Hi guysy,
I have partial good news.
I went back to the garage telling me I had to stop driving it when it’s overheated. They mentioned the engine also takes coolant.
I asked them whether the garage, I had my radiator flushed at, did it wrong pouring coolant into the radiator instead of the coolant reservoir. The reservoir was below the minimum mark. Then they poured some coolant into the reservoir and told me I should fill the reservoir between the maximum and minimum mark. They said they have to diagnostic whether there’s a leak somewhere.
When I started my van and went back home, there’s still a bit shaking underneath the van. When I arrived home, I tried the heater and air conditioner. The heat run very good. As my friend said "It’s hotter in hell. " Air conditioner run good too. My van behaved like a brand new van!
I searched internet whether it is necessary to fix head engine gasket. The web site of Bar’s Leaks said symptom of a blown head gasket: overheating, loss of coolant *** without visible leaks***, engine misfiring etc.
My van was almost overheating. The reservoir was below minimum level. My van is stilling shaking when I start it or sometimes whiling I am driving fast than 40M/hour.
If the engine takes coolant, my van has head gasket leakage, all coolants it took will be gone sooner or later when the engine starts. This may be why the reservoir is below the minimum level.
It seems I should fix the gasket first and then to see if my van is still shaking or not.
Is it risky to try the Bars’ Leaks? Should I try it?
How do you guys think?
No offense, but your writing style is hard to follow, so I hope I have the story straight.
It sounds like the garage has not yet determined why the coolant is disappearing. A bad head gasket is one way coolant can disappear, but it is not the only way. You could have a leak, or a weak radiator cap. It is not at all uncommon to overheat when there is a leak in the system, so the mere fact that you were overheating does not automatically point to the head gasket. Your first step should be to determine why you are losing coolant and then go from there.
If it turns out that you do have a bad head gasket, then the stop-leak products should only be used if it’s a junker vehicle that you’re hoping to get another month or so out of. They tend to plug things that should not be plugged, and can lead to more engine damage down the road. That’s fine if you’re just trying to make it a few weeks, but if you intend to keep the van long-term you should get it repaired properly.
Again assuming it’s a head gasket problem, I recommend you find out why the van is shaking before you have the head gasket fixed. What if the shaking is caused by something that will be very expensive to fix? The head gasket will already be very expensive to fix. If both problems are expensive, it might make more sense to junk the car and get a different one.
1 Like
This is also the second thread you have going on this subject. I suggest keeping all the information in one thread.
1 Like
To determine where your coolant is going, you need the cooling system pressure tested and a chemical test to see if there is exhaust gas is in the coolant.
A head gasket replacement is expensive, don’t go off half cocked and fixing things without a diagnosis.