I can smell coolant via my vents....

Short of having to pull the entire dash and replacing the heater core -- I heard from my friend that Stop Leak could be a possibility for a short term fix.

What you guys say its safe to use or should I avoid it?

Thanks

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W124-Zone.com
1988 Pearl Grey Metallic Mercedes 300TE - 132k
2002 Silver CLK320 (Girlfriends) - 115k

Do you like having to pull the head and clean the water jacket and buy a new Rad?

IMHO Barr's Stop leak is OK if its a 1950's big block Detroit engine but anything made after 1970 that is Jap or European and definately anything made after 1990 anywhere is bound to have clogging of the water jacket/cooling passages using Barr's or any stop leak product.

The last thing I used it on was a 1947 Chevy truck and that was just to get home and once there I drained and flushed and still found lots of fiber matter when I did a complete tear down 2 months later.

Then I'll stay well away!

I guess I'll set aside a weekend and put a new heater core in.

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1988 Pearl Grey Metallic Mercedes 300TE - 132k
2002 Silver CLK320 (Girlfriends) - 115k

if you have ever had any dealings with mid 80's cadillac 4100 engines you will know that it was imperative to give it (the pills)every 6 months.as they tended to have leaky headgaskets,you went to the dealer and got a 2 pack of big pills(about 6 bucks) they were the size of a 50 cent piece and about 1/2 inch thick.you took them and broke em up in a cup of water and then added to the cooling system.what these pills consisted of was basically ground ginger which you can buy at any grocery store for 50 cents a tin.ginger is the only stop leak we ever used in my dads shop.

Stop leak is safe to use in moderation in any engine. I like the that silver stop leak stuff (can tthink of the name) Pour 1 bottle in your radiator and see what happens. The only time I have see a problem with rad sealer is when people use tons of the stuff trying to seal huge leaks.

I have tried it many times and did not note any ill effects from it. I couldn't say it is really effective though.

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Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 82 240d, 83 300TD with five speed, 03 Dodge 3/4 ton with cummins six speed; I have had about 33 benzes. I am building a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup street rod at the moment in which I plan to install a 617 and a five speed manual.....or a 64 stude v8.

I used it once on a 1981 Toyota Cressida that had a blown headgasket (very common issue on the older Toyota inline 6-cylinder engines).

It stopped it for about 15 months, then it went again. That car still ran as smooth as silk.

Based on the uncertainty...I'd be more comfortable doing it the right way. If it were proven to be fine, then I wouldn't be worried, but based on possible problems, I'll stay away.

Thanks guys.

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1988 Pearl Grey Metallic Mercedes 300TE - 132k
2002 Silver CLK320 (Girlfriends) - 115k

Head gasket in a can! Do you remember what brand it was. 15 months is impressive!

I think it was that "BARR'S" stuff, but cannot recall exactly... that was back in 1998-1999. Next time I am in a automotive department I will look, because they still sell it.

The car never overheated and never was coolant in oil or oil in coolant, but it had started burning oil (like after it would idle for awhile and you pull out - which were valve seals) but then the spark plugs would get wet with coolant and it would miss.

Despite that, the car was still so smooth. Inline 6-cylinders are so impressive. Its just too bad Toyota did not put better headgaskets/valve seals in those 2.8L I6 engines.

I last used it in a Hummvee that I figured was only a few months away from being DRMO'd (junked). I might use it in a beater that I wasn't planning on keeping, but not in something that I planned to keep for a long time.

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Buying cars as an investment is almost as bad as hookers and blow, but you get a small residual back from the car when you off load it.-AlbertaBeef from CVN

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion 325,xxx miles
07 Kawasaki Ninja 650 18,xxx miles

It is safe. It just doesn't work! I can't say it never works but it never worked for me. I had a tiny leak on my Supra's heater core. I used a couple bottles of the stuff. Didn't work. Taking that dash out was no fun!!

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1998 C230 245,000 miles
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

A person on the Volvo forum suggested using pepper...not kidding some say it can last for years.

http://autorepair.about.com/od/mcguyverisms/qt/radleakpepper.htm

There was a discussion like this on Bobistheoilguy.com ; came to find out GM and other manufactures put those black tablets in new corvettes and other engines at the factory because the cast aluminum blocks tend to be porous. Bar's stop leak is the best;... after much research. Won't hurt a thing, if in moderation.

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"Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration...
don't Fail Us Now"

Well still mixed responses although the last response makes me lean towards the dark side

I think I would still prefer doing it the right way. If I were to pull out the dash -- I'm only doing it once! So with that in mind, what else should I check while shes in pieces?

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W124-Zone.com
1988 Pearl Grey Metallic Mercedes 300TE - 132k
2002 Silver CLK320 (Girlfriends) - 115k