Hi there,

My head gasket is blown but not completely shot. My oil is clear and there's no white smoke out the exhaust, but I am going through antifreeze like no tomorrow and you can smell that sweet smell after a drive. There's also a little burn off of antifreeze under the hood once in awhile. In any event, I was wondering what you all thought about trying out Steel Seal before I sunk another $1,500 into my car to fix the head gasket (the list of repairs I am going through seems endless). Anyone try this product? Seems like a better sealant on the market than some others. Any luck? Yay, nay? Thanks!

 

what yr and model/engine?

 

It's a 1999 V6 base model.

 

i would not assume its a head gasket. if i remember right theres a plastic fitting in the cooling system that cracks and leaks. its a little plastic elbow that goes from the tensioner assembly to the intake manifold, i would look at that first.

 

I have seen the video before on their website: http://www.steelseal.com/?gclid=CIbF...FQohDQodaHLYDA
It seems like it works as stated. But, I haven't had first hand experience with it to know how well or how long it will last. I'd say it's an option depending on ones situation. Do you have the ability to fix the gasket yourself or not, or do you have the money to pay someone else to do it?

 

I could pay to fix it, I suppose. But I just paid a small fortune to replace the fuel pump that went on me unexpectedly, and two weeks before that I had to replace the cat converter/exhaust, so I wanted to try something that could maybe tide me over a few months before I make yet another big ticket repair (I still have to fix a wheel bearing and my a/c, which has a leak and will not hold a charge). One of the first steps in using this Steel Seal product is doing a coolant flush, so when I take the car in for that I will have them look at that plastic elbow and see if they find any leaks, but I think I had a true leak once and replaced the water pump and that solved the problem. Btw, two mechanics at two different shops have told me its the head gasket. I have another problem going on with my car but I'll post that to a different thread since it is not related. Thanks for the help guys!

 

he speaks the truth! happened to my car and it was a $5 part at kragens and i got 2 of them for $5

 

I am curious what makes you think its a head gaskets? Normally you do not get the smell of antifreeze under the hood with a blown head gasket. One of the first things you get is the car will run hot and it will push coolant into the overflow tank. heck it could just one of the elbow or a water pump or a lose hose.

 

Gorn, you've never seen a bad head gasket that leaks externally? I have.
However, if that's the type of leak that MissEvonne has, where it isn't exposed to cylinder heat, then I don't see that Steel Seal fixing it.

 

I have but it very rare compaired to blow between Cyclinder and and the coolant. It also seems the engine design has something to do with it. Cooling leaking to the external was a lot more common with the 4 cylinders. 2.5's where noted for it and I have seen a few 2.0 and 2.2's. I never seen a 3.8 leak that way and I do not think we have had anyone complain about it on this website. There is always a first.