Thermalweld

[treegump]

http://www.thermalweld.com/

Anyone hear of it or ever use it?

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

I know some people tried it before, and all it did was buy them some time. Problem was when they did finally go to fix it correctly, the thermalweld had made a MESS of the insides of the cooling system. IIRC the engines ended up going for scrap as there was no cleaning them out afterwards.

 

[btfarm]

Silver seal has saved me on a number of occasions.

 

[treegump]

Hm, I wasn't really needing any, but thought I'd check.

There are TONS of vehicles on craigslist for cheap that "only need a head gasket" - but, there's a reason why they're cheap..

 

[JayTheCPA]

Hm, I wasn't really needing any, but thought I'd check.

There are TONS of vehicles on craigslist for cheap that "only need a head gasket" - but, there's a reason why they're cheap..

Hmmmm . . . Yeah . . . I'd plan on new motors rather than mess with somebody else's failure to fix.


Back to the original question. Had a mechanic highly recommend Blue Devil for our Taurus (when the wife decided that coolant was optional and let the motor get so hot it detonated (fuel self ignition) which resulted in a $600 head job). Did seem to extend the life. Probably should have just replaced the motor rather than the $600 head job & Blue Devil. Got another ~2 years out of the car until it finally imploded. During that time we saved for its replacement. Likely could have gotten more time & use out of that car were the overheat not so severe.

 

[Will L.]

You use it when you do not have the money to fix it now, and know that engine is not going to be rebuilt, and keep in mind what it is doing to your radiator. Most cars have oversized ones, we all on the otherhand...

 

[jrsavoie]

We bought 2 years on one of my son's trucks by using something that was very labor and flush intensive.

You had to thoroughly flush the system. Remove the thermostat and bypass the heater core.

Then you ran the stuff for hours at a minimum temp - hard to do with the thermostat removed. Then let it sit for a given amount of time, then flush and refill.

It was still working for at least 2 years until it had a bad valve

 

[NVW]

We bought 2 years on one of my son's trucks by using something that was very labor and flush intensive.

You had to thoroughly flush the system. Remove the thermostat and bypass the heater core.

Then you ran the stuff for hours at a minimum temp - hard to do with the thermostat removed. Then let it sit for a given amount of time, then flush and refill.

It was still working for at least 2 years until it had a bad valve

Sounds like head gaskets could have been done in that amount of time.

 

[jrsavoie]

Sounds like head gaskets could have been done in that amount of time.

But not the small cracks in the heads. LOL At least not for the same price

 

[FellowTraveler]

I've read the Northstar Caddy motors had ginger root powder installed in them when customers complained about coolant loss to get past them past warrantee period.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

I've read the Northstar Caddy motors had ginger root powder installed in them when customers complained about coolant loss to get past them past warrantee period.

Yes, and it works. It was also used in the 6.5l and several others with minor coolant leaks. I used to put a couple of tabsvin whenever I did cooling system work.