Pepper to fix rad leak???????

[GRANDFURY]

A guy at work tonight told me that in the summer he had a really badd rad leak and he put pepper in the rad and it stoped the leak and he said it is still holding and he hasn't done anything else to it, his car is a turbo lebaron and he says he drives the shit out of it. I didn't belive him but thought I would post it here and maybe someone else had heard of this?

[GRANDFURY]

Well im supposed to be getting a rad off E-bay this week so I guess I could try it seeing as i'm switching in the new rad this weekend. I'm also hoping to do the altenator (again), and front pads, the alt is a good one this time and if I feel like it I might try that ECM I still have from the wrekers 'cause I only swaped out the chip last time. Well i'm going to try it tomorrow, the pepper that is and I'll tell you guys if helps anything. 8)

[phantomshado]

I think what the guy was referring to is a product called alumaseal. It looks like pepper and comes in a small tube, roughly the size of a pepper shaker. It works great.

 

Hope it helps. -Ben

[grandprix104]

yeah pepper is NOT something you would want to put in your radiator. Remember all the coolant in your radiator is also pumped through your engine block and w/p and you dont need extra crap clogging it up. I would buy the alumiseal, bar's stop leak, or one of the many other sealants MADE for that purpose. They melt in the hot fluid and then becom solid again as they seep through any leaks in the system.

[GRANDFURY]

Maybe I wont try it then but he used accutal pepper from his kitchen.

[godofthunder]

Barsleak is also a great rad stop leak. I tried the botle, and the powder, and the powder was much nicer!

 

jon

[jeremy]

FWIW: 1cup sugar in the gas tank adds 50hp at the wheels....

[Dan94Z34]

Never put bars stop leek in your car. It will block up the cooling passages in the block and heads, causing even bigger problems. We I was working on a pit crew for hobby stock one summer, we put egg whites in the radiator to plug up a hole. It actually works. I saw it on McGyvor one time .

[grandprix104]

actually GM actually reccommends bar's stop leak be added after a coolant flush to many of thier cars (at least thats what ive heard from a couple of mechanics).

[Dan94Z34]

iv'e tore the heads off a 305 once that had bars in it, and the jackets were all plugged up with the stuff.

[Intlcutlass]

My brother n law has used the pepper in the rad quite sucsessfully. Hasn't had any problems.

[grandprix104]

the product pictured above is AWESOME for fixing leaks in radiators BUT you need to know where the leak is.

[GnatGoSplat]

Alumaseal kept my head gasket sealed up for 5yrs!

[tomz34]

A guy at work tonight told me that in the summer he had a really badd rad leak and he put pepper in the rad and it stoped the leak and he said it is still holding and he hasn't done anything else to it, his car is a turbo lebaron and he says he drives the shit out of it. I didn't belive him but thought I would post it here and maybe someone else had heard of this?

This does actually work, I've used this fix myself, with household pepper. I use to drive commercial truck to N.Y.C. every night from Pa.

(Have local delivery job now), anyway one night years ago I was traveling

across RT 287 in N.J. about 3:00am on my way to N.Y.C., something on the road flew up and actually knocked a hole in my radiator near the bottom about the size of a dime. I took the first avaliable exit and went

to a 24hr convienence store. After seeing the damage I called my boss at

home and asked him what he wanted me to do. The convienence store I

was at didn't sell any type of stop leak and there were no 24hr garages where I was located. My boss told me to see if they sold pepper at the store I was at, I bought every can of pepper they had in the store and put

it in my radiator, and as GOD as my witness it stoped the steady flow of

prestone from my radiator. It allowed me to drive the truck back to PA,

without overheating, and have our own truck mechanics make the needed

repair in the morning. I did have to stop once on the way home ( about 115 mile trip) to add more coolant, but it got me home. It is not something

I would recomend doing unless you were really in a jam, but it will work.

[godofthunder]

Actually...bars leak stoped the leak, and was fine.

 

My dad recomended it...who is also my mechanic! He also worked at the dealer for like 10-15 years, GM master tech, etc....this is what he said was the best available.

 

jon

[GRANDFURY]

Well this morning my new rad still hasn't gotten here so I said wat the hell and put 2 table spoons of black ground pepper in my rad and then filled it up and my coolant light hasn't come on all day and the rad is still full!!!! I couldn't belive it worked, the rad fuild was getting expensive almost a litre a day I was adding to it so this will deffinatley help with the money issue until my new rad arrives. 8)

[Baddflash]

I have actually used pepper mixed with egg and it works quite well, family members have been using it for years.

I personally think Bars works awesome, it has fixed leaks it anything I put it in, including the 1.5 inch crack in the Z's 3.1L head(external leak). I was going to replace the head but now it will get swapped straight into the beater as is leak free.

[paulo57509]

Years and years ago, I've read in a Popular Mechanics or similar magazine (can't remember which) where they did an article on emergency vehicle repairs when you're out in the sticks with no help around for miles (this was decades before cell phones, etc).

 

This article said you can use oatmeal as a good stop leak (you can top off the radiator with soda pop).

 

I put stop leak in the same category as a spare tire.

[TGPilot]

Never put bars stop leek in your car. It will block up the cooling passages in the block and heads, causing even bigger problems.

 

What do you think the auto manufacturers put in your car when they assemble it? Now excess amounts of stop leak of any kind will plug passages and normally the first to suffer from excessive amounts is your heater core! Pepper works well and anyone in the military who has been in the field knows to carry a 1 pound can of pepper in a 5-Ton (large truck for troop transport or supplies) for those unexpected radiator "holes". :shock: 8)

[Dan94Z34]

maybee the guy used the bars incorectly? I dunno, but i took those heads ff the jackets were just plugged with the crap. Never heard of pepper fixing rad leeks. I will have to try it sometime. Egg whites worked awesome, when I was on that race crew one summer.

 

Also break fluid will fix a badly slipping tranny for awhile .

[paulo57509]

maybee the guy used the bars incorectly? I dunno, but i took those heads ff the jackets were just plugged with the crap. Never heard of pepper fixing rad leeks. I will have to try it sometime. Egg whites worked awesome, when I was on that race crew one summer.

 

Also break fluid will fix a badly slipping tranny for awhile .

 

This old guy I once knew bought an old '61 Belair with a slipping Powerglide. A can of STP fixed it right up.

[maddux31]

I just completely blew my leaking head gasket due to adding bars leak. Used the bottle type with the shit colored pellets and I even crushed the pellets with a spoon and remixed wtih the shit colored liquid before I added any of this stuff. Used 3/4 of the bottle and it did nicely for about 5 or 6 days then at 65 mph on I-80 at 0 degrees I get ice cold air out of my vents and 260 degrees on the temp guage all in about 30 seconds. Combustion mixing with coolant equals a quick loss of coolant in the system. My recommendaton is pay to fix it for real or take the heads off and fix it yourself. Not saying you can't use this stuff for radiator leaks but I wouldn't recommend it with aluminum heads (3.1 TGP) and leaks in that area. I'll be taking my heads off tomorrow or Sunday and give a little update on what the coolant passages in the heads look like and all that stuff. Dale Malcolm Omaha, NE......

[jamcneely]

Here's a better Idea folks. That I know in the long run will pay off. You shouldn't put anything in your cooling system, except for Antifreeze, and water. If you have a leak in your system you should fix it. Wheater it be a leaking hose, a loose hose clamp, a head gasket, a heater core, or the radiator. Sure I know parts on some cars can be expensive, and for the not so technical savvy. Labors costs can be as well, but trust me. Puting things like "Alumiseal", and "Peper", and other crap like that in your cooling system is just asking for even bigger problems than a simple cooling leak, down the road.

[maddux31]

Here's a better Idea folks. That I know in the long run will pay off. You shouldn't put anything in your cooling system, except for Antifreeze, and water. If you have a leak in your system you should fix it. Wheater it be a leaking hose, a loose hose clamp, a head gasket, a heater core, or the radiator. Sure I know parts on some cars can be expensive, and for the not so technical savvy. Labors costs can be as well, but trust me. Puting things like "Alumiseal", and "Peper", and other crap like that in your cooling system is just asking for even bigger problems than a simple cooling leak, down the road.

I agree with you 100%.

[GRANDFURY]

well it has been a few weeks now and my car is still running great rad fluid is still topped up in the rad and overflow, (still waiting on my e-bay rad ) Twwo tablespoons of pepper and it hasn't leaked at all, I drive her pretty good to it runs for aleat 150 km and at leat two and a half to three hours of driving time a day divided up during the day but it has been great. I would deffenatley recomend doing this if you are in a tight spot or sick of WAITING for e-bay and spending a fortune on rad fluid (a liter a day minimum). 8)