On Jan 24, 7:24 am, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:
"mm" wrote in message

Yeah, I did try BarsLeak and it seemed to work great. But that was a
week or two ago. A couple days after I added it, the level was just
as high as when I put it in (which is funny because even when there is
no leak I seem to lose some in the overflow bottle.) Tonight, I
noticed that even though the engine was a lot hotter than normal, one
or one half index mark from the top of the scale, there was no heat
coming from the heater. No heat is a pretty clear sign I have less
water than I should (Maybe half as much as I should is my guess).This is a case of trying to save a buck may cost you dearly in the end.
That Bars Leak may have plugged the radiator core. Yes, it happens often.
The real solution is a proper radiator repair. Now you may need a new
radiator core also. A competent radiator shop would have had you going in a
short and cost effective time compared to what you may face now.

As a teenager, I tried all sorts of additives in some old clunkers I drove.
It taught me a valuable lesson; get the car fixed properly. There is no
substitute for soldering a hole or replacing a bearing, or whatever the real
problem is.

I hope I'm wrong but find out before more damage is done from overheating. .

Just a general reply. Forget the alcohol no matter how cheap. Yes it
evaporates, it does so even faster when heated. As in maybe only an
hours driving. At least that was the case back in the days of
non-sealed cooling systems. My old man tried it back in WWII - didn't
work.

Pepper - used to be used as a leak sealent. A handful dropped in the
rad supposedly seals the leak, never tried it, never knew anyone who
did but there are lots of references to it.

You keep refering to replacing the rad, why not take it to a rad shop
and have it fixed. Should be cheaper than a new one.

Harry K