Hi everybody, hope your well. I recently had a new head gasket fitted and unfortunately I've been still losing coolant so I took it to a garage and they said I had a pinhole leak in the radiator so they used Kseal to plug it because "it would cost £100's to replace radiator". In your opinion was this sensible or bodge?

A bodge, what kind of a garage turns work away at this time of year?

Just now, sepulchrave said:

A bodge, what kind of a garage turns work away at this time of year?

I thought the same thing. I said to the guy, I've just had the hg changed and thought that Kseal was a bodge but he said its not worth spending £100's on new radiator and this would sort it BUT now I have no heat from the heater in the cabin. I reckon the Kseal may have clogged the heater matrix

Used K Seal a few years ago when I noticed an antifreeze smell when the car was stationary on the drive after a run. During an MOT the tester commented. The bottom nearside corner of the rad was damp but the leak must have been really small since I never added any coolant. Once the K seal had been added the damp patch disappeared and never had the smell again.

 

From memory K seal is only active for a short time unlike some of the old additives which did have a habit of clogging rads etc. The coolant has actually been changed in mine a couple of times since thus there is almost certainly none left.

 

Agree its a bodge but its a bodge that has worked for me. Keep meaning to get a new rad just in case it leaks again but it will stay on the car until it needs doing.

15 minutes ago, skidpan said:

Used K Seal a few years ago when I noticed an antifreeze smell when the car was stationary on the drive after a run. During an MOT the tester commented. The bottom nearside corner of the rad was damp but the leak must have been really small since I never added any coolant. Once the K seal had been added the damp patch disappeared and never had the smell again.

 

From memory K seal is only active for a short time unlike some of the old additives which did have a habit of clogging rads etc. The coolant has actually been changed in mine a couple of times since thus there is almost certainly none left.

 

Agree its a bodge but its a bodge that has worked for me. Keep meaning to get a new rad just in case it leaks again but it will stay on the car until it needs doing.

I felt as though i was talked out of doing a proper job because i was told hundreds, like £600-700 which after £800 hg change and flywheel on the way out, i could just not afford. Do you think kseal could clog the heater matrix or anything in the coolant system?

No heat could be a stuck heater flap rather than a blocked matrix.

5 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

No heat could be a stuck heater flap rather than a blocked matrix.

Yeah i thought that was a possibility but since before the hg was changed my temp gauge was fluctuating from 90 to 45 then 65 oc etc and since Kseal has been put in the dial gets to around 85-90 and stays there with next to no heat which made me think it was Kseal but could just be a coincidence. You can't trust any of these garages, think il use public transport

Edited 3 February, 20197 yr by Tomjones1995

Also, does anybody know if Kseal is supposed to froth in the header tank? Because the other day (couple of days after Kseal was put in) after driving there was a orangey froth in there.

2 hours ago, Tomjones1995 said:

I felt as though i was talked out of doing a proper job because i was told hundreds, like £600-700 which after £800 hg change and flywheel on the way out, i could just not afford. Do you think kseal could clog the heater matrix or anything in the coolant system?

 

Whoever told you £600 to £700 for a new radiator needs flogging in public. A new Nissens radiator for a Mk 1 Fabia 14 petrol can be had for as little as £23.

 

DIY the job, easy enough, add in antifreeze and you should still have change from £50. Just check the hoses, on an older car they can easily be rock solid and snap.

5 minutes ago, skidpan said:

 

Whoever told you £600 to £700 for a new radiator needs flogging in public. A new Nissens radiator for a Mk 1 Fabia 14 petrol can be had for as little as £23.

 

DIY the job, easy enough, add in antifreeze and you should still have change from £50. Just check the hoses, on an older car they can easily be rock solid and snap.

 

I thought the price they gave was over the top too in hindsight. If you were in my position, what would you do now that Kseal has been used. Just drain and refresh the coolant and see if the leak persists and if it does do it properly?

 

I've got another half dozen problems still left on it including the clutch/flywheel and i can't seem to sort anything out with garages, its doing my head in. I appreciate the advice

Edited 3 February, 20197 yr by Tomjones1995

You're not having much luck with this car Tom :(

 

 

Owning a lemon really sucks, always worth joining the AA, that way you can get a thorough inspection before you buy.

1 hour ago, TMB said:

You're not having much luck with this car Tom :(

 

 

Tell me about it. But i feel most of the problems are easy fixes for any competent mechanic to fix but out of the 8 odd garages I've been to, nobody can sort it. I love the car and don't want to sell because of bad mechanics, that's why i come on here to speak to you guys who i trust whole heartedly.

 

36 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

Owning a lemon really sucks, always worth joining the AA, that way you can get a thorough inspection before you buy.

Yeah i thought about that when i bought it in 2015 but it seemed fine then. The problem is that i have say one or two problems, pop to a garage and say "have a look at x and x for me please" they say "sure, your problems are this this and this" they do the work and then the problem not only persists but makes new ones. So i end up with one hell of a list and no one to trust to fix them for me :(

 

Anyway I'm going to try this latest garage for a couple of things tomorrow and will keep you posted. Hopefully 9th time lucky

Edited 3 February, 20197 yr by Tomjones1995

The cars in the garage for a sniff test on header tank. Could I just ask if revving it in neutral help the test be more thorough?

3 minutes ago, Tomjones1995 said:

The cars in the garage for a sniff test on header tank. Could I just ask if revving it in neutral help the test be more thorough?

 

No, the test is for dissolved gases present as acid in the coolant, these gases dissolve over time so unless you've changed the coolant it makes no difference.

2 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

 

No, the test is for dissolved gases present as acid in the coolant, these gases dissolve over time so unless you've changed the coolant it makes no difference.

I changed the coolant after HG change end of Nov and it's got an orange tint in it now after kseal. Is there any way I can make this test more accurate?

21 minutes ago, Tomjones1995 said:

I changed the coolant after HG change end of Nov and it's got an orange tint in it now after kseal. Is there any way I can make this test more accurate?

 

No, it's a simple test, the coolant is either acidic due to dissolved combustion gases or it's neutral if there aren't any, however K-Seal has a Ph value of 5.2 so is slightly acidic which may confuse matters.

I really would not have added K-Seal before doing this test.

Thank goodness the sniff test came back negative for exhaust gasses so a massive plus and they reckoned the no heat issue was the heater matrix which was clogged but would that cause the temp gauge to fluctuate? Because it was doing that before

Have the thermostat and ECT sensor ever been replaced to your knowledge?

5 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

Have the thermostat and ECT sensor ever been replaced to your knowledge?

No not to my knowledge, if I was to hazard a guess I would say no. But they said after flushing the heater matrix its bringing out lots of heat, so if its the thermostat it wouldn't bring out any heat would it?

Edited 5 February, 20197 yr by Tomjones1995

A stuck open thermostat on a VRS means it simply doesn't warm up properly, a dodgy ECT sensor would cause the fluctuating needle.

4 minutes ago, sepulchrave said:

A stuck open thermostat on a VRS means it simply doesn't warm up properly, a dodgy ECT sensor would cause the fluctuating needle.

The symptoms I had was needle fluctuating up and down and luke warm heat. After Kseal, needle close to 90 with no fluctuating with no heat. Could Kseal of blocked the heater matrix and it be the thermostat failing aswell? 

Edited 5 February, 20197 yr by Tomjones1995

These two parts are cheap and should be replaced anyway.

1 minute ago, sepulchrave said:

These two parts are cheap and should be replaced anyway.

Yeah I will change them if necessary but I just find it so strange that the needle was all over the place and after Kseal its stays near 90

I've just thought of a possibility, tell me if it makes sense or not. HG failure with combustion gasses in coolant, gas locks the heater matrix but not completely, then Kseal completely locks the heater matrix, they flush it and the heater works plus the Kseal cleaned the coolant temp sensor at same time so they all magically work again? If it works that's great but I'd like to make sense of this of possible, its really weird