Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

We have a leaking head gasket on our 1938 Packard Eight (120 series but not called that in '38). Has anyone had any luck with an after-market solution to stop the leak? I know what the answer probably is, but just asking. Everyone always prays for a quick fix! The leak is located at the #7 cylinder.

If it's leaking into the combustion chamber no magic chemical fix added to the coolant can withstand the combustion forces. If it's just leaking coolant externally you might try one or more of the GM stopleak tablets; in any case such a "fix" is likely to be temporary.

Try a retorque ?

There are several two part chemicals that can be added to the radiator to fix this. I was apprehensive, but when my daughter blew the head gasket in her late model Pontiac GP, I had little choice except to dole out $2200, per GMC. It worked as advertised and keep in mind, this had a lot higher compression ratio than our Packard's do. The car had about 86,000 on it when the head gasket blew and she ended up putting over 140,000 miles on theit before the car retired for other reasons

jwblazek, I am confused "$2200, per GMC." Is there a decimal point missing? For $2200 it would have been cheaper to replace the gasket. What is GMC?
I cannot conceive of any concoction the would fix a blown head gasket, that creates a relatively large opening.
How did you know it had a blown head gasket, the only way to be sure is to remove the head and then if it was blown it would have been replaced.

DavidM
GMC is that small automobile conglomerate called General Motors Corporation
When my daughters Pontiac Grand Prix died on the freeway at 70MPH, we had it towed to GMC for diagnosis.
They called and stated the engine had hydro locked due to a blown head gasket. Their estimate to repair was $2500 assuming no major engine damage also occurred

That's when I researched the web and found this two part additive. The car could not be run for more than about 5 minutes, even from a cold start, without it overheating. I followed the directions, flushing the engine with fresh water, added the two part mixture and drove under 30MPH for a couple of miles. In about 5 minutes, the car started overheating and I turned around to come back home. On the way, the temp gauge dropped back to normal operating range.

Read what the internet has to say about these additives. I was highly skeptical as well but did not want to invest that kind of money in this car so gave it a try, nothing to lose. Believer or not, it worked and my daughter put on another 60K+ miles.

I mis-read your post as the additive cost $2200. I have only ever heard negative experience with these products, despite the claims, when used in such a demanding application. My own experience was with a 1920's Packard that had a hairline crack in the cylinder block between two valve seats between adjoining cylinders. The crack had been metal pinned and still leaked slightly . An additive in the water sealed it for about 3-400 miles.
Do you recall the actual additive that you used?

Thermagasket

https://mobile.rxauto.com/prices/

As with anything on the web, tehre are good and bad reviews. It worked great for me