At what point is the damage to great for a store bought liquid sealer

They work when you don't need them, and I say that because it's part of General Motor's assembly of their aluminum engines to add cooling system sealer as the car is driven off the assembly line. I know this from auto workers who did that. Sealers you get at the car part store may work for a while, depending on the formula. Barr's Leaks is not a fix like a bad head gasket or cracked head needs. The sodium silicate formulas can stop minor leaks from gaskets or small head warps or cracks, but they cannot be trusted to be a permanent fix and if the cause of the failure doesn't get fixed the sealer is a waste of time and money. There is only one I ever had success with and I cannot find it anymore anywhere. Bite the bullet and have the gasket replaced, the head checked for cracks and warps and repaired as needed.

The coolant system has many small channels in it. These sealers try to seal every wear in the system and clog things you don't want clogged. The sealer can only attempt to seal low pressure leaks and some head gasket failures are hi pressured. IMO it is not worth the sacrifice of the internal integrity of the radiator and heater core. The heater core can be a worse job than a head gasket as far as labor is concerned. And once in that sealer is not coming out of there. Ever.

As Stpaulguy says, sometimes they do. A decent rule of thumb: if you are just refilling the system every few days the ones mentioned in Stpaulguy's source will probably work for a while. If there are symptoms other than coolant loss the odds are not in your favor.

The sealers have a limited use. Since they are not permanent repairs they are most useful for putting off death of a vehicle for a few months. If you plan on keeping the vehicle for another year or two, better to just have the gasket changed rather than contaminating the cooling system.

If the engine can't hold coolant for the entire time period of the treatment, then you engine isn't a candidate. Read this post on head gaskets sealers. Contrary to what you've heard here, they do work in some instances.

http://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com/fix...

Stpaulguy is right. And here is a youtube link to show you the best way to use off the shelf head gasket sealer.

If it is a head gasket then I would say no. If you have a leak in the radiator or a leaky freeze plug or some intake gaskets or a minor crack in the head or block then they can work and last for several years. It is worth a try if you are going to follow the instructions because they are so cheap compared to replacement of a cracked head or head gasket or block or radiator. See?

If they did, why do so many head gaskets need to be replaced? For that matter, why do car makers use head gaskets when all they'd have to do is pour some magic sealer in?

Don't waste money putting goop in your engine that will probably ruin it.

The sodium silicate solutions will seal a slight leak in a head gasket but the preparation and treatment is involved and means down time while the engine is prepped. Once in, if successful, may least for years, at the most.

Once in a while I get lucky.

Trying to use that stuff is always for some donk that wears italian shoes and drives a caddy but calls me names for trying to help.

You put some in and send him away, and promise nothing.

Perhaps he can get the answer he wants in the next town.

You give him a written estimate, and he cant find it when he comes cryin next week.

Eventually, you have to refuse to help because they slander you and defame your character.

Letting him pour his own goo in the car is even better.

But I have used them when the chemistry made sense with the actual cause of the leak.

It depends on the test results after diagnosis, ultimately.

I personally don't use them. Head gaskets are compressed "once", and torqued correctly using a torque wrench. I have done diesel engines(which have about triple the compression of a gas engine) and not one has leaked for years afterwards. Gas engines same deal.

Clean head, clean block and new never used head gasket. It works without.

But go by the instructions given on the box that hold the gasket(some companies want a certain brand of sealer IF they require a sealer)

At what point is the damage to great for a store bought liquid sealer

Personally I don't like them. They do more harm than good. I've seen engines melt down because people used stuff like that. Fixes in a bottle are a scam!

As soon as the leak is from a combustion chamber to the water or oil systems.

its putting a bandaid on an amputation.. they may work for a bit but soon enough they entire gasket fails and all that goop does is plug up the engine even more.

As soon as the leak is from a combustion chamber to the water or oil systems.

NO! replace the gasket before it leaks and warps the head , and then my friend you have big trouble.

The second the gasket is compromised, it is shot. A bottle of magic goo won't do anything.

Zombie apocalypse, use it to get away and find a better car. Everyday, will just clog up stuff, cause more issues.

Yes, they work so good that I think they should quit selling head gaskets....

Yes, they work so good that I think they should quit selling head gaskets....