Old School Cooling System Repair Hacks That You Can Actually Eat! - Eggs, Pepper And Yummy Tabs

Most commercially available stop leak products have one major problem. While they do work, and some actually work very well, they don't have the ability to determine whether the gap they are filling is a hole leaking coolant outside of the system or is a naturally occurring air or steam pocket inside of the system
This will clog small passages inside the engine, radiator and heater core.
These natural "home remedies" are not as strong as formulated stop leak products, but there is little to no chance of them having any unwanted side effects.
Here are three that we've used countless times over the years, how they work to seal and the conditions when each should be used.
#cars #engines #automobile #repair #breakdown #classiccar
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[motov-garage]

Breakfast is the most important roadside fix of the day.

[todddenio]

For several years now I have been using regular EVAPORATED MILK to fix coolant leaks. It only seals the leaks and doesn't plug up anything else. It is the only form of stop leak that is approved by John Deere for use in their machines that will not void the warranty and will work on anything from seeps to streams and even blown head gaskets and thin cracks in blocks or heads, radiators, heater cores and more and once it is set up it will last for years. I used it on a blown head gasket on my ex wife's Suburban 6 years ago and it is still holding up fine. I also used it on my 63 Dodge that had a leaky radiator and a leaky heater core. It has not lost any coolant in over 7 years. You can find information on using it as a fix for cooling systems if you search online just as I did. If it is good enough for a company like John Deere to use without voiding their warranty on equipment that can cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars, it is good enough for me to trust using in any vehicle that I own.

[alsguitars]

I wrote GM service manuals for many years. That’s half the story. They will fix porosity issues but they will also micro finish the water pump shaft to seal/bearing interface. They were specified to stop many water pump seeps. As Tony said they are good for weeping issues. They do unfortunately migrate back into the overflow tanks over time and make it look like you put sawdust in your coolant bottle. But they work and are totally safe.

[BrianGilberg]

Years ago, Mom was driving around looking for a temporary leak stop in the heater core of the 1966 Pontiac Executive. Eggs and pepper were mentioned as well as oatmeal. She said she wanted to stop the leak, not make breakfast.

[darlenedarrow]

Gusher, drip or a seep.. us old guys know all about that Tony.

[wattoffgridrv]

I saw the egg trick done on TV several years ago. I think it was on Mythbusters. I've used pepper in the coolant in almost every vehicle I've owned in the last 20 years. I used to be a daily regular customer at a couple of bars and restaurants in my area. All I would do occasionally was ask for a quarter cup of pepper. On my way out going to work, I would drop the pepper into the radiator then start the engine and go on my way. If you work in remote camps and you have an offroading accident, also keep a bar of soap in your glove compartment. If you bottomed out over a boulder and puctured the gas tank. A bar of soap will temporarily seal the hole. you go underneath your vehicle and you push the bar of soap into the hole in the gas tank and you'll form sort of a wax like seal to slow down or stop the fuel leak.

[walterminer]

I'm going on 72 years young. I remember as a kid folks using pepper and it held! Like the old sheet asbestos, soup or coffee can and wire to repair exhaust leaks!
Best to ya', , , , !

[michaellehmann]

I have found black pepper and the eggs work best together. Years ago I used them both on a Ford 3.8 that had a bad head gasket between the coolant and oil passages. It was a rusty beater thunderbird I bought for $500, and wasn’t worth fixing, but I tried the black pepper and eggs, and managed to get another year and a half and 20k miles out of it!

[zappa]

Whole black pepper balls for freeze plug leaks when they get Rusty.

[ZIGZAGBureauofInvestigation]

I myself use/carry Hamburger Dill Chip Pickles! for all of my road side repairs from flats, leaky radiator's and bullet holes

[glennnickerson]

UT and Mcguyver--The dynamic duo of the automotive world!😎

[Thefutureooksbight]

An old farmer told me about that years ago I used it pepper in my 77 Land Cruiser and I’m using it in my 2008 Cadillac DTS

[mytmousemalibu]

I have personally used fine cayenne pepper to seal a pinhole in a rad core of my 95' F350 powersmoke. It was perfectly sealed for the 6mo it was in use till I put a new rad in it. Its fantastic stuff. It had a solid stream pinhole and it sealed it almost immediately after adding it to the rad. This was with the cap put back on and full normal coolant system pressure too. It never leaked another drop. My buddy has an old brick nose 7.3L IDI that had a cayenne pepper fix for a good 15yrs+ that never leaked either. Its not "fixed" but I'll be damned if it didn't think otherwise.

[barnabassackett]

I've seen the pepper work more than

[arthurrose]

Pulled a 1970 440 + 727 and drive shaft out of a station wagon around 1985 for $275 bucks in a scrap yard in NJ, brought home to Queens, knocked out the freeze plugs, and proceeded to flush out a FANTASTIC amount of SAW DUST from the block- for over an hour! Popped in new freeze plugs, dropped in a 1974 4 door Plymouth Valiant (had a 318, 904TF, 270k miles) with the 727TF and shortened driveshaft and rear ( which stuck out a few inches on each side- used air shocks for clearance w/re- arched springs). THAT car, for a total investment UNDER 1000 BUCKS, was a MONSTER! FASTER out the hole than my 440 six-pack 1971 convertible Challenger, which had a 509 cam at that time. Later, a solid roller lifter custom ground from Chet Herbert fixed that 60ft. Issue. But the 1970 440 WAGON MOTOR WAS STOCK WITH 80K ON IT, and previously had a ton of sawdust in its veins!

[gregsr]

gm started using them on the 4.1 engine because all that sealed the cylinder wall to the block was a oring. this was late 70s.

[bairdmullet]

We had to do this with the black pepper in 1979 @ Ft Lewis when my buddy's 67 T-Bird 390 was leaking and it worked but smelled like pepper with the heater on. 😁👍

[MarineGrunt]

My old neighbor, Mr Fortner , was 96 when he passed away . He'd been an auto body specialist for 40 years and was an all around shade tree mechanic . He drove a 37 Ford pickup, a flat head . It had a cracked block for as long as I knew him ( maybe 25 years ) his solution was a tablespoon each of table salt and finely ground aluminum powder . He had a long winded explanation on how and why it worked to seal the crack, but every year, he'd add his mixture one time ...and have no problems for another year . As I recall he ran the radiator cap loose, just to the first click, to keep it on . I've dont the pepper trick many times, just to get home . Following Mt Fortners advice, I even made a big end rod insert with an old belt when nothing else was available . That was a 4 cyl flat head Dodge I believe .

[clutchkickerison]

WOW, while watching the likes went from 403 to 460 ! !! Never seen that happen B4. Luv ya work

[outlawbillionairez]

K-Seal, about 4 years ago. Heater core leak. Fixed. H. Core in '98 F150 requires 2 guys all day to remove. $1000 bill. K-Seal, $12.