Hi,
I have a 2002 F150 which has a small leak somewhere in the radiator system.
I am looking to see if anyone would recommend using one of the Bar Leaks products for fixing cooling system leaks. I guess it is an aluminum based product the adheres to the inner services of the cooling system and can stop leaks.

Recommendations wanted whether to use the product or something different. Have you had any personal experience with this product or others.

Thanks
matt

 

I had a couple internal leaks on my old truck and have use BARS COPPER gasket sealer with a lot of success.. I also have used this in a few old farm tractors. I don't like the aluminum or the black oily globy stuff.. I have had good luck with the COPPER. You can get at Auto Zone for about $10.

 

Liquid Copper™ Block Seal Intake & Radiator Stop Leak

<DL class="clearfix basic_dl"><DT>Part Number:</DT><DD>1109</DD><DT>Dosage:</DT><DD>Use – 1/2 bottle in a small cooling systems, such as 4 cylinders with no A/C. Use 1 bottle for regular size systems, which are most 4, 6, 8 and 10 cylinder engines. For larger systems, use 1 bottle for every 6 gallons of cooling system capacity.</DD><DT>Size:</DT><DD>18 oz. (510 g)</DD></DL>Bar’s Leaks® Liquid Copper™ Block Seal Intake & Radiator Stop Leak seals larger leaks regular stop leaks won’t.

 

Thanks Steve. I was wondering which was to use the Aluminum or Copper.

 

Just for additional information, the stuff is suppose to plug holes where there is a differential pressure across the hole. IF you have a head gasket leaking internal, external, or radiator leak...the stuff should gell and plug the hole where the differential pressure is noted. The flow thru the radiator and heater core should be a constant, and not have a differential pressure so it should not plug the cores. Some claim they have plugged a core in years past. I have not seen that on the new COPPER type sealer... One think I DID HAVE was it plugged the pin hole bypass in the thermostat on one truck. I had erratic temp gauge operation about 5 minutes after startup. The pin hole is suppose to let a small amount of hot flow thru the thermostat back to the radiator as the truck warms up. That pin hole can look like a differential pressure point. Only had that once on 4-5 different uses of the sealer. Pulled the thermostat and cleaned and reinstalled.

 

With a small hole / leak, I just remove the top radiator hose from the radiator, pour the bottle into the hose and reinstall. Startup and operate the truck normal. As the coolant heats up you get 10-14 psi inside the system and it will start to work. When you shut down, the radiator is still pressurized and it will continue to seal as needed overnight.

 

Follow the directions on the bottle and that stuff works well.