Has anyone used Bars Leak?

leojeeper

leojeeper

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Location
Shelby Co, Ohio
I have noticed an antifreeze smell when I turn on the defrost, heat, etc. I am losing coolant slowly. I suspect a leaking heater core. At this point I'd rather not tear out the whole dash, although I do realize that's the "proper" fix.

In the meantime, I've considered Bars Leak. They have a formula that's supposed to "repair" heater core leaks. Does anyone have any experience? Am I going to hurt anything other than my wallet if I give it a shot?

Another option I've though of is installing a bypass and take the heater core out of the picture all together. Of course, that doesn't fair well in the winter.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.


Thanks,

Gary
 
Stopleak *can* work *sometimes*. Other times, not so much. Didn't do anything for my heater core. I bypassed it.
 
you being in OHIO I would go ahead and pull it before winter and see if you can find a radiator repair shop to rebuild it ! if you search on here you'll find most that have installed new ones have noticed a big loss of heating. the only ones I've heard of that do good are the ones from performance radiator. but I would still try to get the original rebuilt if possible....
 
leojeeper said:
That exact thought is in the back of my head.
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like I said call around and find a radiator repair shop. there aren't many around anymore due to everybody just swapping them out now with cheap ones. then you can pull yours and have it rebuilt when your ready.
 
i’d steer clear of it. agree with others advise about repairing or replacing especially since you’re up north. good luck.
 
It will clog up the rad overflow,bugger up the cap so it dont work as intended and generally do bad things. Bypass the core or fix it right.
 
Bars leak, alumaseal, and all the other miracle products are just snake oil.
I’ve heard of dumping pepper in the radiator, or cracking an egg in the cooling system to stop leaks. IMO you are better off kneeling next to your Jeep and praying for the leak to stop.
Repair it correctly and save the future headaches.
 
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The top of my radiator cracked. I had it repaired and still working perfect 5 years later. There are many Radiator shops here in Los Angeles that will do this type of work.
 
Richard49 said:
Bars leak, alumaseal, and all the other miracle products are just snake oil.
I’ve heard of dumping pepper in the radiator, or cracking an egg in the cooling system to stop leaks. IMO you are better off kneeling next to your Jeep and praying for the leak to stop.
Repair it correctly and save the future headaches.
Click to expand...

YMMV..

Bars leak worked for me in my Audi. I ultimately pulled the motor to upgrade everything to RS4 spec, so no idea if the leak would have ever come back, but it worked for a couple of years of really hard driving.

AT-205 worked to stop a RMS leak in my TJ just month or two ago. No idea how long it will last, but it absolutely stopped the leaking in my driveway.

Not saying issues shouldn’t be corrected properly, but given my experience, I’ll say that to say these treatments don’t work/help is just plain wrong.
 
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Richard49 said:
Bars leak, alumaseal, and all the other miracle products are just snake oil.
I’ve heard of dumping pepper in the radiator, or cracking an egg in the cooling system to stop leaks. IMO you are better off kneeling next to your Jeep and praying for the leak to stop.
Repair it correctly and save the future headaches.
Click to expand...

black pepper works but, only for a small pin hole. years ago i was with a friend in his old cj7 out in the middle of nowhere and jeep over heated from a small pin hole. he kept a black pepper container in his cj. water from the beer cooler and a creek got us home.
 
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txbemis69 said:
black pepper works but, only for a small pin hole. years ago i was with a friend in his old cj7 out in the middle of nowhere and jeep over heated from a small pin hole. he kept a black pepper container in his cj. water from the beer cooler and a creek got us home.
Click to expand...

black pepper is only a temporary fix.
 
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