Bar's Head Gasket Repair, another follow-up...

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

Well. It finally stopped snowing/icing enough (actually got near 50
degrees for a minute today) for me to change the oil on the Subaru GL
Hatch that had the Head Gasket Repair stuff thrown in.

Pleasing results. I did not see any green around the gaskets where I had
seen it before the 'repair', and after adding the oil and lifting the
front of the car on ramps, with the engine running, there was NO seepage
from either gasket! I was a bit surprised.

Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself here; the car needs to run for about
another 45-60 days before I can take it off the road and have a look at
doing a PROPER repair.

Or, maybe, should I even bother?

 

[Ray O]

Well. It finally stopped snowing/icing enough (actually got near 50
degrees for a minute today) for me to change the oil on the Subaru GL
Hatch that had the Head Gasket Repair stuff thrown in.

Pleasing results. I did not see any green around the gaskets where I had
seen it before the 'repair', and after adding the oil and lifting the
front of the car on ramps, with the engine running, there was NO seepage
from either gasket! I was a bit surprised.

Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself here; the car needs to run for about
another 45-60 days before I can take it off the road and have a look at
doing a PROPER repair.

Or, maybe, should I even bother?

If the stuff worked and it ain't broken...

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

If the stuff worked and it ain't broken...

Yeah...that's what I was thinking. But, it nags at the back of my
brain....would be nice to have a PROPERLY repaired car, and it's in decent
shape...

 

[M.J.]

Yeah...that's what I was thinking. But, it nags at the back of my
brain....would be nice to have a PROPERLY repaired car, and it's in decent
shape...

Lulling yourself into thinking everything is fine and it wasn't
just a patch-up job can be dangerous. At the least, you might
get stranded somewhere.

Instead of retaining control, that is what a patch-up job does,
gives you time to do the repair on your own terms, when you
are ready financially or otherwise, have the time to do so.
Relinquishing that control and reverting to being at the mercy
of a broken part is bad strategy.

M.J.

 

[Ashton Crusher]

Yeah...that's what I was thinking. But, it nags at the back of my
brain....would be nice to have a PROPERLY repaired car, and it's in decent
shape...

What makes you think the "repair" won't last? You need to let nature
run it's course.

 

[Ph@Boy]

Well. It finally stopped snowing/icing enough (actually got near 50
degrees for a minute today) for me to change the oil on the Subaru GL
Hatch that had the Head Gasket Repair stuff thrown in.

Pleasing results. I did not see any green around the gaskets where I had
seen it before the 'repair', and after adding the oil and lifting the
front of the car on ramps, with the engine running, there was NO seepage
from either gasket! I was a bit surprised.

Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself here; the car needs to run for about
another 45-60 days before I can take it off the road and have a look at
doing a PROPER repair.

Or, maybe, should I even bother?

I'm kinda liking these reports on the "holistic wrench in a can"
products you're testing Hachi. Keep us updated. I hope it works for you
until you can get the car into your "healing gardens".

I have an exhaust manifold to pull off later Hachi so I'm setting on the
floor with my legs folded, Holding my middle finger and thumb together
forming a circle and chanting ohmmmmmmmmmm.

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

I'm kinda liking these reports on the "holistic wrench in a can" products
you're testing Hachi. Keep us updated. I hope it works for you until you
can get the car into your "healing gardens".

I have an exhaust manifold to pull off later Hachi so I'm setting on the
floor with my legs folded, Holding my middle finger and thumb together
forming a circle and chanting ohmmmmmmmmmm.

I find making up my own mantra works quite effectively! However, the guy
next door usually tells his kids, "It's time to come inside now!" when
I'm not-so-quietly reciting my mantras...

What car is the manifild coming off of?

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

What makes you think the "repair" won't last? You need to let nature run
it's course.

LOL! I have NEVER had one of these "quick fixes" work properly! Usually I
get some performance, usually very little, or if it does work it doesn't
work for long.

Also, I only started doing my own work a few years ago (3-5) and am
learning as I go along, and replacing a head gasket looks like a challenge
....perhaps too much of one?

I also have a '97 Legacy that is pumping exhaust gas into the radiator.
Perhaps I should do the gaskets on that car first, or try the Genie in the
Bottle stuff on that one...but the heads look easier to remove on the 1.8l.

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

Lulling yourself into thinking everything is fine and it wasn't just a
patch-up job can be dangerous. At the least, you might get stranded
somewhere.

Instead of retaining control, that is what a patch-up job does, gives you
time to do the repair on your own terms, when you are ready financially or
otherwise, have the time to do so. Relinquishing that control and
reverting to being at the mercy of a broken part is bad strategy.

M.J.

That's what I'm thinking. But I only use this car for 80 miles a day, 22
miles from home at the furthest point, between the hours of 1-5AM...

and my AAA is expired...

 

[clare at snyder.on.ca]

That's what I'm thinking. But I only use this car for 80 miles a day, 22
miles from home at the furthest point, between the hours of 1-5AM...

and my AAA is expired...

And I've seen those repairs go for MANY years - particularly in a case
where the only leak was an external one. Leaks into the combustion
chamber are a lot less likely to be satisfactory long-term.

Then again, I've been known to use boiler sealer on a clunker and have
it last 5 or more years - on a leak to the combustion chamber - and
even oc a frost damaged block.

 

[John O]

I have an exhaust manifold to pull off later Hachi so I'm setting on the

I find making up my own mantra works quite effectively! However, the guy
next door usually tells his kids, "It's time to come inside now!" when
I'm not-so-quietly reciting my mantras...

It's the chickens and goats being sacrified that he's fugged about. Hide
them better next time. ;-)

-John O

 

[Retired VIP]

LOL! I have NEVER had one of these "quick fixes" work properly! Usually I
get some performance, usually very little, or if it does work it doesn't
work for long.

Also, I only started doing my own work a few years ago (3-5) and am
learning as I go along, and replacing a head gasket looks like a challenge
...perhaps too much of one?

It is a wise man who knows when to throw in the towel.

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

It's the chickens and goats being sacrified that he's fugged about. Hide
them better next time. ;-)

-John O

Well, I wasn't a sailor, but I could make a Marine blush!

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

It is a wise man

He don't know me very well, do he?

 

[mack]

That's what I'm thinking. But I only use this car for 80 miles a day, 22
miles from home at the furthest point, between the hours of 1-5AM...

and my AAA is expired...

Well, no guarantees of course, but as I think I told you, when I 'fixed' a
Peugeot with a bad head gasket with Bar's Leaks ( a five dollar bottle of
the stuff) it stayed fixed for the next two years until I sold it...if it
failed after that I have no idea. Good Luck, Hachi !

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

Well, no guarantees of course, but as I think I told you, when I 'fixed'
a Peugeot with a bad head gasket with Bar's Leaks ( a five dollar bottle
of the stuff) it stayed fixed for the next two years until I sold it...if
it failed after that I have no idea. Good Luck, Hachi !

Yeah, I've been bearing that in mind! You used the other stuff, I used
some stuff that's only been on the market for <a year. We'll see what
happens.

Here's the problem: in April or May, this car is coming off the road, and
the Supra goes back on. The car will stay off the road until November, and
unless I sell it, goes back on in the cold weather. My garage isn't big
enough to swing a cat, so it's roll the dice...fix the gaskets properly,
or hope the stuff holds...

Of course, the IDEAL plan is to stop peddling Newspapers and get a real
job, or hope my job with Unisys/Dell picks up to the point where I don't
NEED the papers anymore! Either that, or the band starts getting enough
bookings to make up the difference, in which case the Legacy Wagon goes on
the road...

Decisions, decisions!

GET OUT THERE AND BREAK SOME DELLS!!!!!

 

[Brian]

Yeah, I've been bearing that in mind! You used the other stuff, I used
some stuff that's only been on the market for <a year. We'll see what
happens.

Here's the problem: in April or May, this car is coming off the road, and
the Supra goes back on. The car will stay off the road until November, and
unless I sell it, goes back on in the cold weather. My garage isn't big
enough to swing a cat, so it's roll the dice...fix the gaskets properly,
or hope the stuff holds...

Of course, the IDEAL plan is to stop peddling Newspapers and get a real
job, or hope my job with Unisys/Dell picks up to the point where I don't
NEED the papers anymore! Either that, or the band starts getting enough
bookings to make up the difference, in which case the Legacy Wagon goes on
the road...

Decisions, decisions!

GET OUT THERE AND BREAK SOME DELLS!!!!!

Hachi, now that you mention it, I would love to break some Dells, except
that I end up the one who gets to fix them in the end. Don't suppose you
can make up a good story for me of why Dell chose to put XP Media Center
Edition on this box of theirs that doesn't even have a TV tuner in it!
I'm supposed to fix it for a relative of a friend that I used to know
through where I work, of all things, delivering papers, but I can't seem to
pull an XP MCE cd out of thin air, and of course the customer can't find
their original either!

I'm glad your gasket repair is holding for now. Sounds like the good
old days all over again. No time to do a proper fix as the boss seems to
think my car had to show up for work every day of the week. I ended up
buying a second wagon to take the burden off the first but that never panned
out. Just ended up with more to fix!

~Brian

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

Hachi, now that you mention it, I would love to break some Dells,
except
that I end up the one who gets to fix them in the end. Don't suppose you
can make up a good story for me of why Dell chose to put XP Media Center
Edition on this box of theirs that doesn't even have a TV tuner in it!
I'm supposed to fix it for a relative of a friend that I used to know
through where I work, of all things, delivering papers, but I can't seem
to pull an XP MCE cd out of thin air, and of course the customer can't
find their original either!

Try going to support.dell.com and see if you can d'l the stuff from there.
Probably not. And they don't like to send CDs out, either.

If it's under warranty, call them and they'll send everything!

I'm glad your gasket repair is holding for now. Sounds like the good
old days all over again. No time to do a proper fix as the boss seems to
think my car had to show up for work every day of the week. I ended up
buying a second wagon to take the burden off the first but that never
panned out. Just ended up with more to fix!

That's about the way it works! Now one of the axles in the front is
clicking...

 

[Brian]

Try going to support.dell.com and see if you can d'l the stuff from there.
Probably not. And they don't like to send CDs out, either.

If it's under warranty, call them and they'll send everything!

If the equipment were under warranty still my customers would be dealing
with Dell on their own. As for myself, Dell support usually tells me to go
piss up a rope (in their ever so polite, Indian accent), so I have as much
use for Dell as they do me. They have no interest that I keep their
computers running the same as you are trying to keep your Subarus humming
along. I haven't contracted with Dell for official warranty work since '97
and don't miss the joke they made of on-site repair jobs. In my unfortunate
experience, Dell will only help a customer if they are the original
purchaser or have been the proud recipient of a transfer of ownership, and
although they are always gladly willing to be of zero help, please supply my
first name, last name, telephone number, email address, etc., here is my
case number, and have a nice day.

That's about the way it works! Now one of the axles in the front is
clicking...

Yup, I hear you there. I just had the passenger axle replaced at a shop
because I just didn't have the time to do number 8 myself, so while swapping
break pads the other day, hmm, sure as umm, heck, could have sworn that was
CV grease leaking from under the outer band on the new part.. :-( Sigh,
I'm gonna forget I saw it for now.

~Brian

 

[clare at snyder.on.ca]

Invariably they are the wrong cd, or incomplete.
EVERY encounter with a Dell turns into the "Dell from HELL"