Fix in a can

[TX82FIAT]

I always grin at the many products sold at autoparts store that proclaim to be a fix in a can. I ask if anyone has had any success with these products beyond a temp bandade fix. Some products i do think offer some value. For example, it will not urt and may even help to run some injector cleaner through your car every couple years. However a few examples of questionable products:

Fix a flat - it will slow or internally patch the leak for a short period but it does not "Fix a flat". You still need to get to a service station. Why then should it be called "Fix a flat" when it does not fix anything.

Steel Seal or Block Seal - This Steel Seal says it is 100% gauranteed to fix leaks up to and including freeze plugs? REALLY!!

Radiator Stop leak - Fixes your radiator! Again, Really... is pouring some chemical into your radiator going to help or hurt the cooling function over time?

Ring Seal - Fix your compression and stop your car from smoking... Again, what is the true cause of the compression or ring issue. bandaide..

Seafoam - Automatic transmission and power steering tune up - Really, one liquid for both! temp fix and old time mechanics trick for temp fix.

Lucas - Engine oil stop leak - renews worn seals, reduces noise and oil consumption while raising oil pressure. Notice on the bottle it did not say it stopped oil leaks even though it is called engine oil stop leak. This one is tough because I do think Lucas makes a great product and if you have a ring issue this may be good to get you down the road a few thousand miles until you fix properly

Can anyone say they have had anything more than a temporary benefit from these products. I suspect in the end these products do a lot more harm then good and would advise people stay away. Thoughts?

[BEEK]

i have used ceramic block sealers with great success, granted i was not trying to replace a freeze plug with sealer

[rupester93]

I've used seafoam but for the injecters. mix with the gas and it really did help. 4 years later.

[mpollock]

I used Seafoam in the gas tank once. I neglected to check the condition of the tank first and it promptly dissolved the layer of varnish on the bottom and sent it straight to the carburetor!

[ride65]

I've done the seafoam trick to clean carbon, add it through your booster vac line, let it sit for an hour and in my old saturn SOHC beater, it did improve performance a tad bit but what I noticed the most was there was no more oil smoke on start up. I guess it freed up the oil rings that are notorious for gunking up on these things. that's been about a year since I did it and the car still runs decent. And before anyone says "just change your oil", I do on all my vehicles religiously every 2500-3000 miles. I've even run injector cleaner through this thing every third or so tank of fuel without that much improvement.

[hayesbd]

Here's my experience:

Marvel Mystery Oil - run it for a few days and then change the oil. It really did fix the sticking lifter that was caused by a bad MAP sensor making the car run rich for a long time (before I bought it).

Head gasket sealer - mixed results on '01 Chevy Malibu. I will probably still pull the heads this summer to permanently fix.

Radiator stop leak - these various formulations have indeed worked for quite some time before making the permanet repair. The latest was to forestall water pump replacement by around a month or so.

Fix-a-flat - in my experience, this is a quick roadside repair only. (I always mention this to the tire shop since it's a real mess for them to handle.)

So, I would say that yes, all these "fixes" are temporary, but for a lot of folks are quite useful.

...just my $0.02

[81SPIDERMATT]

nu-finish .... where they polished an old car in the junkyard ... I thought that stuff was from the gods back in the day ...