I flushed $60 down the drain on a 'guaranteed' radiator stop-leak

Bought that Bar's Leaks stuff for my 2002 Civic thinking it'd buy me a few months, but it just gummed up my heater core and left me stranded on I-95 anyway. Has anyone else had a 'quick fix' actually make things worse instead of just failing quietly?

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terry12mo ago

Learn from this mistake and never put any kind of stop leak in a cooling system again. That stuff clogs up the smallest passages first, which is always your heater core. You're better off just keeping a couple gallons of water in the trunk and topping it off every time you drive until you can get the actual leak fixed. For a 2002 Civic, check the plastic end tanks on the radiator first, they're known to crack. A new radiator for that car is like $70 and takes an hour to swap, way cheaper and more reliable than that bottled junk.

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mark6112mo ago

Did the stop leak mess up your heater or just the radiator?

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