I have a 2014 Toyota PriusV 250,000 Miles. They have a bad reputation of blown head gaskets. I plan on flushing out the radiator but I want to use something to help prevent a blown head gasket. What would you recommend? I don't want to screw up other components by using it.
I do remember Scotty did mention a stop leak with a radiator flush.
That's to attempt a temporay, band-aid "repair" of a head gasket leak in a vehicle where the only other choice is the junkyard. There's no sense clogging up your cooling system with a snake oil product that won't do anything beneficial. In fact we have a member here who experienced this:
Once again, there is no magical elixir you can pour into your engine that will prevent the head gasket from blowing. Sorry, that's just the way it is.
There is no way to "reinforce" a head gasket without completely redesigning the engine, especially not with a so-called "miracle in a can." You know the head gasket is weak, so be proactive about replacing old coolant with new coolant to keep it clean. If the service manual says service the coolant every 7 years, do it every 5 years. Aluminum head gaskets are not nearly as forgiving to neglect as the old head gaskets that were made with cast iron were.
I do remember Scotty did mention a stop leak with a radiator flush. I was trying to find it and find what he recondmends
Scotty doesn't recommend anything if the coolant is flowing properly and it has not expired. Stop leaks are only for a last ditch effort before a car ends up in the junkyard. Routine flushing of your radiator with water and new coolant is best, not snake oils that may clog stuff up and cause the head gasket to blow.
Sorry you don't like the answer (down vote), but there is no magical elixir you can pour into your engine that's going to prevent a head gasket failure. That's just the way it is.
I want to use something to help prevent a blown head gasket.
Use a light foot. There's no miracle mechanic in a can.
Instead, put that money in a savings account for when that day arrives.
I do remember Scotty did mention a stop leak with a radiator flush. I was trying to find it and find what he recondmends
There's really no prevention outside of avoid overheating and bad lubrication.if your head gasket blows you don't want any other option than full open motor surgery to replace either the head, the head gasket or both. Never put any head gasket sealer in the coolant. I don't even like the sealer you recommended, Scotty. If we do it wrong the entire engine is history. A most unforgiving product.Not only that but with the enormous overheating from a plugged block you will possibly burn up your AC compressor, computer modules and oh guess what, also your expensive transmission. Seen it all happen. I've had heat destroy even my own AC. Not worth the risk. Scotty is the only mechanic I know that would use a sealer to save money by avoiding a head gasket job. Truthfully, I would probably ask even him to just rebuild the engine with a new gasket between the top and bottom half of the engine.
@darylmelvilleyahoo-com The coolant and air conditioner are completely separate systems. One (the air conditioner) operates with pressurized refrigerant. The other (heater core) operates based on hot coolant flow through the heater core.
Unless you overheat the entire engine compartment so bad that it destroys seals on the AC compressor. Yes they're separate systems but if coolant systems fail heat soak can really spill over into neighboring components. That's what happened to my S10 pickup truck. Ran up to 240 and that was enough to melt the rubber in the o-ring seals of that suction discharge combo at the compressor. Then the suction port pulled in atmospheric air and steam into the refrigerant and oil within the compressor. Triple A said that compressor was toast.