Steel Seal Head Gasket fix (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jun 18, 2020
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2
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Location
Pahoa HI
I'm doing an experiment. I was an imported auto technician for thirty years and would never use a head gasket sealer for my customers. I picked up a 93 Land Cruiser that overheated. I runs perfect but has white smoke from the exhaust. I bought all the stuff for doing the head gasket and as I was taking it apart I found that the alternator was seized so the belts weren't spinning the water pump. I did a compression test and all the cylinders were about 200-220 psi and the plugs looked the same and hardly worn. I put a new alternator in and started it up with a radiator pressure tester installed. Ran perfect with the exception of the white smoke from the exhaust. It did not overheat ( temp gauge right in the middle) and the pressure held steady at 10 psi. After shutting it off the pressure held fine and eventually dropped to zero after 45 minutes. So I did a lot of research on head gasket sealers and Steel Seal had tons of good reviews and was by far the most expensive. So I ordered a bottle and I'm going to try it. I will post updates on how it works and for how long. I'll hold on to all the new parts so when it fails I'll replace everything with OEM gasket set, arb studs and aisin water pump.
 
Would be interesting if you could collect a sample of used engine oil
before you add the Steel Seal and send it out for an Engine Oil Analysis (Blackstone Laboratories). That test will tell you if there's coolant or elevated wear metals in the oil. Then after the Steel Seal and a fresh oil change repeat the oil analysis to compare the results, Pre and Post treatment.
 
I'm doing an experiment. I was an imported auto technician for thirty years and would never use a head gasket sealer for my customers. I picked up a 93 Land Cruiser that overheated. I runs perfect but has white smoke from the exhaust. I bought all the stuff for doing the head gasket and as I was taking it apart I found that the alternator was seized so the belts weren't spinning the water pump. I did a compression test and all the cylinders were about 200-220 psi and the plugs looked the same and hardly worn. I put a new alternator in and started it up with a radiator pressure tester installed. Ran perfect with the exception of the white smoke from the exhaust. It did not overheat ( temp gauge right in the middle) and the pressure held steady at 10 psi. After shutting it off the pressure held fine and eventually dropped to zero after 45 minutes. So I did a lot of research on head gasket sealers and Steel Seal had tons of good reviews and was by far the most expensive. So I ordered a bottle and I'm going to try it. I will post updates on how it works and for how long. I'll hold on to all the new parts so when it fails I'll replace everything with OEM gasket set, arb studs and aisin water pump.
You gonna turn around and sell it as a "replaced head gasket" truck, runs great!.....?


Why are you going to put in sealer?
Compression numbers look good, did not overheat.
Radiator pressure dropped after 45 minutes. Could be a hose leak.

Run the gas test on the radiator to confirm HG.

How much white smoke from exhaust?

Has it been sitting for two years before you bought it?
 
very common for some light steam to be coming out of the exhaust during warm up. I know a few people who thought they had a blown head gasket but had miuch smaller issues
 
You gonna turn around and sell it as a "replaced head gasket" truck, runs great!.....?


Why are you going to put in sealer?
Compression numbers look good, did not overheat.
Radiator pressure dropped after 45 minutes. Could be a hose leak.

Run the gas test on the radiator to confirm HG.

How much white smoke from exhaust?

Has it been sitting for two years before you bought it?
I've bought and sold hundreds of cars and have never mis- represented a vehicle. I bought this from a close friend right after it overheated. There is quite a bit of white smoke and I definitely know what coolant smells like. I plan on keeping this rig forever. So while I see how the sealer experiment goes I will be working out other things that may need work. I may even do a complete engine overhaul at some point. Thanks for your input!
 
Update on Steelseal. It showed up in the mail yesterday. I flushed out the cooling system and filled with pure water. Also changed the oil as it was a bit milky. I put the 2 bottles they sent me in the radiator and drove it for twenty minutes in second so the RPMs were between 3,000 & 4,000. The white smoke stopped before I got to the end of my driveway ( about a quater mile ) Ran perfect, temp gauge right in the middle, no issues. Got back home, shut her down. and let it cool off overnight. Drove it around all day today and so far, 24 hours, not a single problem. NO WHITE SMOKE at all ! As expected I found a bunch of little issues that I'll be addressing while I enjoy my much desired Land Cruiser. I live in a remote part of Hawaii island so THE most popular vehicle is Toyota 4x4 and the LC is king. I'll continue to update this post as time goes by. One thing to know is that flushing the cooling system first is crucial. The instructions on the bottle don't mention that but their website recommends that.
 
Any updates of note here at the 2 month mark? I've just developed an issue on my '97, 200k, that looks like it may be HG but I haven't diagnosed it yet for sure so I'm in research mode right now considering the possibilities and solutions. I've seen others here on the forums here mention Bars frequently. Thanks!
 
So far so good. I replaced the water pump since using the steel seal as it was leaking before that so now it has fresh coolant water mix. I also did an EGR delete and put new oxygen sensors in. It's not so much a daily driver but I have put several hundred miles on it. Runs perfect.
 

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