Heater core leak!!! - Page 2

Dec 11, 2025 | 10:14 PM

Share

#11

Dodgevity

Thread Starter

|

Champion

Joined: Oct 2013

Posts: 3,771

Likes: 448

From: Atlanta

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moparite

A fix in a bottle is not a fix it's a band aid. If you would have see my heater core when i removed it you would have been shocked. Most of the passages were clogged. I don't know what was put in there it was before i bought it. They did that instead of fixing the problem(leaking freeze plug). It clogged the radiator also. All the stop leaks work in a similar matter. There was an episode of Myth Busters where they used eggs to stop a leak in the radiator. It actually worked but have to wonder for how long.

Completely agree that nothing beats a proper fix, however, It fixed my head gasket leak 10 years ago and running. I'd call that a permanent fix. Cost was 40 bucks as It took two tries. Stop leaks are not all equal. Ingredients differ and methods too. They are tools and just like any tool, you can get different results in the hands of different individuals. If you don't know what was used in your heater core, you can't automatically blame stop leaks. You can wreck a core using tap water and mixing incompatible coolant types.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ol' grouch

Alum-A-Seal works and doesn't plug things up, but it only lasts a year or so. If I have a leak, it's cheaper in the long run to fix it correctly the first time. After I tore my '97 Dakota down, the heat and air would run you out at full blast.

If one can fix with stop leak vs replacing heads or spending days pulling a heater core, evacuating AC etc, I'd say there is a strong argument for good value there too. My heat can still adjust to unbearably hot.

A little tidbit here. Engine builders run stop leak for final seal on their motors. Mopar coolant has silicates in it for the same purpose as stop leak.

Last edited by Dodgevity; Dec 12, 2025 at 03:43 PM.

Reply

0