Club 80-90 Forums

Has anyone had success with using Steel Seal to slow down and delay the 'drip of doom'?

Never used it. But I doubt you will be doing your van any favours using it. Best get it sorted properly methinks. I have used K seal in the past and it stopped my Dalek cap from doing its job.

Better describe exactly what your problem is so you get the best advice

I used it when I had an issue with over pressurising as a temporary measure and whilst it seemed to make a small difference it didn’t last for long. As 937 says, you’re better off giving details of the problem for better assistance on how to rectify it.

Water jacket seal is just starting to weep on one side. Engine is original 125k miles and largely untouched. Water loss is very little indeed hardly noticeable.

I really do not want to face up to it this year and hope to delay things for a while (5k miles?).

Proposed Steel Seal because, as I understand it, it has no crud in it to block things unlike most sealers.

The stuff you pour into the water doesn't seem to do anything of use. The trouble is they all work on some level of pressure reduction or exposure to air to start to cure - its fine if the only low pressure or airy bit is the leak, but there are lots of other places it can end up meeting these requirements and causing unintended accumulations. Dalek caps, radiators, heater matrix and round temp sensors are all places that might get build up.

I had a not quite perfect seal on a joint when using k-seal and got this, where you can see the accumulation near the not quite leak:



If its a weep rather than a leak (i.e. with little force behind it) you may find my 'super bodge' of interest. Give it a good clean and smear a high quality sealant on the outside. Wouldn't work against a big leak, but got me 6 months of use (commuting) with no further seeping or need to top up:

So it sounds like spending 30 odd quid on a bottle of magic stuff ain't worth the bother?

I will attempt a super bodge in the style of T25Convert and keep a sharp eye on water levels.