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MG MGF Technical - K-Seal - Any experience of using?

Hi all, long time since I've posted on here and glad to see some familiar names still about.

Now onto the question: does anyone have any experiene of using the K-Seal coolant additive to seal up any leaks on their F or TF?
I was made aware of it by a work colleague who's used it quite successfully on his '03 Rover to cure a water leak and I'm thinking of adding it to my '99 F VVC's coolant as a precautionary measure as once added to the coolant it continues to give protection against water leaks while ever it's in there.

Any advice or comments on peoples experience of this product greatly appreciated.

Happy F'ing,

Phil J
Phil J

In case anyone would like to know more about this product try this link:

http://www.kalimex.co.uk/section.html?secpath=01.04.&pgid=17

.... and I'm not on commission either :-)
Phil J

K Seal is a VERY VERY bad idea on the K Series.

I know of several people who have tried it only to suffer HGF from localised overheating.

The waterways in the cylinder head are quite narrow (and cylinder head cooling is a bit marginal on the bigger engines) - so anything that can interrupt flow is a BAD idea.

You have been warned!
Deborah Evans

Things that sound too good to be true; generally are!
Charless

I may have been lucky a few years ago when I put some sort of stop-leak stuff in (probably from Halfords) when I had a slight weep from the radiator. Stopped the leak for a couple of years until I had a nice brand new alloy radiator fitted. I also had a new head gasket fitted, and the old one was reported to be pretty grotty-looking. Still working, though! New radiator, pipes and hoses with good clips should be cheaper than fixing an HGF.
Mike Cunningham

I had a leaking radiator on the first day of a Bank Holiday while in Scotland last year on the Highlander – no chances of getting the radiator replaced so went to the local garage and bought some K Seal and filled the cooling system fully aware of the horror stories about sealant in the K Series cooling system. Leak stopped and had a splendid holiday cover about 1,500 miles without any problems. Got home and ordered replacement rad off ebay and had it fitted and coolant flushed. Car has been fine ever since (touch wood!).

I would not put K Seal in if there was no leak but as a quick fix it seemed brilliant with no down side!
Patrick

Never ever ever use a sealant in the cooling system.If you have a leak in the cooling system it must be repaired correctly. These sealants are designed to block holes that water can escape from and unfortunatley they have a tendancy to block anything else up in the cooling system which will impede the correct flow of coolant around the cooling system.

Richard

BUT when you are in the middle of 'no-where' on a bank holiday you perhaps have little choice - as did Patrick - we all waited with baited breath for the big bang BUT as he said it held out until he got home.
Ted Newman

I always thought that that this type of stuff only reacted to air, so that it would go hard and plug a leak. However, it would stay in it's original liquid form in the engine and since there's no air there it wouldn't do any harm to the waterways.

As Ted says, I remember waiting with baited breath to see if the leak in Patrick's radiator would stop after the additive was put in the header tank - it did.
David Clelland

I think if it's the only soloution like Patrick's problem give it ago BUT to use it as a just in case excersise NO. NO. NO.
Andrew Regens

Hi
I have just put that stuff in my passat because I had a leak that I could'nt find! Seamed to do the trick for me!!
Colin
Colin Ballard

Dave Clelland said..
"I always thought that that this type of stuff only reacted to air, so that it would go hard and plug a leak. However, it would stay in it's original liquid form in the engine and since there's no air there it wouldn't do any harm to the waterways....

What happens when it gets to the expansion tank?
Peter C

>>What happens when it gets to the expansion tank?<<

Good Point :-)
David Clelland

I would second those who urge you not to use any kind of sealing product on the K series, there are only a low percentage of failure modes where it could possibly help even in the short term. Having seen the crap that accumulates in an engine after it's use I would warn against it. Most of the product will fall as sediment into the lower block where it will impede waterflow, the remainder will rest in innacessible places in the head amongst other places. This is near impossible to remove even when the engine is stripped and will severely impinge on the cooling systems ability to remove heat from the engine.

Dave
Dave Andrews

This thread was discussed between 26/03/2009 and 08/04/2009

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