head gasket repair compounds?
 

Have any of you ever used any kind of head gasket repair compound that is put into the cooling system or crankcase?

This is not for my Z, but for my '96 Sable wagon that my wife drives. It has the 3.0 DOHC Duratec engine, 112000 miles, and has been running great until it suddenly blew a head gasket and is pushing coolant back into the reservoir. The local shop wants $12-1500 to R&R the gaskets IF the heads aren't damaged. The car was not driven very far when it got hot, and this shouldn't have happened...but it's also not worth a $1500 repair.

Sooooo...."Steel Seal", "Thermo-gasket", "GM stuff"???? Does this stuff work, or is it a sure way to destroy the rest of the engine?

When I worked at a Carquest parts store we had a product made by Zecol called Mendtite. Mechanics told me that they put it in those early aluminum Caddilac V8's that were notorious for internal cooling system leaks and it really worked. Anyway I used it in a 4 cyl. ohc engine that the head gasket started leaking externaly really bad and it worked great. Just follow the directions on the bottle if you can find the stuff in your area, it's really a great product.

I recently heard of some new stuff but for the life of me I cannot remember what the hell it's called...I did hear that it works...but I am still a skeptic...good luck with it though!

There's this new stuff on the market made by CRC Industries (a very reputable name) called "Nanotechnology Permanent Head Gasket and Block Repair". They've been advertising it with full page ads in all the buff books. It intrigues me because it uses a substance that utilizes extra small molecules that better seal the opening and does not require cooling system pressure to maintain the seal.

Check it out on www.CRCindustries.com

I'm curious myself to see if it really works.:yesnod:

There does seem to be an evolving technology here. I haven't found a website with any complaints yet.

Maybe, just maybe I won't have to spend more than what the car is worth.:(

Well, if you're trying to peddle it........My experience is that the only cure is doing the head gasket and possibly the head weld. Once the antifreeze gets in the oil, you're screwed. This isn't exactly unheard of on Ford engines. You might be ahead to sell it to someone who can fix it themselves. Nearly all of these products are like fishing lures, designed to catch fishermen!:eek:

Block Seal
 

We have used "Block Seal" before with good results... Autozone use to have it. Have known another mechanic that got over a year out of a car he had... then he sold it to an unimformed individual... last he heard it was still running... he was impressed to say the least !

I'm certainly not peddling anything. I have a potentially expensive repair on a car that I need but isn't worth putting that kind of money into. I'm trying to find out what other people's experience has been....just like we do on our Z's.

I did call a guy ar Steel Seal. He says they have 20,000+ cars on the road using it and no complaints. But...his method of having to remove the plug from the bad cylinder, run it twice for 20 min. with the plug out and then again with the plug back in (requiring R&R of the plenum each time) seems almost as much trouble as changing the gasket.

I don't know what the others require.

Sorry, didn't mean to impugn your ethics. But I do stand by my post.

Well, after a ridiculous amount of draining, flushing, hose R&R, radiator cleaning/feeling, pressure testing, and hair pulling it turned out to be the water pump. The ABS impeller split in two. Had it not been for a thread on the Taurus section of AF...and a person with the identical symptoms who took the time to post his follow-ups and some pics...I don't think we'd have found the problem until much later in a teardown.

Anyway, a b*tch to replace but it's back in a pumping cooler than ever.

BTW: after a lot of research we decided to and did use the CRC/K&W Head Gasket and Block Sealer before we found the pump problem. I cannot attest to its effectiveness because without the pressure from the pump I don't know if it would be forced into the alleged gasket break. It does smell like dead fish, so if you ever use it...do it outside.