Steve,
Aside from the most active ingredient in "Bars leak" being fibers, which
caused your subsequent problems, the lack of annual corrosion protection
additive (the part of the anti-freeze that really matters in
California), the lack of a sacrificial anode to be eaten alive INSTEAD
of the aluminum intake manifold, and thermostat housing, and the the
copper core as the next best meals in town. Magnesium rods or discs,
grounded to the chassis and hiding inside the radiator side tanks or
expansion tank should do the job. This is cheap insurance, and units
that fit radiator caps for grounding used to be available from JC
Whitney (Warshaswsky's) , Chicago.
Steve
ssage@socal.rr.com wrote:
>I've used a Gano radiator filter for several years now with great
>results. After about three years of Gano filter use, the Tiger radiator
>sprung a leak so I took it out and to a repair shop. They verified Ganos
>really do work as they said the radiator was perfectly clean and flowed
>100%. The filters catch all the junk that would otherwise wedge in the
>bottom of the radiator. Anyway, the shop repaired the leak, but after I
>re-installed it, it sprung another leak a day later. The shop had warned
>me this might happen as they said the radiator must be close to 15-20
>years old and has too much corrosion to reliably repair. As a stop gap
>until I can afford a new heavy duty cooling system, I tried a couple
>cans of Bars Leak stop leak. It helped a bit (stopped the gusher to a
>very slow drip) but didn't completely solve the problem. A few days
>later I noticed the car really starting to run too hot. I checked the
>Gano filter, and sure enough, the stop leak had almost completely
>clogged the filter wire mesh. I cleaned it and the car again ran cool. A
>week later the same thing happened. I took the filter out again last
>Saturday and, sure enough, it was pretty well clogged again with the
>stop leak. Since this is a short term fix, I kept the filter out and
>re-filled the system. Sure enough, the Bars Leak almost immediately
>completely stopped the leak, and on a good drive today in about 90
>degree weather, the water temp never got over 190, usually hovering
>between 170-180, and the radiator is leak free.
>
>I'll re-use the Gano when I get my new radiator, but the moral is don't
>use stop leak while you're using one as the filter defeats the purpose.
>
>Steve Sage
>
>
>
--
Steve Laifman
Editor
http://www.TigersUnited.com
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