Imagine if you step out of your house ready to go out for an urgent meeting or engagement and when you arrive at your car you find traces of liquid sitting underneath your car bonnet, or you are on a road trip and your radiator starts leaking in the middle of your trip with no specialist around to get it fixed for you. This can be a very troubling and disturbing discovery as your mind starts calculating the damage and how much you will have to spend to repair the damaged car part including the time it will take to get it fixed.
It is in this situation that radiator stop leaks (sealants) come in handy to help keep fluid in the radiator and stop the leaking, pending when you get the radiator properly fixed. Apart from fixing the situation, stop leaks also work as preventive measures to prevent tiny holes from expanding to cause greater damage to your car radiator.
With a good radiator stop leak, you save time and cost, and your vehicle stays on the road for longer.
Some stop leak sealants required drainage of your cooling system after application while others work properly with the coolants still in the system. It is better to go with the ones that mix well with your coolants so you do not end up draining away the stop leak particles that have sealed the leakage thereby opening up the already closed holes in the radiator.
Radiator stop leaks come in two main forms – Liquid stop leaks and tablet stop leaks.
The liquid stop leaks are the most common types of radiator stop leaks. They have low cohesiveness and thus they can easily move through and mix with the radiator fluid and reduce friction. The additives in most liquid stop leaks make them able to eat away rusts and clear dirt away.
Tablet stop leaks are not as common as liquid stop leaks. They work by dissolving in the radiator liquid and breaking off into small particles. These particles then travel down to the areas where the leakages are to seal them off. The particles then burn up after a while to seal up the holes after a while.
Now let us take a look at a few stop leaks which have proven their worth and quality that you can use to prevent and stop radiator leakage in your vehicle.
Kalimex Ltd ST5501 Coolant Leak Repair
The Kalimex Ltd ST5501coolant leak repair popularly referred to as K-Seal is designed to seal holes that are as big as 0.635mm and also prevent clogging.
- No flushing. Just shake, pour and go.
- Multi-purpose one step Permanent
Last update on 2024-04-13 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
This means that you can use it without worries of the passageways of your radiator getting clogged, or damage to your engine. Also, the mesh that is created by the K-seal on the holes in the radiator is strong enough to serve as a permanent solution for leakages in your radiator.
You do not need to drain your radiator to use the K-Seal as it works well with Anti-freeze. The K-Seal stop leak does not only work to seal radiator leakages but can also be applied on gaskets and cylinder heads.
Holts SEALit Stop Leak.
Holts SEALit is a professional multipurpose solution to get rid of leakages in all types of cars.
- PROFESSIONAL COOLANT LEAK REPAIR : Radweld Plus is the total coolant leak repair, specially designed with an...
- COMPLETE COOLANT LEAK REPAIR : Radweld Plus is the total coolant leak repair, specially designed with an anti-corrosion...
Last update on 2024-04-13 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
With Holts SEALit, you do not need to drain your radiator or flush your system to use it. All you have to do is pour it and it does the rest of the job.
It does not clog the passageways for fluid in the engine as it is big enough to create a permanent solution to leakages while also being small enough to still enable the fluid in the system pass freely and do their job in the car.
Holts SEALit works very quickly as it begins working immediately you pour it, and in a matter of minutes, all the leakages are sealed.
Liquid Moly Pro-Line 5178 Radiator Stop Leak
This radiator stop leak is a universal solution for stopping leakages in both cold water and hot water systems with or without water filters. It is suitable for correcting and stopping leakages as well as preventing it from occurring.
- Suitable for all cold water and hot water systems, with or without water filters Also suitable for aluminium and plastic...
- 250 ml of paste is sufficient for 40 litres
Last update on 2024-04-14 / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
The Pro-Line radiator stop leak is also compatible with all standard cooling stabilisers and frost protection agents.
This radiator stop leak is very easy to use. All the user has to do are the following:
- Shake well before usage
- Start the heater
- While the engine is up and running pour the liquid stop leak into the coolant.
- Allow the engine keep running for about 10 minutes (It is within this time frame that the liquid locates and seals up all leakages in the cooling system).
Advantages of a Radiator Stop Leak
– By regularly topping up your radiator with stop leaks you prevent your car from breaking down unnecessarily. The job of the coolants in the radiator is to prevent overheating in the car. So when there is a leakage in the radiator, liquid coolants drain out faster increasing the chances of overheating. Regularly topping up your radiator with stop leaks will seal up holes in the radiator thereby preventing such occurrences.
– Regular use of radiator stop leaks will save you costs as it will stop leakage before it deteriorates and require you to completely replace your radiator which will cost more.
– Performance of your vehicle is also improved as fluid constantly flows to the right place thus keeping your vehicle in smooth running condition.
Before you use a radiator stop leak, there are a few factors you need to put into consideration.
– A radiator stop leak is not always a permanent solution to leaks in the radiator, especially major leakage. It is built to stop and seal off minor leakages in the radiator. So, you have to regularly check your radiator to ensure that the leakage is not a major one. If it is, you have to seek the help of a professional.
– You also have to check to know if it is easy to use. If you encounter a difficulty or you are not sure of how to properly use it, you should call for the assistance of a professional to help apply it.
– Before you use a radiator stop leak read the specifications to be sure that it is compatible with your radiator. This is because if you get one that is not compatible with your engine you might end up doing more harm than good to your radiator.
– Price and quality are also very important determining factors when considering getting a radiator stop leak. As with every other product in the market price varies as well as the quality. When getting a radiator stop leak it is better to go for a high-quality stop leak even if it is expensive. This is because if you opt for a low priced one, you might be signing up for low quality which might end up damaging your radiator or other parts of your vehicle. So quality is key.
Wrapping Up
In this article, we have been able to give you tips on maintaining your radiator and the products you can use for both leakage prevention and correction.
It is important to note that asides the products talked about in this article, there are a ton of other stop leaks you can check out. All you need to do is to apply the determining factors we talked about to get the one that best suits your engine and you are good to go.
