Head Gasket Stop Leak! Does It Work?! We Put It To The Test On The Cheap Subaru Forester Project!

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-----I assume no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. I recommend safe practices when working with power tools, automotive lifts, lifting tools, jack stands, electrical equipment, blunt instruments, chemicals, lubricants, or any other tools or equipment seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond my control, no information contained in this video shall create any express or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not myself.-----

[sopealay]

Works for me, 2006 Honda pilot with 287, 000 miles. Had a misfire in cylinder head 4 and 5.

[bG]

I've only ever used Stop Leak once, on a BMW M54B25 motor. 01' 325i. Car had around 130k miles and a hairline crack in the head was causing coolant to weep through the aluminum, a few inches below the valve cover. I'd already bought a used, running motor to swap in, but as a joke with my buds who were there to help me swap the motor spent $30 on a bottle of stop-leak, bled/topped off with distilled water, and drove it around 100 miles. It stopped leaking.
Drove it for another 30k before selling it, it never leaked during that time. Gave the used motor to the guy I sold it to (who became a friend) and told him what I'd done in case it ever started leaking again. I was genuinely shocked that it worked, and continued to work for another 30k before HE sold it. I'd never use it for a headgasket but that situation blew my mind.

[justinanderson]

Thanks for taking one for the team! I’ve watched ChrisFixs video on it and it looked like a promising way to temporarily fix a head gasket leak but this is making me think it’s more of a luck of the draw and he got lucky.

[bigkaswrx]

In my experience it only works on VERY small headgasket leaks. My 1993 WRX was draining coolant tank once every few months. I used steel seal and it worked for 1 year untill I saved up enough to replace the headgaskets. My number 1 tip is add it to pure water and not to coolant !

[ws_m]

One thing we know for sure: your work on the head gaskets and the coolant path will definitely seal up every possible leak! Thanks for the videos on seeing all of that done right!

[NickNickNameName]

I speculate that the Blue Devil did not cause the water pump failure, it was the pure water that did, meaning that it did not lubricate as well as anti-freeze would have. This is just a guess on my part, but what I have seen of the Subaru water pumps is that they are really simple-not much to fail.

[AmandaHugenkiss]

Hey at least you tried. I can see where any sealer would have a problem holding back combustion pressure. These products work well on other leaks like external weeping or coolant to oil contamination. Same wirh intake manifold gasket leaks. We have an old grand caravan, it was weeping, i assume, between the lower intake and the head. Used a small amount of bars leaks and it fixed it immediately. For small leaks that are not urgent like this one, i used 1/3 bottle. That was 6-7 years ago. I also stopped running pressurized cooling in all of our cars by modifying the radiator cap or leaving the gas bottle pressure cap a little loose. Been doing this for years with no issues even in 95° summer days. No pressure means no stress on components.

[bryede]

I used Fusion Seal, which is a 2-part epoxy sealer that has a fairly lengthy application process, including flushing the engine with water first, and got another 2 years before the leaking came back. I'm now changing the head gaskets and everything looks clean.

[pjtill]

This product may or may not fix your head gasket leak, but it will definitely put silicates into your coolant since the active ingredient is sodium silicate. This can be a major problem if your car's coolant system is sensitive to silicates. For example, Honda uses non-silicate coolant, and adding silicates can cause water pump seal damage (causing a leak) amongst other major problems. Apparently Subaru is also sensitive to coolant contamination. Know what you're getting into!

[johnleinen]

I've used the BLUE DEVIL power steering sealer on a GM leaking power steering pump and it works!

[americanpancakelive]

It worked for me: READ: I don't trust potions like this but I purchased a Subaru Tribeca after my wife's car was totaled in a near fatal crash (guys please don't let your 87 year old mom drive around!). Since the used Subaru was not worth the cost of a new head gasket job I reluctantly use BLUE DEVIL (the larger yellow labeled bottle). It saved my ass and that was back in 2017. I keep a block tester kit and check it yearly and it is still working. I am amazed to this day.

[greasemonkeymechanic]

This lines up with my experience with this style of headgasket leak, the combustion being pushed into the cooling system will just push anything trying to seal it right back out. I also think the water pump failing was more likely already on its way out and i don't see it as an extra cost either since it should be replaced along with the thermostat while doing the headgasket anyway considering the mileage.

[stevenbauer]

My understanding with the sodium silicate sealers is if you have coolant getting in the oil, the sealer will get in the crankcase and gel the oil.

[nrdstrength]

Glad I saw this video. I have a 2000 2.5rs with a very early head gasket that's starting to seep on one side. Considered putting this in there to buy more time - will steer clear after seeing this!

[DiegoVargas-ujuf]

I used this same product on a 01 mazda b3000 which i found the leak to be by cylinder one and its been running great with about 2500 miles on it and no issues and not having to refill the coolant reservoir every couple of days

[mountainmyst]

I did have pretty good results with the Bar's leave in Head Gasket sealer in a 1997 Outback 2.5l DOHC (just after I bought the car knowing it had issues) for about a year until the water pump failed, not sure if the small fibers got in and killed the pump seal or not. I went ahead and did a full reseal on the engine knowing I wanted to keep the car until it rusted out from under me.

[josegs]

Hey Mr Subaru, I have a 2015 Forester with 90k miles, the block was replace at 76k miles for Oil consumption after that I’m doing my oil change every 4K miles, how I can prevent the head gasket issue?

[chasedyer]

Happy you're starting your shop homie! Blue Devil is definitely an emergency product and I don't think it works on our engines. I've known people that have used it on American cars and drove for a long time. Good to keep on your off road rigs if you need a get off the trail fix

[jonathansimmons]

*KSEAL* purple bottle. Works. I did on turbo diesel citroen with weak head gaskets

[kidwelldavid]

Thanks for the advice with the video. I thought that would happen. Thanks for sharing. 👍