Thread: Sealing and checking head gasket leaks

Shrt story is, The Lady Sarah had been slowly using coolant and gently pressurising the system, At her venerable age of 200K I've assumed the head gaskets have reached the Use-By date. So I went and bought a top-end set. No problem there with $ or quality. But before I could do the deed, #1 son puts a $70 bottle of 'RISLONE' sealant into it.

That was a few weeks ago, and so far, not only has the usage stopped, the radiator is no longer expanding, and the huge leak at the inflated end has stopped.
I'm impressed. Something that appears to work... Not expecting it to last forever, but may as well enjoy it whilst it lasts.

Other half of the subject is using a CO2 detector kit to test for hydrocarbons in the coolant. I've seen the indicator solution type, where air/gas from above the coolant is drawn up into the device, bubbling through a ph sensitive liquid. In this case bromothymol.

Anyone here has experience with such devices?

- The active ingredient is priced on evilbay for around $40 for 25 grams of powder. Dunno if it's available locally or cheaply. The only other use I've seen is a water.ph tell-tale for aquariums... Not inexpensive...

I'm thinking of a relatively simple but definitive way of catching the next gasket leak