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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Bar's Leak Cleaning Engine/Radiator

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Bar's Leak Cleaning Engine/Radiator     Old Henry 12-04-2010 @ 3:07 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 738 Joined: Apr 2010 What is your experience with Bar's Leak? G.M. posted this today in a discussion about cooling on the FordBarn and it intrigues me and I wonder if anyone else has had this experience with Bar's Leak? If it really works that way it sounds like something good to try. I always thought adding something semi-solid like that risks plugging up some small openings in the cooling system more than just small leaks we might want plugged up. "By accident I discovered that running Barrs stop leak with aluminum granulars over a LONG period of time cleans and polishes the tubes and top plate of the radiator. It may also provide some cleaning of the block but I can only report on what I see. The picture is of the radiator shown is of my 39 convertible with 108,000 mile over the past 30 years. The radiator was rebuild over 20 years ago and the Barrs heavy duty aluminum stop leak installed maybe 10 or 12 years ago?? About a year ago I drained the radiator down some to replace the top hoses and noticed the shinney top plate and tubes. After changing the hoses I took my drain pan and watering can and pulled into the radiator shop and drained the water down to expose the top plate. The owner who is a friend of mine came over and asked what was going on. I told him I should of known better to let him rebuild the radiator. When it got down to where we could see the plate and tubes he said he never saw a radiator like that and said I must have something that removes electrolisis. The only thing I had was the Barrs and the fact that the water is being forced through the radiator at a much higher volume with the aluminum granulars acting like a polishing agent??? G.M." (G.M. hope you don't mind me quoting you.) Anyone else had this experience? The manuafacturer claims that it Seals Leaks Conditions Cooling System Inhibits Rust and Corrosion Lubricates Water Pump Seal Helps Control Electrolysis http://www.barsproducts.com/C16_R6.htm I just wonder if it really does all of that without any downside risk? Old Henry (The older I get, the better old looks.) Stroker 12-04-2010 @ 3:58 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Well Old; I can't attest to the scrubbing action of the aluminum ("aluminium" for you Canadian's), but as a former USN type, I can attest to the fact that the USS Nautilus (our first Nuke sub.) used Barr's to mitigate leaks in their steam propulsion nuclear generating plant. I grew up on a ranch "out-west"; we grew almonds, which most people only see in their naked, nut-meat form. Outside the "meat", is a sh*ll, which looks a lot like a peach pit (peaches and almonds are first cousins) and outside the sh*ll is a "husk". We had an ongoing contract with Barr's to provide them with the outer husks, which are the main ingredient in Barr's. Since we generated hundreds of tons of husks annually with our harvesting equipment, they would come and pick them up in semi trucks. What they did with them afterwards is proprietary, but the expanding, sealing, raw fibrous material is in fact, a processed product from the outer husk from an almond. Needless to say, we used Barr's in all of our motorized "stuff". About 30 years ago, Zerex anti-freeze incorporated a "fibrous" additive to their engine coolant/antifreeze. There were some serious problems associated with that product, as it tended to clog the heater cores on contemporary vehicles. I used that product on a 72 Xhevrolex, and it did indeed clog the heater. After replacing the heater core, I seriously questioned ANY "anti-leak" product. So...I'm not a big fan of anti-leak products, but I believe that Barr's is probably as benign as any. If I had a minor leak in my 38 Ford, I'd dump in a jar of Barr's, and expect that it would last at least a year. ford38v8 12-04-2010 @ 6:20 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2758 Joined: Oct 2009 Dan, you're a jewel of many facets! Who would have known that stuff but an older than dirt almond orchard swabbie? Alan Stroker 12-05-2010 @ 6:29 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Alan: Well, to set the "record straight", I used the term "husk", when I referred to the outer covering of an almond. I guess I've been around the corn fields of Iowa too long, as the correct term is "hull". Also, in the central CA area where dry-farm almonds are grown, they pronounce "almond" aah-mun" rhyming with "salmon". So did we grind-up almond hulls and dump them in our leaky radiators? No. 51f1 12-05-2010 @ 7:29 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 573 Joined: Oct 2009 Rather than using Bar's Leaks or some other stop-leak product, fix the problem. Anything that will stop a leak will clog-up your cooling system. Richard keith oh 12-05-2010 @ 7:38 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 116 Joined: May 2010 Remindes me of my father stateing that they used dried up horse dung in the old Ford Fordson tractor to temporarly slow down and sometime stop leaks. There was plenty available and the price was right. supereal 12-05-2010 @ 8:12 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Be cautious about putting anything that is non-soluable in water and antifreeze in your cooling system. Barr's has a new stop leak on the market using carbon fiber. Their products are good quality, and we use the original with every rebuild in case there are any minor leaks in these old blocks. But, if you see evident leakage outside the engine, repair is due. I don't know about aluminum or any other non-soluble additive cleaning the interior of the radiator, but I'm wondering where any debris ends up, if that is true. ford38v8 12-05-2010 @ 12:31 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2758 Joined: Oct 2009 I checked on the Bars website, and didn't locate a product containing aluminum powder. I would think, though, that it would serve as a sacrificial metal preventing electrolysis. I believe that the way Bars works is to get hung up in a crack like a monkey trying to pull a nut out of a bottle. Just think of all those monkeys swimming around in your radiator looking for a way out. Alan

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