encouraging news with radical approach - blown headgasket

Hi every1
Here is some encouraging news of my blown head gasket. Let me make the long story short for tonight. I will add more details later.

1st. I took the thermostat out. 2nd I used R-13 insulation to cover the entire front to keep the radiator warm.

Hard data: local roads 30, 40mph temp =115 f to 145 f. Freeway tested today 90 miles round trip. with normal mode, 50 to 70 mph range from 155 f to 181 f. 195 f for freeway uphill.

I think my method works. The insulation will keep it warm enough to drive on freeway normal speed.

I will add more details later.

 

but the head gasket has been sealed by Bar's leak. And there are still some left circulating the system to prevent it from blowing again. There is no white smoke and no rattling, no water in the oil stick. I don't see any sign of blown head. And now, thermostat is out, no more too much pressure in system and water pump will never run dry. I don't see any chance of bend rod or coolant going into cylinder. As long as the bar's leak kept it sealed.

 

Bar's Leak HG-1 HEAD SEAL Blown Head Gasket Repair
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For now, I don't see any white smoke, no coolant loss and no coolant found on the oil stick. I applied my first dose of Bar's leak around July 2020. The fist time worked the best and it lasted until May this year. I poured it in from the expansion tank which now I think is NOT the most desirable way to do it. It will only get sucked in to the engine block after the thermostat fully open. That is already contradicting what Bar's leak's instruction. I pour it in from the heater's hose now. I used a 90 degree barb fitting to connect the 2 heater hoses now. yea I don't need heater here its very warm. In order for Bar's leak to work. The car needs to be cold after a night sitting on driveway. And then you start it in the morning after pouring in Bar's leak. Turn the heater and fan to MAX for it to circulate around the engine block. However, you need to turn off the car at 180 degree to prevent it from going into the radiator. That 15 to 20 min should seal the crack.

How to use Bar's leak -

Some say it will clog the radiator and I think so ya but not the way most people think. Since July 2020, I poured in 4 bottles of Bar's leak because I saw the yellow triangle came up or I saw white smoke. I did replace the radiator 1 month ago because it did clog the lower portion of the radiator. I still have the old one and I just used garden hose to push water into the old one to clear it. And yea those Bar's leak stuff came out easy. The Bar's leak only solidify when it touch high heat around the cracked head gasket. at lower temp, it won't solidify inside the radiator so the clog won't be permanent. In my case, there were just too much of it and it just lay at the bottom portion of the radiator.

Another thing I need to mention is that my water pump ran dry sometimes but not all the times after using the Bar's Leak. It may not be Bar's leak. It may just be a post symptom of cracked head gasket or bad thermostat or could be all of factors exacerbate each to make it worse. I could have got a better thermostat such as AISIN brand but I just think it may still work sometimes but not all the times so I just decided to take the thermostat out to make sure water pump will never dry again. The car can drive at lower temp but it definitively can NOT at higher temp.

 

HHmm...I don't want to spend much money to have a so called "professional fix" of the head gasket. Its already 270k miles and those fix is also iffy unless you just replace the whole engine block. For me this so called "temp fix" is my long term fix. Look, it already lasted since last July. If it clog my radiator again, I just replace it again $75. As I mention in the last post, it will solidify inside the radiator, you can clear it just by using garden hose.

 

Ok I will check

 

I have no experience with K-seal and Porsche bro. Im cheap and will never touch a Porsche. All Im waiting for is the price of tesla come back some so I can buy a tesla after the chip shortage. For V6, V8, truck, suv and any sport cars, I doubt that taking out the thermostat will work. They all required higher temp for all the components to work. It will be like it is either too low or too high later on. My method may only work for Prius because the engine only turns on when the battery is out. For all other normal ICE cars, the engine is on all the times. It will get too hot because the coolant go through radiator too quickly.

 

Another major improvement: MPG went up to 53. I used to only have 45 sometimes even just 41. Its weird but this is what I observed after the thermostat is out, it coast much better. It just keep rolling like no friction. I don't know why it has this effect. Maybe the ABS is somehow controlled by the data from thermostat ?? Or the flow rate of the coolant ??