-seal.
This product is easier to use than K & W's Block Seal, and it will give results! While nothing can replace a head gasket, this stuff may at least give you more time before you undertake a head gasket replacement prodecure.
One friend of mine has a Dodge Dakota with 195K miles. Two mechanics told him he needed new head gaskets. The vehicle was running rough when I looked at it, slightly smoking, and by his description of losing almost gallon of coolant per week, I concurred with the accessment of his mechanics.
I told him about K-seal, and he asked me to pic him up a bottle.
A few days later, I brought a bottle over to the bar where he worked as a bartender. He took a break and asked if I would install the prkoduct. I opened the radiator cap, and it was by the condition of the dirty coolant, that he hadn't maintained the vehicle well. He claimed to have never flushed the radiator in the 5 or 6 years that he had the vehicle. I recommended flushing the system and then putting in the K-seal. He insisted to put it in right then and there.
Let's fast-forward a year and a half: The K-seal gave my friend an extra 20K miles of driving, and was still running well when he traded it in for a new vehicle a couple months ago. He said it was "the best thirteen bucks I ever spent!" The vehicle was losing some coolant again before he traded it in, and perhaps a follow-up treatment with the K-seal could have minimized this. Maybe not.
Here's a link to the product on Amazon.com, where it has a rating of four stars; the result of 102 user reviews, 64 of which users gave 5-stars, another 8 users gave 4-stars, 7 gave 3 stars, and the remaining 23 users combined with only one or two stars:
K-Seal (Amazon.com Reviews)
Perhaps in those vehicles, the head gaskets were simply too far gone. In these cases, when backpressure is severe, no product is going to replace tearing the motor apart and doing it the old fashioned way.
But if you're slowing loosing coolant, or the vehicle has just started blowing white smoke, you have nothing to lose by trying the K & W or K-seal products. In my opinion, and from the experience of mechanics I know, they are less risky than using Blue Devil or Steel Seal.
I am, by no means, however, claiming that good results can't be had by either of those two products. But knowing that if you're going to keep the car years down the road, and will eventually replace the head gaskets, I think the task will be made easier by not having to clean up any excess residue that may be left behind by those products.
Good luck,
Glen (strum4u)
[size:17pt][/size]
I've heard about engines torn apart which had used Blue Devil, and coolant passages were clogged with a hard, epoxy-like substance.
I wouldn't go that route if I were you, as I'll share a similar experience with another product, as follows:
I had disastrous results using Steel Seal, for my 1989 Toyota Camry LE wagon, with V-6. The car overheated one night. I pulled it over, waited over an hour and a half to let it cool down, then re-started it and drove it the remaining 20 miles home, with the heater on high. This kept the temp gauge a bit above normal, but not to the point of overheating.
The following weekend, I used K & W's Block Sealer. This is a good product, but very tedious to install. You must evacuate ALL WATER from the block and radiator, then flush, add the product, and I believe, flush again, then fill with appropriate coolant mix.
I should have been happy with the K & W, as it stopped the white smoke from the exhaust, returned the car's normal idle, and it ran smoothly. I was still losing a small amount of coolant in the next few weeks. Perhaps 8 oz., or a cup, over a 3-4 week period.
I had heard about Steel Seal, so I thought I'd give it a try. At least for my car, it ended up being a BIG MISTAKE!
I followed the jobber's instructions for the product, which are more detailed than those of the home user.
This product gelled and coagulated immediately in my system. It looked liked a giant jellyfish had clogged all of the cores in my radiator. My vehicle was rendered inoperable, rapidly overheating in a very short period of time.
I tore the 2VZ-FE, V-6 apart a couple months later, and all of the coolant passages of the head had clumps of white deposits, the color of a shark's tooth, or ivory.
I had to use a micro-vac to remove all of this [censored]. To the company's credit, they refunded my purchase price. They didn't believe my claim that the product caused clogging of my cooling system, including a heater core that still won't give heat. I managed to salvage the radiator, but only after I completed a head gasket job, and brought the car up to operating temperature. You wouldn't believe the amount of milky-brown, sandstone-colored junk that came out of the radiator! Given the tedious process of the K & W product, and the amount of flushing required, I don't think it caused my problems, but I can't rule out that the Steel Seal may have had a violent reaction with the K & W product remnants, but I highly doubt it, haviing read the MSD sheet of each, and noting similar base ingredients.
After the failed Steel Seal experience, I tore the motor apart, sent the heads out to a machine shop, had it checked for warpage (none), dipped in acid tank, and new valve seals installed.
I put Felpro's newest and best Permatorque head gaskets (black)on the car, using a new set of head bolts. I replaced all of the fuel injector insulators and seals, along with a new exhaust manifold kit. The car has 274,000 miles and runs like a freakin' LEXUS!
Now, more recently, I've had good results working on various friends' high mileage cars, with beginning signs of head gasket failure, using a product known as K-seal.
This product is easier to use than K & W's Block Seal, and it will give results! While nothing can replace a head gasket, this stuff may at least give you more time before you undertake a head gasket replacement prodecure.
One friend of mine has a Dodge Dakota with 195K miles. Two mechanics told him he needed new head gaskets. The vehicle was running rough when I looked at it, slightly smoking, and by his description of losing almost gallon of coolant per week, I concurred with the accessment of his mechanics.
I told him about K-seal, and he asked me to pic him up a bottle.
A few days later, I brought a bottle over to the bar where he worked as a bartender. He took a break and asked if I would install the prkoduct. I opened the radiator cap, and it was by the condition of the dirty coolant, that he hadn't maintained the vehicle well. He claimed to have never flushed the radiator in the 5 or 6 years that he had the vehicle. I recommended flushing the system and then putting in the K-seal. He insisted to put it in right then and there.
Let's fast-forward a year and a half: The K-seal gave my friend an extra 20K miles of driving, and was still running well when he traded it in for a new vehicle a couple months ago. He said it was "the best thirteen bucks I ever spent!" The vehicle was losing some coolant again before he traded it in, and perhaps a follow-up treatment with the K-seal could have minimized this. Maybe not.
Here's a link to the product on Amazon.com, where it has a rating of four stars; the result of 102 user reviews, 64 of which users gave 5-stars, another 8 users gave 4-stars, 7 gave 3 stars, and the remaining 23 users combined with only one or two stars:
K-Seal (Amazon.com Reviews)
Perhaps in those vehicles, the head gaskets were simply too far gone. In these cases, when backpressure is severe, no product is going to replace tearing the motor apart and doing it the old fashioned way.
But if you're slowing loosing coolant, or the vehicle has just started blowing white smoke, you have nothing to lose by trying the K & W or K-seal products. In my opinion, and from the experience of mechanics I know, they are less risky than using Blue Devil or Steel Seal.
I am, by no means, however, claiming that good results can't be had by either of those two products. But knowing that if you're going to keep the car years down the road, and will eventually replace the head gaskets, I think the task will be made easier by not having to clean up any excess residue that may be left behind by those products.
Good luck,
Glen (strum4u)
[size:17pt][/size]
