Engine, coolant pipes & rad swap out...vs KSeal?

[Samanthington]

Following on from my last post (link here) and some great level headed chats (thank you!), I have a dilemma.  

Mags needs a new engine, no question.  The coolant pressurises. 

It'll be no surprise to anyone that a new engine will be about £4k fitted.  I'm thinking I should really get all the pipes etc done too as she's only ever had blue coolant and there's a thin brown residue floating in the tank...I don't want that in the new engine!  So really, it's closer to £5k.

I know she'll run amazingly afterwards but, thanks to Covid, I'm now unemployed so I just can't justify it at the moment.  Trouble is, in the meantime she's just not drivable...it's a case of manually draining the overflow and topping up the header tank every journey.  Not only that but I found today that the radiator bleed screw has been threaded.  2 mechanics have been at it since I last bled it and having loosened it today, feeling the tell-tale bump as it turned, it now won't tighten...  

So my dilemma is - if I'm seriously considering a new engine, coolant pipes, tanks and rad, what would be the harm in trying KSeal or something like that first??  Can it cause a problem with anything else that won't be coming out when I'm a little more flush!?  

Perhaps then all I'll have to contend with - until I find another job - is how to replace the *&£@(^ bleed screw.  With any luck the Kseal will bung it up anyway.................!


 

[Jeff J]

For me, (not in a T25) it did not work sealing a leaking head gasket, but it did block up virtually everything else. in fairness it was not a daily driver so the KSeal could settle & gloop up over the time it stood unused.

[Aidan]

I got 12,000 miles on the engine with K seal and a complete coolant change but the pump failed after 3,000 miles, whether that was related or not I don't know, but I wasn't losing coolant into the barrels (liner/head seal issue) and only had to top up the top up tank occasionally as I only had a slight leak out of one of the head studs (which had clearly been 'attended to' before and which I didn't want to risk touching in case it made the whole situation worse) and slight weep at one rubber jacket seal, and I didn't intend to run it so long, the K seal was just meant to keep it going for a few months whilst the replacement engine was being built but I ended up having to sell the new engine as cash flow was a problem and so the k sealed engine had to run for another couple of years till the bodywork issues meant finally taking it off the road, by then both rubber seals were weeping but it cured the weepy stud nut
It will be interesting to autopsy the engine when it finally is removed from the shell

[ajsimmo]

K-seal is good for coolant leaks from high to lower pressure (eg hole in radiator), but won't seal a compression gas leak into the coolant. Don't put it in, it'll do no good and might make things worse.

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[Samanthington]

Thanks guys.  

I was going to contact you, AJ, and was mentally ready to drive up to Grantham until I realised you had moved quite a bit further away! 

Would you mind me giving you a call for a chat about swapping engines!?   

[ajsimmo]

Thanks guys.  

I was going to contact you, AJ, and was mentally ready to drive up to Grantham until I realised you had moved quite a bit further away! 

Would you mind me giving you a call for a chat about swapping engines!?   

No problem.

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