Subaru Coolant Condioner

[Tayken]

So I have a small head gasket seal hole or something along those lines blows white smoke with a sweet smell and eats less than half a cup of coolant a week and never overheats. I don't want to replace the seals nor do I want to do a rebuild. I am saving the money to do an engine swap. 

Here is the question, is using the coolant conditioner on this engine year ok? Do I have to do a coolant flush in order to add the conditioner.

I just want to run this motor till it dies and just save the money for the swap. Will this quick fix be enough to get a few more months out of the engine. 

[jj421]

I've heard two good stories from people using Blue Devil in their EA82T engines.

 

 

Hopefully "marcusgl10z28" and "Twitch de la Brat" will see this thread, because that's who I heard those stories from. Maybe they'll give you better advice on how to use the product.

 

What kind of engine do you have? EA81? EA82? EA82T? If it's an EA82, I might want your old engine when you do an engine swap. I'm currently taking auto tech classes and would love to learn about rebuilding an engine, but I don't want to practice on the engine inside my daily driver. 

[MilesFox]

The subaru stuff you can add to the coolant.It's pretty inexpensive. Otherwise the 20 dollar 'liquid glass' stuff requires a cpmplete flush with fresh water to apply. I have had success with the liquid glass products (sodium silicate) with ea81 and ea82 engine.

 

The subaru stuff is cheap enough you may as well give that a go first.

 

Your motor might take a while to die. I used to drive 150 miles each way with a blown head gasket, i would run it with the cap loose so that the coolant wouldnt push out. I once drove 40 miles with no water pump so hot the oil was boiling. The motor (ea81)was still good putting on new head gaskets with no machining.

Edited October 22, 2013 by MilesFox

[turbosubarubrat]

Her profile says she has a 91 loyale so it has a ea82. What color is your loyale? I probably have seen it around Sandy before but there are alot of them going around so who knows. A head gasket, valve cover gasket, and intake monifold gakets don't cost a supper amount or take very much time to replace but i get you dont want to replace them. How many miles are on it? Also what all you are you going to be swap into it? There are a couple guys around sandy that have ej swapped so if you need help there are people out there.

Edited October 22, 2013 by turbosubarubrat

[pressingonward]

You can try running the Subaru coolant conditioner. I doubt it will fix your problem, but it won't hurt anything and it's worth a try.

 

I do not recommend using any other stop leak products. I have seen them clog radiators, heater cores, thermostats, etc. I've seen that liquid glass stuff completely block a thermostat and leave 1" solid chunks stuck inside coolant passages in the head.

 

If you are replacing the radiator (and maybe the heater core) along with the engine when you do your swap, then you can try one of the stop leak products. If you want to salvage any part of your cooling system for use with your engine swap I would recommend against it.

[Tayken]

Her profile says she has a 91 loyale so it has a ea82. What color is your loyale? I probably have seen it around Sandy before but there are alot of them going around so who knows. A head gasket, valve cover gasket, and intake monifold gakets don't cost a supper amount or take very much time to replace but i get you dont want to replace them. How many miles are on it? Also what all you are you going to be swap into it? There are a couple guys around sandy that have ej swapped so if you need help there are people out there.

Mine is the red lifted one with about 220k on it.

[Tayken]

You can try running the Subaru coolant conditioner. I doubt it will fix your problem, but it won't hurt anything and it's worth a try.

 

I do not recommend using any other stop leak products. I have seen them clog radiators, heater cores, thermostats, etc. I've seen that liquid glass stuff completely block a thermostat and leave 1" solid chunks stuck inside coolant passages in the head.

 

If you are replacing the radiator (and maybe the heater core) along with the engine when you do your swap, then you can try one of the stop leak products. If you want to salvage any part of your cooling system for use with your engine swap I would recommend against it.

Does it matter that the radiator is brand new, maybe 6 months on it.

[pressingonward]

Does it matter that the radiator is brand new, maybe 6 months on it.

 

There are two types of stop leak:

 

The common, cheap kind is pellets or powder made of aluminum and other stuff. They stop leaks by plugging the hole with a gooey mess that resembles cardboard that's been put in a blender with a cup of water. They not only stop leaks, they also plug the small coolant passages in your radiator and heater core. You may not notice since the radiator has many coolant passages, and some of them stay open. The problem is it's almost impossible to flush out the clogged passages, so when you swap in your new motor and try to drive over a mountain pass in the summer, or go wheeling in sand or mud, your car will overheat because the radiator can only flow half as much coolant as its supposed to be able to. The fact that your radiator is new means it might be slightly less likely to get clogged, since the passages should be pretty clean still, but more importantly, it means that you REALLY don't want it to get clogged and have to buy another one.

 

The second kind is the liquid glass stuff. I don't think it will clog a radiator, but like I said in my first post, I once pulled a thermostat out of a Ford Escort that was completely blocked off with the stuff, and it had a large chunk of it stuck in the cylinder head as well. It's sort of like epoxy. I don't have as much experience with this style of stop leak as the other kind. I believe it is supposed to actually work on blown headgaskets (The pellet kind really doesn't), and it may be worth a try in your case, but I'd definitely research it more.

 

The Subaru conditioner has some chunks in it (like the first kind of stop leak) but there is a very small amount of them and they are very small chunks. There is no way it will clog a radiator, and I trust the Subaru engineers to have developed a good product. I run it in my own cars.

[Tayken]

There are two types of stop leak:

 

The common, cheap kind is pellets or powder made of aluminum and other stuff. They stop leaks by plugging the hole with a gooey mess that resembles cardboard that's been put in a blender with a cup of water. They not only stop leaks, they also plug the small coolant passages in your radiator and heater core. You may not notice since the radiator has many coolant passages, and some of them stay open. The problem is it's almost impossible to flush out the clogged passages, so when you swap in your new motor and try to drive over a mountain pass in the summer, or go wheeling in sand or mud, your car will overheat because the radiator can only flow half as much coolant as its supposed to be able to. The fact that your radiator is new means it might be slightly less likely to get clogged, since the passages should be pretty clean still, but more importantly, it means that you REALLY don't want it to get clogged and have to buy another one.

 

The second kind is the liquid glass stuff. I don't think it will clog a radiator, but like I said in my first post, I once pulled a thermostat out of a Ford Escort that was completely blocked off with the stuff, and it had a large chunk of it stuck in the cylinder head as well. It's sort of like epoxy. I don't have as much experience with this style of stop leak as the other kind. I believe it is supposed to actually work on blown headgaskets (The pellet kind really doesn't), and it may be worth a try in your case, but I'd definitely research it more.

 

The Subaru conditioner has some chunks in it (like the first kind of stop leak) but there is a very small amount of them and they are very small chunks. There is no way it will clog a radiator, and I trust the Subaru engineers to have developed a good product. I run it in my own cars.

I bought the Subaru branded 'coolant conditioner'

[idosubaru]

are you positive it's a headgasket leak?  maybe it's something else?

[Tayken]

are you positive it's a headgasket leak?  maybe it's something else?

My mechanic pressurized the system while it was in last and that is what he told me. 

[Tayken]

I've heard two good stories from people using Blue Devil in their EA82T engines.

 

 

Hopefully "marcusgl10z28" and "Twitch de la Brat" will see this thread, because that's who I heard those stories from. Maybe they'll give you better advice on how to use the product.

 

What kind of engine do you have? EA81? EA82? EA82T? If it's an EA82, I might want your old engine when you do an engine swap. I'm currently taking auto tech classes and would love to learn about rebuilding an engine, but I don't want to practice on the engine inside my daily driver. 

We could work something out about that engine if the person swapping doesn't want it. Also I would be using the subaru approved 'coolant conditioner'.

[ivans imports]

Booo on anything you put in the rad just plugs up cores and makes a mess just fix the gasket. Remember anything you put in rad ends up on the piston if its using coolant its burning coolant Burnt stop leak on piston well you get the idea !

[TallonX]

I've used "liquid glass" in an 82 Supra that sat for a few years, did it as a preventative measure after I got the ole gal back on the road sideways XD

 

Anywho...

 

My case it turned into long fibers like it was makin fiber glass in my cooling system, be very aware of what your doing. Get a system cleaner, flush the hell out of it, run the cleaner, flush the f*** out of it, then follow the directions on the bottle.

[odie]

I've never heard anyone recommend these kinda fixes. I've been on old diesel mercedes boards, VW, Fiero, Volvo, Porsche, Jeep, Isuzu, you name it. No one has anything good to say about the head gasket snake oil stuff. It may work, but I think it would be temporary only. Maybe something to get you home.

 

but I'd pull the head and do the head gasket leak right.

[WoodsWagon]

More likely it's the intake manifold gaskets. They are cheap from Subaru and pretty easy to replace if you can get the bolts out.

 

You can try the subaru stop leak, it will probably work because the intake gaskets don't see the combustion pressures that a leaking headgasket would. But it would make more sense to replace the intake gaskets and fix it right.

[Twitch de la Brat]

I can say for a certainty the Blue Devil works.

But you have to use Distilled water with it. If you have any minerals in your water after doing it, it will bind to those and create issues.

So if you garden hose flush before adding it, make sure to flush the cooling system again after treating it.

I have mechanics that use Blue Devil without issue.

My only recommendation that they don't say on the bottle is to flush the system after sealing it, before you add antifreeze. It doesn't seem to react well with Antifreeze.

 

Twitch

 

PS: But intake gaskets sounds about right for your symptoms.

[idosubaru]

My mechanic pressurized the system while it was in last and that is what he told me. 

presurrized the cooling system?  what they just said - it's likely the intake manifold, mechanic probably doesn't know there's a share coolant port between the intake runners and coolant - it gets breeched and bleeds coolant into the combustion chamber just like a headgasket.

 

i'd verify it's not a $3 gasket that's easily replaced before attempting anything else.

[Tayken]

presurrized the cooling system?  what they just said - it's likely the intake manifold, mechanic probably doesn't know there's a share coolant port between the intake runners and coolant - it gets breeched and bleeds coolant into the combustion chamber just like a headgasket.

 

i'd verify it's not a $3 gasket that's easily replaced before attempting anything else.

I still need to take it to a mechanic, I don't have any of the tools or space sadly enough.