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K-Seal - any good?

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K-Seal - any good?

muppet42

muppet42

by name and by nature
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Not a fan of the stuff. Had it in a previous car to fix leak in cooling system ok. But cooling system was never the same again, had bit of overheating after it on good few occassions. Might have been totally unrelated of course.
 
MarcH said:
Not a fan of the stuff. Had it in a previous car to fix leak in cooling system ok. But cooling system was never the same again, had bit of overheating after it on good few occassions. Might have been totally unrelated of course.
Click to expand...

from my understanding of it (which clould be wrong) is that while it can work in stopping leaks fairly well, it can also narrow coolant chanels and rad cores, also can gum up water pumps, thermostats etc

fwiw k seal seems better than old radweld etc, but theres more risk of doing long term damage needing a few expensive repairs rather than just biting the bullet and having the one expense early on (only if it was totally needed). as an emergency get you home thing, sure, but only if it was a last resort

also, it cant be used on oil leaks
 
I swear by K-Seal....one of the best on the Market.....Just ensure you do not put 2 much into the water system, it will certainally plug any small leaks. You can also put an oil additive in 'Coma 75000+' It has a similar effect to K-Seal but designed for oil systems...you coudls attack the head gasket from both sides.
 
Not a fan either, of these quick fix additives. Dnve the car as normal until the suspected problems get worse, and can be identified and diagnoised properly.
 
I am not a fan, but in the past I have used it on my first car which is an 899 cinq ... I got no heating and needed to top up the water constantly, the HG was past its best. I used k-seal and it did what it said on the bottle! Drove the car for around 7-8 months after it then crash it :( So can't really say how long that stuff would last!

But, i agree just get the HG done!

Ming
 
False economy, these things will end up costing you in the end.
I agree with the general consensus that the best thing to do would be get the head gasket changed asap.
Besides, you really need to answer this very pertinent question:
Mrcento said:
what symptoms is the car showing for the HG?
Click to expand...
Are you 100% certain it's the HG?
I ask as one culprit for many cooling issues on the Stilo (seems particularly obvious, but stick with me!) is the thermostat. I changed the one on the silver beastie before it went (resolved an issue or two) and have heard from Fiat 'techs' that it's a really common problem along with radiator failure...... across all engines too.
So bunging anything into the already sensitive coolant system to plug a gap is a bad idea IMHO.
 
Well, the first symptom I'd actually noticed was the small amount of mayo gunk in the expansion tank. Shown everyone I know who I feel's in the know - Andi, Ming, Craig and my mate Ally and each of them didn't think it to be too serious. Especially as the same gunk doesn't appear on the filler cap.

There's also a very tiny oil leak on the rocker cover however, especially since I thought there was an hg issue, I've checked the oil level and there's still plenty there even if it's needing changed. Coolant too is right in the mini-max range.

I mentioned it to Chick at CM Garage last time I was there and he said it was literally just starting to go. I'll quote from the the receipt I got after the check over..."Tested coolant system for hydrocarbons, chemical changed from blue to yellow after 10 mins. Removed all plugs, pressurised coolant system and checked in cylinders using bore scope, found there to be a slight mist in cylinders 1 and 2. Also the head of both pistons starting to look washed." Showed this to Steven soon after and he thought it was probably going from that description.

Basically though, I wasn't wanting to shell out a decent chunk of cash for something that maybe didn't need done. I've heard K-Seal mentioned before and figured it could be a solution. As for the thermostat, I couldn't say. The temp gauge never goes past the centre point and never dips below once the engine's come up to temperature. The fan comes on perfectly fine as well and the rad itself apart from the usual minor stone dents looks in good nick though I'd considered changing it for a Nissens one at some point anyway.
 
HG it is then

Sounds like the thermostat is in good health.
If the temp gauge went to the middle then dropped to about a third..... going down a long hill, for example.... chances are it would be goosed and in need of a change.
The report details confirm it, head gasket on the way out which is a right bugger but these things are sent to try us. It could last a year, it could last 6 months or even 6 weeks. Eventually it'll need changed and that's always a bitter pill to swallow.
So - crazy idea of the day - instead of fixing the 1.2 save the pennies and go buy a 1.4 Tjet engine (preferably from a 'hot' Fiat but one out of a Bravo Tjet would do) and bung it in the car instead. You know you want to :devilish:
Always thought a 1.4 Turbo Stilo was a damn good idea :smart: and the good news is it wouldn't take too much retro-engineering to fit as the Bravo is mechanically a Stilo :wink:
 
Interesting, could go the full hog and go down the Abarth route with the turbo/intercooler - end up embarrassing the 2.4 guys :laugh:

Kind of figured with the HG though. Shall keep a tab on things though, it's been in the same state for months without major loss of vital fluids nor the symptoms I had when it went in my old Punto ie catastrophic symptoms :D Hooned it around the Lake District for example with no ill affects (apart from my mpg :laugh :) . Once my finances are in order, I'll maybe coax a few people into sorting it out for me. Weather permitting this time of course ;)
 
YcMing said:
Seriously to the man there, 1.4 T-jet is the way forward ... given there are tons of room, everything would slot in there nicely!

Ming
Click to expand...

I think the main thing would be the electronics. The 1.4 T-Jet's basically the same engine so in theory mounts and such shouldn't be an issue and as you say, there's plenty of space. God, I'm actually considering this :laugh:

Andi_F said:
Hmm would these people be:
Me
Ming
Ally by anychance Rob??
Click to expand...

Possibly mate, if you's are up for it :) Steven offered to do it at the time so long as I pay his petrol and other expenses, which'd be fine by me. It's not quite as urgent hopefully as the brake situation was though, so I'll see how my finances pan out over the few months and update when I know :)
 
That's why you save up, fit the engine get everything sorted, roll it into a tuning shop tell them to fit loom and after market ecu :) .

Then at St Andrew, roll your car next to the Abarth crew, if they ask why you here get back to ur fiat crew replies saying " got the same engine as you have, but with more power ..."

As far as i am aware, don't think anyone has done this yet on FF/UK? It be truly unique and is car that you had alot of experiences with both good and bad :) . You be so happy once finished but it is a project on large scale!

Ming
 
muppet42 said:
Possibly mate, if you's are up for it :) Steven offered to do it at the time so long as I pay his petrol and other expenses, which'd be fine by me. It's not quite as urgent hopefully as the brake situation was though, so I'll see how my finances pan out over the few months and update when I know :)
Click to expand...

I'm always up for working on cars..... it's like a disease, once you start working on cars you can't stop....
Anyways as you said see how things are nearer the time.

YcMing said:
That's why you save up, fit the engine get everything sorted, roll it into a tuning shop tell them to fit loom and after market ecu :) .

Then at St Andrew, roll your car next to the Abarth crew, if they ask why you here get back to ur fiat crew replies saying " got the same engine as you have, but with more power ..."

As far as i am aware, don't think anyone has done this yet on FF/UK? It be truly unique and is car that you had alot of experiences with both good and bad :) . You be so happy once finished but it is a project on large scale!

Ming
Click to expand...

Now that I would like to see.
 
I know this getting off topic but......

No-one has attempted a 1.4 Turbo conversion on a Stilo - but they should and that's why I'm suggesting it. The relatively light all up weight with the 1.4 turbo, revised suspension (read Eibach pro-kit and one or two other tweaks for revised) and the fact that Fiat have done 99% of all the hard work make it an interesting and practical proposition. I'm pretty certain the Bravo 1.4 Tjet ECU and 'bits' will bolt in with the minimum amount of re-working which cuts down on potential costs.
Exhaust? No problem.... comes from a Bravo Tjet. Inter-cooler? No problem..... comes from a.... well, you get the idea.

Potentially, it's doable on a reasonable budget too. So much so I'm having a serious think about this myself as a potential project in a years time.

Why? Well, I liked the Stilo (in 3 door form at least) and in 5 years I would humbly suggest I made the JTD the car it should have been when it left the factory. With the chassis tweaking knowledge behind me, the idea of a 180bhp+ Stilo without a heavy weight 1.9 JTD or 2.4 5 cylinder lump in it makes (kind of) sense.
Keep it looking as stock as possible and a world of fun could be under a right foot.....

There have been several other turbo conversions to Stilos, particularly in Greece for some reason. The 1.6 and 1.8 engines have been turbo tweaked and some turbo 2.4 5 pots exist but the 5 cylinder 2.4s have generally not produced the expected power (sub 240bhp) and frankly it's a fragile lump. Shame, the 5 cylinder sounds f*cking great at full chat.

In the meantime, get the HG fixed on that 1.2 and dream of turbos :yes4:
 
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