Up and running, finally

[mrgrimm]

I got my Festiva about 3 months ago and it's pretty much just been sitting around since then. I bought it with low coolant, and very milky looking oil high on the dipstick so I figured it needed a head gasket for sure. I am a little short on funds so was planning on fixing it right sometime later this summer and using it as a "get to work car". Well, a couple days ago my F250 started leaking diesel into the coolant (bad injector cups, pretty serious repair) so this weekend I figured I would try a quick fix on the Festiva since I needed another ride quick and only paid about $200 for the Festy. I bought some Bars Leaks Ceramic head gasket repair (very skeptical) and followed the directions on the bottle Saturday. Sunday afternoon after the sealing process was complete I changed the oil again, and filled up with new coolant and have about 50 miles on the car with no signs of contaminated oil and no loss of coolant! I guess it worked, and now I can get to work tomorow because if not for this little car I would be in a much bigger bind than I am already. Just saying that the product may be worth a shot if you are looking for a quick fix, don't know how it will do in the long run but I'm not fixing the head gasket until I see signs of it leaking again!:p

[Fez]

I've never been a big fan of "miracles in a bottle" but good to hear it worked out for you! My father in law once dumped a whole can of pepper in his chevy van's radiator because he was trying to stop a leak.......

[mrgrimm]

I've never been a big fan of "miracles in a bottle" but good to hear it worked out for you! My father in law once dumped a whole can of pepper in his chevy van's radiator because he was trying to stop a leak.......

I'm not a fan either...but it was either try to diag. the problem for sure, possibly find, then replace a head gasket on a "dealer" obsolete engine all in 2 days. Maybe more of a man than me could have done it. Desperate times call for desperate measures and I got lucky.

While researching quick miracle fixes I found some people saying to crack an egg in the radiator to seal various coolant leaks! Apparently it gets scrambled in the h2o pump then the chunks get pushed into the leaks (hopefully!) I almost tried that one but opted for the bottle instead...

[Fez]

I understand! If you have to get to work you do what you need to! I once fixed my '69 VW bug with a bic pen and the wire from a spiral notebook, not pretty but it ran and got me where I needed to go that day. I've heard of stop leak products that worked too well and clogged up coolant passages in the cylinder head. That in turn caused a hot spot to develop and resulted in a cracked head. I've also seen people put pepper, bananas, rice and instant potatoes in radiators to "stop" leaks!

[chrisofna]

I wont use the radiator stop leak stuff but I'll use marvel mystery oil, good stuff if your motor smokes.

[Fez]

I wont use the radiator stop leak stuff but I'll use marvel mystery oil, good stuff if your motor smokes.

Thats good stuff! I used it to loosen up a "stuck" garden tractor motor. I poured it in the spark plug hole and let it sit for a week. Came back and spun it loose by hand.

[JPT]

head gasket couldn't have been that bad if that stuff fixed it. If I were you, I'd plan on a gasket anyway.

I might have to keep some of this stuff around "just in case"

Marvel Mystery Oil is something my cousin swears by (he's a general mechanic and has been using it for over 30 years)