Bars Rad stop leak, bad or good idea?`
 

I had a minor leak in the bottom of my rad, by the drain cock. I used bars stop leak. Was this a bad idea? Ive heard mixed reviews of using these rad stop leak products.

Also, I added the stop leak, perhaps, when the rad didnt have enough rad fluit drained out, so alot of it seems to have pushed out back into the overflow. Should I use a suction device to get this out of the overflow?

It did seem to stop the leak...

I did flush the rad about 2 weeks before using the stop leak...

Thanks for any help.

I have also used it, one guy at a shop said it was a mistake as it will cause the heater core to clog! I have not had any problems with mine however.

Well, let's see, you've done the cheap repair, but it's not really a repair. You put something foreign into your cooling system. Something that blocks the flow of coolant, you don't decide where this foreign material blocks the flow of coolant, physics does. The proper way to fix your radiator leak is to fix the radiator leak, not create another problem.

So, it's a bad idea.

the best thing to do is replace the radiator. however I look at each situatin differently, what year is the car, is it on it last leg and you just want to get another 6 months out of it , etc etc, you did not post the info of the actual truck. if the truck was 2 years old I would not put it in, like an earlier post said you are adding a clogging agent into your enine the stuff can go anywhere. I have used it on a 12 year old f150 with 180k on it nd it workd for me and did not clog up the heater core I drove it for at least another year. the sold it

I've used Stop Leak before and while it stopped the leak, it also seemed to reduce the cooling capacity of the system and I started to have overheating problems afterward. Since I live in Southern California, and you live in Canada, you many never have this problem.

But it would be best to consider Stop Leak as a temporary fix only. Sooner or later the radiator will have to be repaired or replaced.

Replace or repair rad
 

I should have trusted my gut and not used it. Anyway , the rad appears to be in good shape with only this small leak (that has now stopped). How do you determine if the rad should be replaced or fixed?

And how do you fix a leak in a rad?

You can bring it to a radiator repair shop and they can fix it but a lot of the time you might be better off just buying a new one because the repair might cost almost as much. Again. What year is your truck and how many miles are on it

Truck info
 

It is 1989 with only 97 000miles, Im hoping to keep it running for years. It was driven 1-2 a month to the grocery store by an elderly woman...

Sounds like a nice truck. Next time post the question. See what peeps say and then do what you think. I looked up your rad on rock auto and they had 3 for less than $100. My biggest concern would be plugging the heater core. However on your truck I think they are real easy. On rangers after 94. You have to pull the steering wheel and dash. You should update your signature with as much info as possible. It helps with diagnosis. I know what someone is thinking this guys signature is not updated. I have tried 3 tims and it would not take. A mod is trying to help me

Bars leak is a good product, it may reduce your flow in the heater core, but has not in my experience cause blockages elsewhere................Some of the other "miracle" stop leaks also plug up heads and water jackets.............stay away.

I use pepper for a temporary repair. Just buy a small can at the grocery and dump it in. Won't harm anything either. It won't work for head cracks but its just fine for radiators and heater cores.

Really. How much and how long will it hold? Why would pepper work?

I learned the black pepper trick while working in the salvage yards we would buy a drivable wreck at auction and some would have radiator leaks put a couple of tbps of pepper in drive them to the yard. it works well.