[Healeys] (Healeys) Radiator leak

[Patrick Yoas]

    I once owned a '70 Jag XJS V12 and normal maintenance was to add two(2)
satchels of Bars Leak to radiator after flushing out. I never had a problem
with leaks.
     
    Also, semi-trucks (aka: 18 wheelers), often use a radiator additive
available at any truck stop for leaks in their cooling systems. I can not
think of the exact name at the moment, but it wasn't expensive and worked
great. It was something similar to Bars Leak, or might have actually been the
same thing but was available in a powder form.
     
    I would not put a whole container of this in a Healey radiator but just
enough to do the job. It very well could assist someone in a temporary repair
of a leaky casting plug or radiator. Good enough for $20k engines, should be
good enough for a Healey engine.
    Patrick
    BJ8
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Subject: Re: [Healeys] radiator leak
    To: Healey Mail List <healeys at autox.team.net>
    Message-ID: <4A32A08F.8090006 at ix.netcom.com>
    Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
    My BJ7 had a radiator leak I could never manage to get a solder to keep

- Ignored:
    shut.  At various times over the years I tried stop leak products.  Most
    seemed to put in some sort of particulate material that would swell
    somewhat in water.  Some worked -more or less- for a time.
   
    Over the years my faithful beast ran hotter and hotter.  When I finally
    tore down the engine in year 25 I found the dead spaces in the water
    jacket - around the base of each cylinder and up as much as half way- to
    be filled with a deposit roughly the texture of soggy newsprint.  Fine
    insulation preventing cooling.
   
    So I do not recommend commercial stop leaks.  However, I must admit that
    the pepper idea sounds intriguing in that I suspect it would stay in
    suspension and not deposit.
   
    Cheers,
   
    Pete Pollock
    Palo Alto, CA, USA
   

- Done.