Cheap, easy BHG repair? What do you think?

[Goatman]

After hearing about the CARS program, and how it calls for replacing the engine oil with Sodium Silicate solution to disable the engine, I decided to do some research on Sodium Silicate. I found something interesting on Wikipedia:

Uses:

Automotive repair

Sodium silicate can be used to seal leaks at the head gasket. A common use is when an alloy cylinder head motor is left sitting for extended periods or the coolant is not changed at proper intervals, electrolysis can "eat out" sections of the head causing the gasket to fail.

Rather than pull the head, a jar of "liquid glass" (sodium silicate) is poured into the radiator and allowed to circulate. The waterglass is injected via the radiator water into the hotspot at the motor. This technique works because at 210–220 °F the sodium silicate loses water molecules to form a very powerful sealant that will not re-melt below 1500 °F.

A sodium silicate repair of a leaking head gasket can hold for up to two years and even longer in some cases. The effect will be almost instant, and steam from the radiator water will stop coming out the exhaust within minutes of application. This repair only works with water-to-cylinder or water-to-air applications and where the sodium silicate reaches the "conversion" temperature of 210–220 °F.


Could be a decent temporary fix?

[sap]

I'd be surprised if it didn't seal up the water passages.

[Goatman]

Do the water passages sit at 220 degrees?

[B+O]

when i see "cheap easy" i think half assed an "wll end up costing more in the end."

notably any wonder juice that supposedly claims to fix engine leaks is FoS. dont do it!

[sap]

Originally Posted by Goatman

Do the water passages sit at 220 degrees?

I'm not sure exactly, but the average coolant temperature at the thermostat is what opens it (I forget now, 180 degrees?) and all it would take to solidify that stuff is for some localize temperature to be a bit warmer than that average temp at the thermostat.

I can't tell you for certain, but I wouldn't try it.

[Alperovich]

there's many products that say they will fix a bhg, i'm sure some of them use this product.

it may seal it up, but i dought it will last, and in the end probably do more damaged. now if ur intention is to replace the motor sure why not, but what's the cost?

[sap]

Another thing that just came to mind, what happens down the road if you actually want to fix the HG or need to pull the heads? Are they now permanently stuck together? Can you actually remove the old gasket?

[Car2n]

It's possible in a case where the leak is actually very small and you solved the overheating problem that caused the breakage, one time I used a sealer and fix the leak but it was a small leak and it was coolant to the oil passage leak.

A BHG that leaks compression from the cylinder to water passage that it is almost impossible to fix with a sealer since the compression will be higher than 100 PSI.

[The Crowing]

Ever cut apart an engine/radiator after someone used this snake oil?

I have.

Trust me, do -not- use the HG fixer goo they sell at Wal-Mart. In fact, don't buy any car additive/repairer you can find at Wal-Mart. Rule of thumb. I christen it now.

[Vanity_Lies]

Originally Posted by B+O

when i see "cheap easy" i think half assed an "wll end up costing more in the end."

notably any wonder juice that supposedly claims to fix engine leaks is FoS. dont do it!

If you happen to have a 3.5 laying around, then by all means try it. Otherwise, why create a bigger headache for yourself in the long run. Might as well fix it right the first time.