K&W Block Sealer
Reader Question
How much KW Sealer should we use? is the 16oz can enough for a chevy s-10 dual core radiator? Our truck over heated on my son christmas blew head gasket and was blowing white smoke.
One mechanic said to replace the intake manifold and radiator, a friend is helping fix it doesn’t think the intake manifold is bad so far we did head gaskets & bolts a water pump, spark plugs and new radiator after a oil & filter change we still have oil that is milky.
He wants to do a compression test but I cant drive it there with out making it worse will this fix that? Or should I wait and have the heads shaved and a new gasket set
I am running on empty cash wise this month and really need wheels right now but will wait if driving it will put it further in the hole any advice would be greatly appreciated
thank you for your time
Hi there,
The 1 can of K&W Block Sealer is plenty for your vehicle. You will need to be able to start and run the engine for the sealer to work though. So if you have lots of water/coolant dumping out of the tailpipe where the engine will not stay running, the sealer will not work.
If you can get the engine to start and stay running, then use the sealer as I described on this site…not as per instructions on the can.
My tried and true instructions for KW Block Sealer are:
1. Empty ALL coolant from the engine, radiator as best you can – sealer will not work with coolant.
2. Pour contents of the can in a bucket, mix in plain tap water into bucket and stir contents.
3. Pour contents of the bucket into the radiator and top off with plain tap water.
4. Run the vehicle for 500 miles total drive time. You don’t have to drive 500 miles all at once, but the faster you put those miles on the better.
5. After 500 miles, drain out radiator and fill up with 50/50 water coolant mix and pray that it worked. That is all, I don’t take out the thermostat or anything else. We have had a 80% success rate on 100′s of cars in our shop.
Warning – You will NOT have BOIL OVER or FREEZE protection during those 500 miles so make sure to keep the engine and radiator from freezing.
Category: Head Gaskets
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Yes, that is their “new and improved” product and is just as good and that is a great price, $35 at my local auto supply. 80% is a DARN good success rate for any type of sealer in a bottle.
I have to admit that 80% isn’t the success rate I was looking for but I am very interested in trying your method. The only issue I am running into is finding the KW Block Sealant. I checked Amazon.com and found this product. Is this the correct product to use your method with?
http://www.amazon.com/NanoTechnology-Permanent-Gasket-Repair-401232/dp/B000EGNBMO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1363157155&sr=8-3&keywords=K%26W+Block+Sealant
Thanks!
Personally I have not tried those sealers so I really cant give you a comment either way. KW Block sealer works great, I CAN personally attest to that.
Getting coolant on the belt, you pretty much got to replace the belt it just seems to soak it up and never stops squealing. I have tried many many times and have to give up in frustration and replace the belt.
It does not sound like a headgasket problem, so get a pressure test, check the radiator for a restriction and system for an air pocket that needs to be bled out before doing anything else.
The overflow/expansion bottle will fluctuate up and down, so dont get to concerned about the coolant level there as long as the radiator is full.
Austin
Have you had any luck with K-Seal or Bar’s Head Gasket sealer?
I used KW on the water pump gasket and it did work fine. Since then I’ve been losing coolant from overflowing from the expansion tank. (Makes the belt squeel like a pig! Any idea how to clean the antifreeze of those? Already bought a new belt now this one squeels)
Getting a coolant compression test tomorrow. If it comes back positive for a head gasket or crack leak do I have to leave the KW in 500 miles? It’s still too cold here in Missouri to do that and i work night shift so it would be outside.
Dan