Has anyone ever used Dura-Seal head gasket engine block sealer?

Took my Suby in for 150K maintenance. The mechanic told me my head gasket is leaking. Oil in my coolant. Told me the best thing to do is sell the car before it goes out on me.

 

I love my Legacy but don't want to be stuck with high cost repairs. What would it cost to repair blown gaskets?

 

Has anyone ever tired using a sealer to prevent/repair blown gasket? Do these chemicals really work?

 

My coolant levels are fine so I think I am okay for now. Don't think the mechanic had any reason to lie to me, not like he was selling me to repair the car at his shop.

if they leak is very very minor it may help but my best advice would be to do the repair its a little under 300 dollars for all the parts for a headgasket job unless u decide to replace the timing belt tensioner and idlers and stuff while ur in there, it seems a lot of the times ppl do it all at once

I am by no means a mechanic, nor do I have the tools or set-up to do the repair. I wish.

 

I did the timing belt at 100k along with the water pump. I've heard HG repairs anywhere from 1500-2k up to $4k.

 

My concern is will the sealant help seal and prolong the life of my engine? or can these chemicals actually do harm? and are a total farce?

 

My mother-in-law used some on her Infinity and fours years later she still hasn't blown the gasket like the mechanic said would.

single cam or dual cam

most of my mechanics that i work with do NOT recommend the stuff they say it actually plugs up more than it helps

Here is a write up from a reputable subaru guy with nice pictures

 

http://allwheeldriveauto.com/why-you-should-never-use-stop-leak-in-your-subaru/

motor is on borrowed time.

 

$300 in parts for head gaskets. $1700 in labor to remove motor, pull heads, replace gaskets and all other related parts that were removed in process like: oil pump, water pump, all timing belts, idler pulleys and re time the motor. Tons of labor.

 

I just replaced my motor after 1 single bad valve. $22 part. 6K in extra expenses.

 

Good luck!

Guess I should sell the car in the next 6 moths or so. Too bad. I really like my Legacy.

Where are you located? I did headgaskets in my 98 earlier this year and it was only $1300. If that's still too much see if someone local would be willing to do the labor for you. Maybe someone who has done it before and knows what they're doing has a free weekend and could use a few hundred extra.

Guess I should sell the car in the next 6 moths or so. Too bad. I really like my Legacy.

 

Has your dealer been using the Subaru coolant conditioner during regular servicing?

 

If you really like your car, it might be worth it to have it fixed. When you consider the loss on the car, the cost of a new one, etc.. it's cheaper to fix than replace.

Yeah I have a auto garage and one of my customers head gasket was blow on a Subaru Outback. Engine blowing white smoke even pushing water out of overflow tank. Would'nt overheat at idle but get in to red zone when driving. He did'nt have the money for new gasket so He brought the dura seal in a box with him and paid me to do put in in. I followed the instructions and even called their tech guy to make sure I did it right. I could'nt belive it, it freaking worked!!! Bottom-line, give it a try... worked for my customer.

Yeah I have a auto garage and one of my customers head gasket was blow on a Subaru Outback. Engine blowing white smoke even pushing water out of overflow tank. Would'nt overheat at idle but get in to red zone when driving. He did'nt have the money for new gasket so He brought the dura seal in a box with him and paid me to do put in in. I followed the instructions and even called their tech guy to make sure I did it right. I could'nt belive it, it freaking worked!!! Bottom-line, give it a try... worked for my customer.

 

As the owner of a shop you should know that the head gasket conditioner is not good to put. To a turbo motor. The heat of the turbo will cake up that stuff.

 

In a non turbo it has worked wonders. In non turbos it is a death sentence.

 

-mike

 

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11+ Years Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Subaru Enthusiasts.

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What about Subaru's coolant conditioner?

What about Subaru's coolant conditioner?

 

Same thing. Use it only on the non turbo engines.

 

-mike

 

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11+ Years Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Subaru Enthusiasts.

Call directly as We carry almost every manufacturer now, so before you buy parts call us.

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"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

Same thing. Use it only on the non turbo engines.

 

-mike

 

 

Interesting, since Subaru recommends it and it's been in mine for 6+ years now.

 

(05 XT)

 

I'm sure the rate of premature head gasket failures is lower on cars where the conditioner has been used.

Yup they recommend it but we have seen it cake up on folks in turbo cars and cause premature turbo failure. I am sure it is fine in your car but your car is a sample size of 1. We've serviced 1,000s and 1,000s of cars in the past 11 years.

 

The turbo motors are also not prone to HG failure because he gasket material is not the same as the NA cars.

 

-mike

 

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11+ Years Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Subaru Enthusiasts.

Call directly as We carry almost every manufacturer now, so before you buy parts call us.

AIM: AZP Installs | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.2971 | T-1 Certified Amsoil Direct Jobber

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I'm not questioning you I just find it odd that Subaru would suggest using it when it is known to cause other problems.

 

My HGs appear OK at the moment, but a friend of mine ditched his XT because the HG failed. Lots of oil floating around in the coolant overflow. The difference was his didn't have the conditioner in it.

Interesting, since Subaru recommends it and it's been in mine for 6+ years now.

 

(05 XT)

 

I'm sure the rate of premature head gasket failures is lower on cars where the conditioner has been used.

 

So your saying your 2005 XT had a HG leak 6 years ago ? Wouldn't that have been covered under the factory warranty ? Or were you just past the 36,000 mile bumper to bumper ?

So your saying your 2005 XT had a HG leak 6 years ago ? Wouldn't that have been covered under the factory warranty ? Or were you just past the 36,000 mile bumper to bumper ?

 

 

No, Subaru's suggestion was to use the coolant conditioner every time the coolant is changed. My head gaskets seem fine so far at 144,000KM.

I love my Legacy but don't want to be stuck with high cost repairs. What would it cost to repair blown gaskets?

 

 

Cost is going to vary by area, but like other posters have said, parts are about $300, but you can get cheaper gasket sets on eBay or the likes.

 

If the rest of the car is in good shape and you still enjoy the car, a couple grand is still WAY cheaper than another vehicle. Especially with the INSANE cost of used cars these days. Subies hold their value, but not so much when they exceed 150Kmi. You'll get a few grand for trade-in at best.

 

I'd call ask and call around for some pricing. Some people are itching for work these days.

 

Joel

I decided not to use the sealer. I just didn't want to take the chance. Played around with the idea of getting a new car, but didn't want to go back on monthly payments so I took the car to the dealer and had the HG replaced. About $2k for repairs. I really love my car so it was an easy decision. Runs great 6 months later. Now I need to do struts. 160+k miles on originals.

I bought a 4 cyl. outback about 8 months ago. It was blowing white steam outta the tailpipe and overheating anytime I went on the highway. I took it to my mechanic and of course he said it had a blown head gasket. I'm a student and don't have 1800 bucks for a new gasket so I tried the dura seal head gasket sealer and it worked! I've been driving it even since. What really sold me on the duraseal was the fact that it's not water-glass like all the other brands cause i tried blue devil and steal seal and both of those did'nt work. As a matter of fact they did'nt do anyting! Guess the DuraSeal gott'em beat... Great stuff!

I've heard horror stories with that stuff. Better to just replace the gasket

Hey guys,

 

So I wanted to get this thread back up because I just found out that I have a blown head gasket and really need to consider my options as I am in a unique situation. PLEASE READ

 

Here is the situation:

 

Bought the car 4k ago and noticed severe oil consumption. I first did a compression and leakdown and all looked surprisingly well. Took it to my mechanic (i know him very well and he does a great job) and he took a look at the car to find multiple oil leaks and even took the intercooler and turbo off. Noticed some oil in the intercooler and also noticed that the turbo needed to be rebuilt because of shaft play. So we decided to go ahead and rebuild the turbo, replace PCV valve, some oil feed lines, replace lower radiator hose and I also went ahead and added an up pipe and downpipe.

 

Got the car back about a week ago and tuned it to stage 2+SF and it has been running great. Ive been keeping an eye on the oil consumption and it actually seems to have dropped just a little in about 300 miles. However, today, I was driving on the highway and saw the temp gage shooting up. Pulled over and saw that the coolant reservoir cap had shot off and coolant went everywhere. The coolant in the reservoir was also bubbling which I know is a sign of head failure.Anyhow, I thought it was a thermostat but when I took it into the shop that was near by they wouldnt even replace the thermo for me because they were sure the head was blown.

 

I think its worthy to mention that my mechanic said my thermo had all kinds or coolant grit around it and when he tried to pressurize the cooling system it took quite some time so for the time being he recommended a new thermo and caps.

 

So basically im torn on what to do with the car because ive already put 4500 in mods to the car since I bought it only 2 months ago and dont have any more to spend right now. Ive been reading a lot about this DURA SEAL stuff and it seems to work for most people but I really dont want to mess up the car more and my car is also pushing more horsepower than normal. In addition, I am not sure if the head gasket is contributing to the oil consumption or if it could be something else.

 

Any input would be great as Im really contemplating trying the dura seal and seeing if it fixes the overheating problem and oil consumption problem.

I have tried those type of sealers with my old corolla. It could lessen the leak, but still really depends how intensive the damage/leak is... But this type of sealers won't solve the problem permanently and sometimes it aggravate more the damage due to sludge build up.