Dear Scotty.
I believed I had a bad head gasket on a 2010 Jeep Commander 6-cylinder. It was smoking gray/white smoke. I could only add 1 bottle of Steel Seal. After running it for about 40 minutes it quit smoking. It was overheating according to the temperature gauge at 3/4 scale. I took it out on the road and it got down to half scale on the temp gauge. It shot back up and is staying there. Letting it sit for an hour and then going to circulate it again. It starts hard and is in need of new plugs too. Help! Thanks. Mike Spano. {black}:smile:
Well, unfortunately that's not unexpected. If you search the board you'll see we get asked about those kind of snake oil products frequently and we always advise people that they are temporary band-aids at best, may not work at all, and may plug up cooling systems. (The only way to repair a blown head gasket is to replace it.)
So, it appears that "Steel Seal" has "sealed" some part or parts of your cooling system. Either that or it has made your head gasket situation even worse and the engine is now overheating. See the site FAQ for tips on troubleshooting an overheating engine.
I see. I did not come up with this option on my own I want you to understand. Scotty did a video that he posted on February 3, 2009. He did not consider Steel Seal "snake oil" at the time by all indications. He said in the video that he had fixed several customers cars with it actually. In the video starting at 1:32, Scotty stated, "I've been using Steel Seal for the last decade and a half and I've fixed quite a few of my customers cars with it." I see that your a Moderator and probably a Mechanic and or quite knowledgeable. I get it and why you're Moderating, but, for you to say that the product is Snake Oil after what Scotty said about it is a little disheartening. Thanks.
for you to say that the product is Snake Oil after what Scotty said about it is a little disheartening.
Everyone has different opinions and different capabilities. I'm not a professional mechanic but have worked on my own vehicles as well as helped friends and family for decades so I do have some basic knowledge and I would not count on a "Steel Seal" type product to work as advertised, I'd just replace the head gasket. Car owners have always wanted a magic elixir in a bottle that's going to fix their expensive problem by pouring it into the engine. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't work that way.
Bear in mind that Scotty is a master mechanic with over 1/2 century of experience who can deal with the consequences of a sketchy product used as a last resort. In this case he would have been prepared for the possibility of a clogged cooling system. (You also can be sure that the "fixes" were only temporary for the vehicles the stuff was used in.)
Also, that video is from February 2009, over 14 years ago. (Nearly 15 years!) Scotty since then has stated that if one wants to try a product of that type the Bar's Leaks "sealer" for head gaskets in the silver bottle is better for modern engines and may work for a period of time.
About all you can do now is cooling system troubleshooting to see if this undesired overheating side effect can be dealt with and pray that the stuff didn't make the problem worse.
You have to know when it's appropriate to use these products, and when it's not. For you it was not. And any time you use it, it's always a gamble. You need to understand before you use these products, that there is always some risk that it will make things worse. It's supposed to be a last resort before sending a car to the crusher. I'm sure Scotty explained that as well but most people just ignore it.
Your engine is too far gone for this bandaid fix. Sorry.
Any repair meant to seal head gaskets without removal and replacement is a gamble. It may or my not work, and, when it does work, it's only temporary. I believe sodium silicate is in that Steel Seal. It works by basically plugging holes in the combustion side of the head gasket. When the gasoline ignites, it turns the liquid sodium silicate into a solid, gradually resealing the head gasket, if you're lucky. Those things are intended as a temporary fix for hairline cracks, not really for missing head gasket material. It may have worked for a few minutes, as the coolant temperature went down to normal. Then, it went right back to where it was before. Your head gasket damage is likely too much for the temporary fix.
