K-Seal - don't do it!!!!
 

As most of you know, I recently bought a 1.8 for £150. I knew going in, that for that kind of money it probably wanted a head gasket. It drove okay, didn't lose water, but it did gurgle from the heater, and ran hot. After ruling out an airlock, I decided it needed professional help.

On the first day back to work after my own operation, my mum had a fall, has been in hospital ever since, and they are saying she can't come home, so I am in the throes of all that, trying to find a home, finances etc, so getting the car to one of our site gurus just wasn't going to happen given the distance from me.

I was directed to Dave at Derby, who knows these engines and he informed me that the head was completely ruined by K-Seal! I have seen photos of the state of inside the engine before he got to it, and it was just beyond a joke what this stuff had done.

BUT, that isn't the end of my woes. After replacing the head and liners, thermostat (which was totally gummed up with K-seal too) Dave thought he'd got it all, but no....

On the journey to deliver back to my house last night, the car overheated again - another clogged thermostat already, because K-seal is still present in the system.

Dave is coming back after the holidays for the car to attack it again, but I am now terrified of how we are going to get it all out without replacing all the hoses, radiator, heater matrix etc. Its so sad, because the car absolutely purrs now, and is so quiet, but it can't be driven like this or it will ruin the hard work so far.

SO PLEASE, if you're considering this as a cheap, quick fix, or temporary fix, DON'T DO IT!!!!! I know some people have had success with it, without these issues, but is it really worth the risk?

I didn't put this in my car and am dealing with the aftermath of someone else's decision, and its a shame, because its such a nice drive, and mechanically sound in every other way. :(

Dawn

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Hi Dawn.
K seal is a nightmare to get rid of. I had so much trouble with my last 75 due to this. There are good radiator flushing fluids available and in this case you most likely will need to do it two or three times. Some say leave for ten minutes but no at least a day. Try to get the engine hot with out over heating, do it at a fast idle 1200-1500 rpm, let it cool and keep repeating this as often as you can, once cooled down drain the coolant and flush with a hose for a good 20 minutes, I eventually got my garden hose into one of the heater hoses and flushed it through the matrix and through the block, water was coming out of the filler cap and all sorts of places.
The key is the flushing fluid will loosen the K seal and as much water as you can pump round the system should get it out.
A tip from Marinabrian is cartons of cheap fresh orange juice in the system, it's good at dissolving rubbish. Good luck

Are you sure it was k-seal and not radweld? As I thought k-seal was just iron fillings?

Hi.
I can assure you K seal is not Iron Filings. If it were it would be most likely ineffective anyway as they would rust and cause havoc with seals and wear on water pumps impellers and all sorts of issues.
The stuff is gold coloured and the mixture is very fine, it's purpose is to find a path of a leak then act as a stopper and build up. The nature of the stuff is it clogs the leak and binds really strongly, this is where the problems start though, it can clog the fine tubes in the radiator and heater matrix also in small waterways in the head, the issue gets worse if a leak doesn't go away and some numpty puts in a second bottle. In that case only a new radiator and matrix will effect a cure, the head too needs to be properly cleaned with a hot water pressure washer internally.

K seal tends to be full of copper like fillings. Its a nightmare as the particles sit in every groove etc.:eek:

Its definitely k-seal. I suspected as much before it went to Dave, and he sadly confirmed he'd seen it too many times on these engines. ��

Stick with it though, keep flushing the coolant and so long as you can keep the temperature below 105c you'll eventually get a cure..... I did but not overnight.
If the heater is working keep it on a full blast this will help keep the engine cooler. If not then flow is restricted through the matrix and remember this is the engines bypass flow and it could be making the problem much worse.

No shortcuts to getting rid of it,just continuous flushing.Horrible stuff.

When I've done mine some years back I used cheap washing powder on all the hoses that I removed, it still gives me knightmares to this day, oh the joys of K series HGF with the K-seal in the system.

If this stuff is so detrimental to engines why is it still being sold as it can be deemed not fit for purpose, and why shouldn't we be able to claim compensation
For ruined engines?

Rev