Oil stop leak additive, any thoughts?

[dunnaz]

I am in the possession of the ex-Junkman 405 which is proving to be mighty fine, but I am trying to cure an oil leak on it..

 

I have replaced the rocker box cover, which seems to have improved things a lot, but it is still dripping a bit of oil from the lower engine mount. Or at least that's where it ends up. I think its coming from the camshaft oil seal, but to be honest the thought of having the belt off etc to replace a £4 seal is a bit much. I am going to check the breather hoses tonight, but has anyone had any success with Wynns engine oil stop leak (or similar) to cure these types of leak? Appreciate it isn't a proper fix but for a fiver it might save the driveway from becoming a skid pan!

 

Cheers

[MarvinsMom]

or for £4 buy a new oil seal for the camshaft?

 

I've not tried any of these snake oil/leak stopping bottles of jollop as I just would not trust them to go and block up the oil ways down onto the main bearings as well as stopping the external leak.

 

just my opinion though.....

[sierraman]

Can work but they take time to start working. Depends what it is, worth a go, depends also on how much it's leaking.

[colnerov]

Hi, From what I understand it attacks.. reacts affects the oil seal and makes it swell and grip tighter...ooer

[dunnaz]

or for £4 buy a new oil seal for the camshaft?

 

I've not tried any of these snake oil/leak stopping bottles of jollop as I just would not trust them to go and block up the oil ways down onto the main bearings as well as stopping the external leak.

 

just my opinion though.....

 

The £4 seal is fine, it's having the timing belt off and cam sprocket etc... I was looking for a quick fix, if I can get one!

 

The leak isn't bad at all, to be honest its only the mess it leaves on the road which is spurring me on. I will have another proper look tonight and then might take the plunge with a can of gloop. I did read that it cause seals to swell so would hope it wouldn't affect oil ways and whatnot....

[sierraman]

Softens up the seals. I've used it to good effect on a weeping crank end seal. I'd be inclined to get something done though as the pissing oil will start to damage the timing belt.

[dunnaz]

Good point! Best get cracking...

[BorniteIdentity]

I've had huge, huge success with a coolant stop leak. To the point that I'd probably shy away from Head Gasket repair on all but my favorite car.

 

But never succeeded with the oil stop. Tried 3 times on 2 cars and never got a result.

 

Good luck.

[steveo3002]

makes me wonder what it does to the good seals that were working fine , i have no experience but can only wonder if things might be worse in the long run

 

think id just crack on and do it , or leave it be if its not getting on the belt

[djimbob]

tried Wynns a few times, and once some snake oil off t'interwebs called Performance enhancer or something, and I can hand on heart say not once were they successful, at all, ever!

 

However, K seal for coolant leaks is the bollocks, and works on pretty bloody large holes in one's radiator

 

My advice, try some snake oil, and when it fails to plug the leak, report back on here so we know for sure, like proper scientists

[D Spares & Tyres]

I used it for an xr2 crank seal. It made it much worse rather than fixing it

[NorfolkNWeigh]

This thread has just reminded me that Mrs N's Gaylander had an oil leak in July ,a couple of days before it was to be used for FrogHoliday jaunt. I chucked some Wynns stuff in and checked the oil every day for a couple weeks- it seemed to work.

The fact that I'd completely forgotten about it till now means it must have done the trick , in 7 or 8,000 miles since its used about a litre of oil.

[sierraman]

If you are paying someone to do the work i would stick a can of Wynns in, if you can do the job id fix it yourself. I wouldn't go throwing cash fixing a minor problem like this on an old car you haven't had long unless it's something you can fix yourself easily.

[pshome]

Worked well on all 3 Tagora and 2 504 leaking power steering. On water pumps and radiators swiss water is the way to go!

[Bobthebeard]

Never once had any success with these treatments. Can see how it may work in a cooling system but not in sumps or transmissions TBH. Any substance that would actually bung up a hole would presumably cause chaos in an engine or transmission? Swelling up seals slightly maybe, but am dubious.

[Guest Lord Sward]

I've had moderate success using Forte oil additives to stop a leak on various vehicles.  Lets face its, its a sticking plaster approach so don't expect miracles or Maestros.

[Split_Pin]

Couldnt you just get an old heavy doormat and put it under the car at night? Unless its bad I would just live with it until you can get it sorted properly. I used Radweld once many years ago but never again. Certainly wouldnt use something that swells the seals.

[chatsharris]

That K seal is good stuff surprisingly.  I was expecting it to be shite!

[BorniteIdentity]

If it's not a drastic oil leak, I'd be inclined to live with it.

 

Fwiw my last Toyota (8 years old) burnt a litre of oil every 1k miles. I treated it like a rolling service plan with new oil going in every fortnight.

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[Station]

Unfortunately, it doesn't soften up the seals. It's just REALLY thick oil, that's all it is.

[pshome]

Objection, the oil stuff does soften and swell plastic seals, thats how it works.

http://www.lecwec.de/en.html

 

radiator leak stop stuff is a totally different story.

[Des]

That should be an easy enough seal to change, cable tie the belt to the cam pulley to keep them together, unbolt pulley and swing it aside for access,  keeping it taut at all times against the belt and bungee it off the bonnet. You can loosen all the cam bearing caps a tad to make getting the seal out and in easier, but be careful to do so nice and evenly, cams aren't terribly bendy.

[explosive-cabbage]

That should be an easy enough seal to change, cable tie the belt to the cam pulley to keep them together, unbolt pulley and swing it aside for access, keeping it taut at all times against the belt and bungee it off the bonnet. You can loosen all the cam bearing caps a tad to make getting the seal out and in easier, but be careful to do so nice and evenly, cams aren't terribly bendy.

Hear, hear.

[hauserplenty]

Snake oil.

 

Naff.

 

SWERVE.

 

Use "Mechanic in a Bottle" only for roadside emergencies, or to simply prolong the inevitable OMG&c. Cleaning it all out of the engine will make the repair take longer, so best to just fix the problem since leaks only get worse. It will prove cheaper in the long run.

[cros]

I used some additive containing 'sealswel' (scientific name) and it cured a serious leak on my Renault 12 rear crank seal for a further 30000 miles. It doesn't seem implausible that a slight swelling of your seals will cure some leaks but you'll need 'sealunfuck' if the component is actually broken.

[srad34]

I have used some Lucas stop leak additive on a customers car as he did not want to pay for a proper repair. It appeared to work but i would not personally use it on anything of any value.....

[sierraman]

^^ Should be fine then for most of our cars then...

[dunnaz]

Thought I'd better update on this, bought a can and poured it in (the stuff is clear, pretty odd) whilst the engine was up to temp and running, to ensure it circulated OK. Pretty much forgot about it for the next 4 weeks or so until I was doing a few bits this weekend, the underside is now completely dry! Quite happy with that result, but yes, I think its only a fix for low cost motors, and/or cant be arsed to do a proper repair (I fall into both categories)

[Jimmycrackcorn]

I chucked a bottle of Oil Stop Leak in the Jag before a trip down south and it seems to have stopped the leak from the cam cover. The only reason I didn't replace the seal is because it's a manifold off job and wanted a quick fix.

[sierraman]

Everyone comes out when you've got an oil leak on a £500 car with talk of installing new seals etc when in reality if you have to chuck a can of this in every 6 months you've got a more economical solution.