2009 Honda Civic EX 1.8 Gas. My Civic has 621k on the clock. I was told I had a head gasket issue in the summer by a shop. So I put in the Bar's Leak Head Gasket repair liquid with carbon fiber. We also replaced the water pump in the summer since it was leaking coolant. Installing the water pump fixed part of the problem as far as the leak is concerned.
The car is still losing coolant somewhere. I know because I use an electronic temp sensor readout and I've seen the slight variances in temp. Sure enough, I had to poor water in the rad. The car is fine on the highway and tends to heat up at lower speeds. I jack up the interior heat to manage the temps.
I've purchased a dye to see if any external leaks. I have not used the dye yet. My concern is it might have an internal leak. Should I use another gasket sealer? The block tester always shows negative for changing color. I've used it 5 times now. No change. Any thing to check or test?
I put in the Bar's Leak Head Gasket repair liquid with carbon fiber
Why? You can't expect that stuff to actually "repair" anything. The only way to actually repair a blown head gasket is to replace it. Any "mechanic in a can/bottle" product is a temporary bandaid at best that may not work at all and may plug up your cooling system.
Should I use another gasket sealer?
So if the first one didn't work, you want to try another one? It would be just more goop to compromise your cooling system. Rule out external leaks first. Who knows, maybe you got lucky with the snake oil and it will hold for a while.
@chucktobias You could be kinder in your reply's honestly.
Not trying to be unkind, I just hate to see people taken in by those kind of sketchy products. Yes, sometimes you can get lucky and they might work for a little while, but it's more typical that there is not a good outcome as one of our members here discovered:
Bear in mind that head gaskets can fail in a number of different ways and the popular test kits cannot detect them all. In your case you might be fortunate and the coolant leak is external. Use dye and/or a pressure test to try finding it.
Chuck is being real with you right now, just like Scotty always is. Please pay attention to what he says. Stop leak products are bandaids just to get you by for a few weeks or months tops. They are NOT repairs. They can do a lot of damage. ESPECIALLY when using MORE than is necessary and they can land you in more trouble than you started with.
If the stop leak didn't work the first time, it means the leak is severe, and the engine will fail very shortly.
A 4-banger engine with over 600k is finished. Trying to overhaul it is flushing money down the toilet. You have two options:
- Replace with used engine with low miles (only worth it if the rest of the vehicle is in good shape)
- replace the vehicle.
We're just being honest with you. Reality can sound harsh but it's time to face the music.
@imperator YOUR answer is NOT harsh. The original answer was. The second response from Chuck is NOT harsh at all and very appreciated. More than likely I will replace the vehicle soon the the Bar's Leak product Scotty mentioned in one of his video's did seem to work. It may or may not be working at this time. THANKS TO BOTH OF YOU.