I have a 95’ Mustang 318 V6 with a cracked head gasket. I ran across a product while surfing the net called Steel Seal. I called them and they said if I would find the cylinder where the cracked gasket is
and pull that plug then install the Steel Seal in the radiator and run it for 30 minutes and let it cool down it would fix the cracked gasket. Has anyone tried it and does it work that well?
No, But I Have Heard Of Brand New Army Jeeps, Preserved In Cosmoline For $100!
This is akin to having a finger cut and drinking liquid bandage in order to fix it.
Gaskets seldom crack. They fail for a variety of reasons and a breach is formed. The gasket forms a seal between the head and block. The head and block are subject to hot/cold cycles and they expand and contract at different rates. The gasket is designed to accomodate this expanding and contracting gap between them. Any patch material you put into the cooling jacket must find it’s way to the breach and seal it. But, it must remain pliable enough to last through these hot/cold cycles. And what happens to the extra product that does not go into fixing the problem area? Will it plug up the small tubes in your radiator or heater core?
A second issue is the type of gasket breach. Your product works only when the breach includes the coolant system. There are gasket failures where the combustion chamber breach is to another cylinder or to the oil system but not to the coolant passages. Make sure you have the kind of failure that allows this product to work.
Undoubtedly, there are people who have used this product with some success. It’s a gamble IMO and the potential side effects outweigh the benefits.
Let’s not forget the “brand-new” WW II era Harleys, also packed in Cosmoline, just waiting for you for the sum of $100.!
TwinTurbo has given you excellent reasons to avoid this, and I agree.
In addition to the thermal cycling and mechanical stresses from differing coefficients of expansion, the headgasket also has to withstand pressures from the explosions in the cylinder…thousands of them. 3000 RPM for one hour equals 90,000 explosions in each cylinder. Headgaskets’ operating environments are as bad as it gets.
And the areas on the block and head surfaces where the breech is begin to erode as the explosions blow hrough them. Once channels form the surfaces need to be machined…multiplying the cost. It isn’t worth playing with magic goop to avoid a proper repair.
If it works, change the radiator because the tubes will be clogged.
For what it’s worth, that’s a 332 CID (3.8L) V6.
Don’t know about the product,but I am curious as to how you determined you have a headgasket problem and what technique are you going to use to find the cylinder affected by the headgasket problem.
You did not ask for us to verify your headgasket diagnosis or ask for help in finding the cylinder so you must be knowledgable in automotive diagnostic procedures,but then you don’t know about the “folly” in such 'mechanic in a can products"
Or perhaps out of work…