Steel Seal - liquid head gasket repair

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

During my visit to the motor factor's last week a chap came in and started looking along the self service display shelves. He startled me by coming up behind me, holding out a bottle of the above product: https://steelseal.co.uk/ and asking "any good"?

I've been disappointed with this type of product - but not this actual brand - when I was younger, and this experience leads me to veer away from using similar product - I'd rather do the job "properly" and replace the head gasket if that's what's called for - However I don't consider it my job to loose sales for the factor so I said "depends on what you're trying to fix and what the vehicle is I suppose". Then to the counter staff "d'ya sell much of it"? The reply was that of the ones they had sold, so far, there'd been no comebacks. I asked the vehicle owner what was going on with the vehicle and it turns out he's carrying containers of water around with him and topping up several times a day - Turns out it's an old Transit being used on delivery work and is booked in for a head off job later in the week but he can't afford to stop using it. He'd been told by "the garage" that it needed a head gasket. I didn't hear it running but it must have sounded pretty "sick" if it was using that much water! Or maybe it needs a water pump? or maybe? So I told him that in the circumstances he'd nothing to loose but that I'd be surprised if it works. I did get a bit of a shock at the price though!

When I got home I Googled the product and was surprised to read what it claims to be able to fix so I'm just wondering if anyone has used it and if so did it work?

 

[jimboy]

During my visit to the motor factor's last week a chap came in and started looking along the self service display shelves. He startled me by coming up behind me, holding out a bottle of the above product: https://steelseal.co.uk/ and asking "any good"?

I've been disappointed with this type of product - but not this actual brand - when I was younger, and this experience leads me to veer away from using similar product - I'd rather do the job "properly" and replace the head gasket if that's what's called for - However I don't consider it my job to loose sales for the factor so I said "depends on what you're trying to fix and what the vehicle is I suppose". Then to the counter staff "d'ya sell much of it"? The reply was that of the ones they had sold, so far, there'd been no comebacks. I asked the vehicle owner what was going on with the vehicle and it turns out he's carrying containers of water around with him and topping up several times a day - Turns out it's an old Transit being used on delivery work and is booked in for a head off job later in the week but he can't afford to stop using it. He'd been told by "the garage" that it needed a head gasket. I didn't hear it running but it must have sounded pretty "sick" if it was using that much water! Or maybe it needs a water pump? or maybe? So I told him that in the circumstances he'd nothing to loose but that I'd be surprised if it works. I did get a bit of a shock at the price though!

When I got home I Googled the product and was surprised to read what it claims to be able to fix so I'm just wondering if anyone has used it and if so did it work?

Avoid Jock. This sort of stuff can do more harm than good. Can’t remember the chemical used in this stuff, but it can be bought at a fraction of this, and they bump up the price.

Sodium silicate. Just looked.

 

[lunchbeers]

Agreed, avoid any of these snake oil products like the plague. Same with Radweld and the like.

If it's an old dog that's got a limited lifespan, then perhaps so.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

A friend of mine had the head gasket go on there comparatively on there ?2013ish Mazda CX-5 and treated with one of these types of product. Looked up what was involved in replacing the HG and the costs and decided it was much… much cheaper to treat the head gasket with a pour in chemical, then drive to the Toyota dealership and swap it in for a new car ?

 

[lunchbeers]

Hopefully that was picked up by the dealership before some poor sod bought it used.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I "liked" your post Andy because it made me smile and remember some of the "scams" customers tried on me when I sold cars for my living. They say garages are a load of crooks but a few notable customers tried on some real doozies. Like the guy that presented his car beautifully when signing up for his new car but on collection it turned out to have 4 very bald tyres (which, surprise, just happened to be the same size as his new purchase!) He'd even kept the spare, Would have been poetic justice if it hadn't fitted the new car wouldn't it! I learned a lot about people when I was selling cars!

 

[StevenRB45]

Gotta say any magic goo in a bottle...I always think it actually worked it wouldn't just seal what you wanted to.

It's a liquid it's not sentient...

Remember when when I traded my Suzuki in they apologetically said they would have to test drive for a distance it as management had brought in a new policy after one of their trade ins had been found on closer inspection to have 3 gears...

Tbf my local garage always tries to buy his stock from customers (he's offered to buy both of my Suzuki and Mazda at various points) as he has had it on the ramp and knows what he's getting.

 

[varesecrazy]

I offered to help a friend with a car he was 'gifted'
It lost coolant..oil was milky

So I had it apart HEAD GASKET kit at the ready.. no obvious failure seen.. but used the new parts anyway

Leak persisted.

Was in a local indy spares place they had an American product on the shelf 'seal.up' by car.go

I asked if it was any good...
He had used it on a similarly leaky mini A series

We both suspected a cracked.. or porous .. casting

The process was a LOT more scientific than 'radweld'

You had to drain and flush.. then refill with clear tapwater..warm up..then tip in the 'silica mix'.. run on idle until the level stopped falling

@40 mins one winters evening.. amazing how the level 'ebbs and flows' with the rad fans cooling

When confident it was watertight

Switch off.. dump the water.. let it cure in air

This was @2005.. the car was designed for Blue coolant..

But apparently the Ethylene Glycol compromised the seal.. so I bought my first ever OAT flavour (pricey back then)

Car was watertight ( and had no temp issues AND a working heater) for the next 2 years of daily use.. a result

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Hopefully that was picked up by the dealership before some poor sod bought it used.

A 100k mile 2013 mazda is of little concern to a toyota main dealer, so the car would have been sent off to auction.

I "liked" your post Andy because it made me smile and remember some of the "scams" customers tried on me when I sold cars for my living. They say garages are a load of crooks but a few notable customers tried on some real doozies. Like the guy that presented his car beautifully when signing up for his new car but on collection it turned out to have 4 very bald tyres (which, surprise, just happened to be the same size as his new purchase!) He'd even kept the spare, Would have been poetic justice if it hadn't fitted the new car wouldn't it! I learned a lot about people when I was selling cars!

When I worked in dealers, I came to realise especially these days just how much of a scam some of these financial deals are. If they want to give you a "higher" trade in value they just tweek the interest rate so that you pay a bit more back.

Many of the cars the dealership I worked at took in would have costed the company £1 but the customers thought they were getting a great deal on the trade in value.

agree a "trade in" value with the customer, then go and work out what there monthly repayment will be based on their Credit history of course.

Because of this I would never trade a car in against another unless it was a very transparent zero interest deal or I had agreed terms up front then threw the trade in, into the mix.

 

[varesecrazy]

I heard this 'part.ex' story a few years ago.. in Oxford

Apparently a salesman never wanted to know about the 'trade.in'.. he would bend down..put his hands around the engine.. feel the warmth

'Its a runner'.. yes .. lets go inside and sign it over.

One day he took in a bike that was just cases and a barrel.. warmed with a blowlamp.. and pushed onto the forecourt

 

[DaveMcT]

I used RadWeld in the old Mini to save the leaking radiator until I could get it replaced and to be fair it worked well. I can imagine it working on porous castings.
Anything that claims to fill the gap of a broken head gasket is just as likely to fill other narrow gaps such as around the water pump or heaven forbid inside the cylinder head.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Yup, anything with obvious solids in it should be avoided in my opinion - I've looked into the bottom of water jackets on engines so treated!

Wynns Stop Leak always had a good name for rad leaks back in the day. Our stores sold Wynns products and the stop leak looked pretty clear. It was a good high profit line for the stores department I remember the Boss once saying. I'd rather fit a new rad or sort the hose leak myself!