Slight Coolant Leak, WTD?

[Moofert]

Hey guys. I did the intake gasket on my 2001 GA SE1 3400 about a year and a half ago. Now, there is a very slight leak coming out of the head gasket, almost in the same area.

One day, I saw coolant actually dripping down off the motor. Since then, I took it by a mechanic who did a pressure test, and after 10 minutes it had not lots any pressure at all, and it was no longer leaking either. So I went to the store and got some bars leak and put a bottle of that in, since then, I've only noticed a very very slight bit of wetness around the seal area where the leak was before, and that was after revving the engine all the way up high.

So, my mechanic said not to worry about it, becuase the cost of the repair would be huge, and its not really that serious right now.

My question is, I plan to drive across canada this summer, about 4500km each way, in July. My mechanic told me that it shoudl stay the same and that the leak won't get any worse, and that driving on the highway is going to be fine, the car won't have any problems.

Does anyone disagree/agree with this?
I drove it for an hour on the highway, then revved it up to 6k, and then checked the engine, and there was only the slight bit of wetness.

So I'm thinking that it should be alright. He says highway driving is great for cars, and wont be harmful.

Thanks!

[nice96gt]

I've had a slight external coolant leak for about 6 months now and I've been fine. I just top it up once in a while. It's going back in to the place I got it supposedly fixed last time next week so they can have a look at it. I would just bring a jug of 50/50 mix with you on your trip.

Another tip...don't be reving it to like 6k if there is no need to. I had 30lbs of pressure put on the engine and it wasn't leaking yet when I went home it leaked. I think that when the motor cools down everything contracts and that's when it leaks a little...well that's my issue anyways. I would just try to take it easy and keep the RPM's lower. You will save on gas that way too. :D

[Moofert]

Yeah, I definitely won't rev it up high unless I absolutely have to, but I figured it might be a good test, considering I will be doing lots of higway driving, to see if it would make it more susceptible to leaking when revved high, or just cruising at highway speeds. Thanks for the advice.

And what about the barsleak stuff? Does that work? My mechanic said it works really well for head gaskets, but not so great for intake gaskets. And how often should I use it considering I know that I have a leak. It says 2 times a year on the bottle, should I stick with that, or go more?

Thanks!

[4kQuad]

The leak my not be a problem, but if you keep putting bars leak in there it may over heat on the trip. See bars leak is a good product it clogges whole it finds. But it don't know a raditor cooling drain hole from a gasket hole. It just goes about doing what it is ment to do. Plug up holes, even if they are motor ports for the water to run through the motor to cool it, or cooling tubes in the raditor.

So my advice is DO NOT use it again. If the leak you have is small enough for you to live with it. Let it stay that way.

Or you will be buying a new raditor, heater core, to fix the over heating problem, because that bars leak crap did a real good job of what it is designed for.

[Moofert]

Ahh, good to know. Thanks! I will remember that!