Blown Head Gasket Snake Oil

[unkymurch]

I appreciate eveyone's comments and my apologizes to all the mechanics and Supra purests, but I'll come back and post every few months and let you know how the "temp" repair is holding.

It's an issue of economics. I mentioned that I was not a mechanic and the Toyota Dealership quoted me $3500 to repair the head gasket. The State of Texas would credit me $3500 for purchasing a new or used car that won't pass inspection, but I'd still have to come up with an additional $10,000 to be on the road again.
The Thermagasket only cost me $97 with a money back guarantee that if it didn't work, I'd get a full refund. .... How could I lose?
Right now, I'm driving, I'm not overheating, and with the money I didn't shell out, I had the A/C serviced, so I'm driving down the road in air conditioned comfort. If it holds, I'm good, but if it should start to fail, I'll either get it fixed right because I have time to shop, or I may just try the compound again, who knows? I'm still driving, and with all the money I saved , I can put it in my gas tank and have food on the table for a while.

Right now, I'm ahead $3500 - $10,000 by taking this option.

I'll return to post my head gasket status every few months. It it doesn't hold, then you can tell me "I told you so..."

P.S. Don't tell anyone but I'm investigating adding an HHO Electrolyzer to increase my mpg, but that's another discussion thread.

[mkiiisupra]

i feel sad for your supra. But good luck in your adventures.

Just so you kno most mechanics will do a head job for around 1200... I wouldnt trust the dealership or any mechanic with my car but since it doesnt bother you any

Then if you take the time and care to learn how, and do it yourself your looking at even less with a bullet proof engine that you know will hold through anything becuase you know whats on the inside...

But i guess if you destroy your car mine goes up in value just a little bit

[Camicia]

Sorry, read below!

[Camicia]

I have a Toyota Echo 2000, bought 7 days ago as is and the guy that sold me it told me that was in good mechanical shape. Instead I have a blown head gasket. The guy used "Engine Restorer" to fix it but after a week it has problems again. I can find the hydrocarbon residual in the radiator. I am likely going to buy Thermagasket tomorrow and use it on Saturday.

I think the chemical in the bottle probably cost them less than $5 and selling it for $100 is a good business for them. But if it can fix my problem for a long time without damages in the engine it is definitely worth it. I don't think it is a scam but I understand that it may not working always.

What I want to be sure is that it will not clog anything in the system and the solution will be durable.

The guy I talked today told me that it will work.

Let's see what happens. I will keep you posted.

Best,
Camicia

[Camicia]

I tried without the plug in that cylinder. The engine cannot stay on. I guess it's the only cylinder that has not water in it.

[Camicia]

Update: after researching a little bit last night I found claims that K&B Block Seal by CRC is equivalent to Thermagasket but it cost 20 times less. I decided to buy it and i contacted the tech support.

In the email i received I read: "You are describing a compression leak with some other mechanical issues. We would suggest completing a compression test on the cylinders to determine the source of the leak. Once you locate which cylinder, keep the spark plug out while running the product through. This should allow the Block Seal to complete the seal without being force out by the compression gases. Our one concern is if the car has over heated previously and you are noticing oil, the head maybe warped. If this is the situation, Block Seal cannot fix a warped head"

I also contacted them by phone and she didn't have a lot of hope in her voice. She had been honest as her email was honest.

Today after flushing the system and removing the thermostat I took out the spark plugs. They were not in very bad condition but 3 out of 4 where a little dark. I put back the 2 that seems cleaner. and I turned the engine on.

Exhausted gas were still coming out from the radiator and if I was not wrong water and brown stuff was still coming out from the 2 holes. I think 3 out 4 of the cylinders have a internal leak. I didn't want to make things worse. so I gave up using the K&B block seal because I am not sure how it works but it's not good when it enter in contact with oil (not sure if I have oil in upper part of the cylinder. At least I don't think I have water in the oil...

Furthermore now i have the "check engine" light on. It came out when I disconnected the first time a plug cable without removing the plug and it still on.

Should I just scrap the car?

Best,
Camicia

[Busted Knuckles]

The clean plugs were most likely in the affected cylinders. The coolant will clean the plugs and cylinder walls of carbon. The check engine light is on, because the car detected two spark plugs not running. A compression test will pinpoint the affected cylinders.

A head gasket repair on this car should be easier than a Supra. This is a simple 4-cyl in-line. I did one on my Toyota Pick-up in one day. I'm about to do one on a 1993 Celica.

[unkymurch]

Well, it's Dec. 5, 2008 and I wanted to give you on update as I promised. I initially used the the Thermagasket product on April 1, 2008. It is now Eight Months later and everything is still holding and I haven't had any problems since. No blockage. No overheating. No regrets. Temperatures are operating and holding normally as if there was never a problem.

(I recently discovered that the previous owner removed the console light behind the radiator warning light. I suppose he had overheating problems, couldn't or didn't want to fix it, so he simply disconnected the warning light to deceive the next buyer. .... sneaky dishonest previous owner).

.... but it's fixed and working now. I even replaced the bulb and socket in the dash console so I can see if my overflow reservoir level is being maintained.)

I read other replies to my original post where different manufacturer's products were used and didn't work. I'm amazed that there are two pages of posts and replies after my first posting. This must be a serious concern of Supra owners.

I'm just posting my results to relay my experience, but it's unbelievable how many people want to "kill the messenger" or accuse me of ulterior motives.

Hey, the product worked for me and I'll continue to post the status just to give my experience with this specific product. Can't wait to post after next summer when it really gets hot in Houston. By then, I would have at least 12 months of using the product.

Until then or until if fails...

[mejensen1]

Originally Posted by unkymurch

Well, it's Dec. 5, 2008 and I wanted to give you on update as I promised. I initially used the the Thermagasket ...
Until then or until if fails...

Do you know anything about the chemistry of this product?
Sodium silicate is said to work well and is only a few dollars...however,... however "Steel Seal" claims to be polymers, which means plastics, in my mind...
Actually I have a Celica 1987 with a 3S-FE engine, Celica spun off Supra's in 1986, I think.
The 3S-FE engine's basic design must be respectable because engines up to at least a 2000 RAV4 used it's name, I think.

[unkymurch]

I don't know the chemistry behind Thermagasket. It would be best to contact them directly.

There is a two part liquid component that is poured into the radiator. There are no solid components.

My first installation held 2-3 years and would have continued to hold except that I had a later heater core leak that caused another overheating problem and caused the gasket seal to blow out again. Unless you diagnose and fix the other mechanical issues such as bad radiator caps, leaking hoses, leaking heat cores, leaking water pumps, etc. you'll always get an overheating problem and blow the gasket seal again.

Fortunately, I had the half of the remaining components (since I only used half the amount for the first installation) and reapplied the compounds just like the original installation and just like the first time, IT WORKED!!!!

After having run the car 2-3 years after the first head gasket issue, I felt I was putting too much money into a dead horse and didn't want to fuss with replacing or repairing the heater core, so I scraped the car. If it was something other than the heater core and I hadn't started a new job and needed transportation immediately, I might have tinkered around and done something different, but that was the decision at the time.

Unkymurch