Blown Head Gasket Liquid Repair Products

Maintenance/Repairs
1

To avoid a costly replacement of the head gasket on an old (1992) Camry wagon that my son needs to drive around town at college for one more year, I am wondering if any of the liquid repair products are worth trying instead, like Steel Seal, Thermagasket or Blue Devil Gasket sealant.

2

They are not a real fix, but this car is exactly the type of vehicle these products are worth trying on. One of them may help your son get through another year around the college town. I’m assuming that you realize the engine will be toast when you’re done.

Try one…pick one from the parts store…and post back and let us know if it helps.

3 
I doubt if they will work, but if the price is right, it may be worth the cost.  Are you talking about a produce that you disassemble the engine to use or something that goes in the radiator?  If it goes in the cooling system, consider that it might cause some clogging in the system and then that might need to be replaced.
4

I’ve never tried them myself, but I’ve read (on this site) that the Bar’s products may work well. I know they make a product call Head Gasket Fix which you can add directly to your radiator and maybe buy some time.

5

I agree the chances of them working may be small or remote.

Also remember that any product that is good at plugging up small holes is also good at plugging up radiators and heater cores. Those products can cost you more in the long run.

6

I know of cases where these products work at least temporarily… But there are enormous risks. Of this I know first hand. After a fresh valve job on a Toyota 3a 4cylinder, which included cooling system flush, new water pump, thermostat, new all metal radiator, and coolant, a very slow consumption of coolant was experienced. Steel Seal was added exactly per instructions, with disastrous results. Heater quit emitting heat, radiator completely clogged, and now engine smokes (oil) profusely! This car had several thousand miles life remaining BEFORE Steel Seal. Now the entire cooling system is junk, and the engine will need to be rebuilt. Check around. There are many other cases of this happening. I would only use these type products if you plan to junk the car anyway ! See photo of radiator with top removed. Nuff said !

7

I recently had the unfortunate need to use "Blue Devil head gasket sealer.The truck is a Nissan Frontier 2000 with a 3.3 engine and 78,000 miles.The only thing I can say is “amazing”.Blew the gasket on a Friday and was driving Sunday afternoon.I made a crude video,but you get the idea.I couldn’t justify the 16-20 hours of labor to do the gaskets and that’s if there were no other issues.I just posted it on youtube yesterday.
if you search for “blue devil,head gasket,sealant” it should come up.I posted this on 2/20/10,so it may not be in the data base yet.