Question 1- Has anyone used Steal Seal ?
Question 2- Does anyone know of any video's or pic's of a head gasket repair?


My head gasket is leaking air now, never over heated, no problems at all till now. Still drives very well but the leak is there. Need help getting started on this repair

 

Most of these "stopz leekz" products contain sodium silicate as the major ingredient, CAS # 1344-09-08. Common name - water glass. Idea is that when heated it converts to a glass-like bonded blob to where ever the leak is. Some products incorporate additional material, like copper dust and shavings, aluminum flakes, clay, even carbon nano-fibers.

They may work for a short time. Perhaps long enough to get home from a trip, or save up the bonus checks for $300 worth of gaskets and bolts and another $200 of machine shop work to really do the HG. Week or two, maybe. Five years? Not likely. How long you can go with it is up to you. In theory, if you used it when it was first needed, might have a better chance of lasting longer. Most people wait until they have a critical incident and it just won't handle every situtaion.

Many factory instructions want the vehicle to be able to idle for an extended period without overheating to be a candidate for it.

Rapid heat/cool cycles and expansion can cause any such repair to fail. Being aluminum top and bottom, the Rover v-8 is in that class.

Once you make a spot repair to a gasket or container, you have fixed one spot. Murpy's Law then allows a new one to develop when you return to normal pressure.

When a stopz leekz product makes a seal, the quantity of material used is very small. The Rover spec for a warped head is one that exceeds .002 inch deviation from flat. Your printer paper is about .0038 inch thick, so we are talking a gnat's eyelash sometimes. What happens to the rest of the 32 ounce bottle of wonder jelly? It will settle in low spots, like the bottom "X" rows of cooling tubes in the radiator. If radiator has some dexcool sludge in it, or calcium build up from non-distilled water, even more things to lock on to. The loss of multiple rows reduces what radiator can take care of, causing more overheat eventually. Can do same thing to heater core. See pix.

In a D2, the wonder jelly (I just made that up so I don't get sued by a specific factory with 20 savage blood thirsty attorneys on staff) can settle on the four sampling holes in the thermostat. This reduces the flow of hot coolant to the stat, raising the temperature the block must reach before the stat will get hot enough to open. See pix.

If you search for threads started by EricTyrrell, you will find a current HG repair job by a damn determined Disco demon, engine blew on day 2 of ownership, and he has rebuilt it all just about, pretty good for a novice. Lots of photos and some video.

Are you sure HG is leaking, and not just valley pan gasket? What are your symtoms? Have you heard bubbles in the heate core under the dash? Any white smoke? How much and how long does it last? Have you considered the $50 chemnical test from parst store for combustion gas in coolant?

Lots of people have tried various stop leak products, and you may get temporary results. Many previous owners did this so they could sell the truck. See pix of old water pump with stopz leekz coating. I would have to say that small quantity is better, so if you wanted to try it, the K-Seal product has a very small quantity to install, vs a quart jug of mechanic-in-a-jar.

 

Buy this, I've used it, it works.
Amazon.com: K-Seal ST5501 Multi Purpose One Step Permanent Coolant Leak Repair: Automotive
I have NOT used it for head gaskets but for a leaking radiator on my wifes Volvo.

 

There is a video out there called” in search of the experience” or something close to that. If you have never done anything like head gaskets it’s a good watch I think it sells for $20 or so, British Altantic has it for a bit more. But if you have never done head gaskets before it is probably the best $20 you will spend.

 

Thanks everyone this is a great start, I am very grateful. Anything else is always appreciated.