I have a 2005 Honda Civic that is in fairly good shape. I noticed my heater was not working so called the mechanic I use for oil changes and he said to check the radiator and overflow which were both very low on fluids. Had the car taken into the shop and they replaced the radiator as they said the radiator cap was deteriorated and would not seal causing a leak. They also checked my car out and said everything else was good. A week later my temperature gauge went up to high so I parked the car and had it towed back to the garage where initially they said they had trouble burping it when they put in the radiator so it was either that or maybe the temperature gauge. About an hour later I get a call saying it was my head gasket that had cracked which would cost me another $2000 and they would also have to get the cylinder head checked which would be another $600 - and if in fact that was cracked I was looking at another $1600 to $1800 to fix that. I can't afford that kind of money and the car is simply not worth it but I also need my car and can't afford a new one. I phoned another mechanic who advised me to put Iron Tight into the radiator. This was 3 weeks ago and my car is running fine now. There has never been any white smoke coming out of the exhaust and the oil is clear. Firstly I wanted to know if there could be another problem that is being overlooked as they determined the head gasket issue by putting some kind of chemical in the head gasket but I am not totally confident they are not just taking me for a ride as I am a 72 year old women with a mark on my head when it comes to repairs. Secondly I wanted to know if down the road the problem comes back (ie my heat goes way up) can I then put Steel Seal into my radiator to keep my car going? If so can I keep doing this? I am trying to keep my car as I live in a remote area with no services and need a car - if I can't keep this car I will have to sell and move which I really don't want to. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I don't trust I am not being taken advantage of.
I phoned another mechanic who advised me to put Iron Tight into the radiator.
Presumably that is some kind of snake oil "sealer" product. That and similar products such as Steel Seal are at best temporary bandaids. They will not actually repair a leaking head gasket. At worst such products will not only fail to work but they can plug up your cooling system, as one of our members here discovered for himself. If the product you used fails, trying another on top of that is unlikely to be successful and more likely to cause clogging problems in your cooling system.
Since a blown head gasket is a serious condition you should get a second opinion from a mechanic who will actually perform an in-shop diagnosis on your car rather than guessing over the phone and telling you to use a potentially questionable "mechanic in a can/bottle" product.
