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Not bad Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Tue, 3 Feb 2004 05:57:06
In Reply to: BAR'S LEAK IS BAD? Why ?, Pat98, Mon, 2 Feb 2004 23:30:31 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
I have seen no data showing Bars Leaks to be a problem. I've been using it for years and have had absolutely no cooling system problems from it.
However, it probably won't help with your problem right now.
I think polp may be thinking of some other products whose intent is to keep a car running for a couple more week until it's sold. They are out there. Bars Leaks isn't one of them.
Bars Leaks only works on small leaks. Heater core leaks are actually micro-cracks in the surface, and the amount of coolant coming out isn't very much - just a thin film oozing out. These micro-cracks are sealed by the BL quite nicely. BL WON'T fix holes - there were those old Zerex commercials where somebody stuck an awl into a radiator, and the leak went from a flow to a stop in seconds. That was a great demo, but anything with that leak stop capability WILL gum up your system. You don't see those ads now for a good reason.
The reason BL won't help you is that if you have a big enough leak to actually drop coolant onto the rug, the leak is too big for BL to work.
When heater cores leak, they leak into the cabin. However, the progression of heater core leaks tends to be slow. You'll get whiffs of coolant when you first run the car on defrost, and this can go on for months or years. Eventually you start seeing fogging on the windows, and the fog is greasy - coolant. To progress to coolant on the floor is pretty big.
It is possible that the heater core leak progressed very quickly - did you have coolant smells earlier in the winter? - but not probable. If I saw a very fast leak progression - just fine to suddenly putting coolant on the floor - I'd suspect hose or hose connection. The ultimate connection to the heater core is behind the false firewall, and really can't be seen from the engine compartment without a little disassembly. But if you've gone from fine to wet in a matter of a week or so, I'd suspect a bad hose or something as simple as a loose clamp.
If you're dumping warm coolant into the cabin, it should really stink of baking bread in there. If you really need to get down and sniff it, then it may not be all coolant. Has it been raining lately, or have you had a lot of melting snow? I wonder that if your drains aren't working right, you could be getting just plain water with a little bit of coolant from minor leaks into the cabin, and the coolant loss is coincidental.
If you end up replacing your core, or don't, sticking in small bottle of BL is a good idea.
posted by 192.249....
, Tue, 3 Feb 2004 05:57:06 <-- Viewing This Message
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