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Hi All, I'm relatively new out here and have what I hope is a simple question. My daughter's '02 is pushing coolant back into the reservoir and out the overflow. After some reading and many tests, I believe she has a head gasket leak or a warped/cracked block. It seems relatively minor at this point.

My question is this, there are all manner of snake oil products claiming to seal these kinds of leaks. Do any of them work?

The symptoms are constantly losing coolant (albeit slowly) and eventually, overheating on longer drives. She's carrying pre-mix coolant and tops off the radiator before driving any reasonable distances.

I would like to limp the car along a little longer but really don't want to spend $1,500 on it. It's got 170K miles.

Advice?

 
Rep Power: 811

anything you put in there will pretty much guarantee you will have to replace the engine and entire cooling system down the road. they do not work, and they completely screw up everything in the process. the chemicals do not know where the leak is, and our cooling passages are already very small to begin with. shop around and save up to get it fixed the right way. that estimate is way high. i got mine done at a local honda dealer for around $550 labor (i supplied the parts and head). more than likely the head will need to be checked out at a machine shop and milled flat. you can usually find $150 used heads on ebay, then take to somewhere like carquest and have them test/prep it for around $100, then give to the shop to install. use a honda gasket set (head/im/ex), new head bolts, and oil/coolant. should not run more than $1k for everything. then have the old head cleaned up and resell it on ebay to make up some of the price.

 
Rep Power: 209

Stop leak isn't going to help. Most products work by circulating a fine material that builds up at the leak and stops the coolant from flowing out.

The problem is you are losing coolant from the overflow when combustion gas enters the cooling system and forces the fluid out. There is no way that anything you put in the cooling system can block the gases from entering.

 
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This is exactly what I think. If the pressure is pushing outward into the cooling system, how can something in the coolant seal it? There are dramatic claims for many products that say they work. They charge up around $100 for some.

As for the cost of the engine work, that's really not the problem. The issues is spending $1,500 (my estimate when all is said and done) on a car worth maybe $3K with 165K miles on it.

It may be time for a new car for my daughter. Hey, she got 4 pretty good years out of it for $7K. Not too bad.

 
Rep Power: 811

well you also have to think, is $1500 cheaper than $18k+ for a new car... it doesnt really matter how old the car is or how much its worth if its still able to move you around without major problems. you could get a brand new car and have a whole new set of issues. just be careful thinking that "starting over" with a new car is the right idea.