Greetings to all my fellow Cadillac owners. I've been lurking on this forum for some time and as they say in the bittorrent world, its time to seed and not just leech! So I'm trying to give back a little something information-wise.
Seriously, I wanted to report a positive experience with a new product. I have absolutely no relationship to the manufacturer. Here goes:
I own a 1999 Deville Concours with 146,000 miles. It was overheating within 10-15 minutes of start-up (I'm in Texas and the temps right now are 100+). It would actually blow the coolant out the overflow tube on the expansion tank when it got hot enough. Also, I could smell exhaust gases in the coolant. I know there is a $50 test for this but I just left the cap off before it got too hot and every once in a while a bubble would come to the surface. By putting my nose in the opening and sniffing this bubble (be careful if you do this), it was obvious there were exhaust gases in my cooling system which means the dreaded head gasket leak was present.
Now I can tell you I am not a believer in miracle cures. I can already see the replies that will berate me for not "fixing it right". With respect, not everyone has $2500-$4000 to do it "correctly". I personally lost my job as a pilot with a major airline in December, so the belt is already very tight at my house!
Enter a product from K&W called K&W Nanotechnology Permanent Head Gasket and Block Repair. It costs $20 but offers twice your money back if not satisfied. Do they actually refund you $40? I have no idea as I didn't request a refund - read on:
The product claims to use "nanotechnology" which involves atom-sized particles. It does not have the coppery sludge in it that Barrs head gasket repair (and most of them) use. It is a pure liquid with some brown slimy stuff in it that looks like it came out of your nose (hows that for a technical description?).
I followed the instructions on the bottle to the letter. Be advised you will have to drain your cooling system and flush it with water prior to using this product. They recommend pulling the plugs and checking them for orange/red color from coolant then leaving this plug (or plugs) out during the treatment. I did this but all the plugs looked pretty much the same except 3 or 4 had a grey powdery build up on them which looked like oil if you go by the spark plug diagnosis pictures you can see many places online. So I just cleaned them and re-installed all 8 prior to the treatment.
The treatment procedure has you idle the car for 30 minutes with pure water and the K&W in it then drain the system for a 12 hour drying period. I woke up the next morning with great anticipation - would it work or was my time and money wasted?
I re-installed the thermostat (they have you remove it during the treatment) and refilled the system with Dex-Con and water. Now time to put it to the test. As I started the engine, the car displayed the outside temp. as 104 degrees. I had four one gallon jugs of water in the trunk that I could use to limp home with in case the coolant spewed out the overflow again.
Turns out they weren't needed! I first let the car idle in the driveway with the a/c on. Previously the car would overheat within 10-15 minutes even if it was just sitting idling (Yes the fans work fine). After 30 minutes, no leaks and no overheating, so it was time for a test drive. I began by driving around the local surface streets at 40-45 mph with a/c on of course. To my amazement, after 20 minutes the temp needle never wavered from the 12:00, or middle position. Hmmm, could this have actually worked? My next test was on the highway, driving 65-80 mph, for 30 minutes. Once again, no movement on the temp gauge! I said a small prayer of thanks and headed home with a BIG grin on my face.
Now its been a few days and lots of miles but the car still runs great with no overheating.
YMMV, but I highly recommend K&W Nanotechnology for N* engines with leaky head gaskets.
Please reply with any additional questions you may have as I'm certain I didn't cover everything here.
Thanks and enjoy those Cadillacs!
Seriously, I wanted to report a positive experience with a new product. I have absolutely no relationship to the manufacturer. Here goes:
I own a 1999 Deville Concours with 146,000 miles. It was overheating within 10-15 minutes of start-up (I'm in Texas and the temps right now are 100+). It would actually blow the coolant out the overflow tube on the expansion tank when it got hot enough. Also, I could smell exhaust gases in the coolant. I know there is a $50 test for this but I just left the cap off before it got too hot and every once in a while a bubble would come to the surface. By putting my nose in the opening and sniffing this bubble (be careful if you do this), it was obvious there were exhaust gases in my cooling system which means the dreaded head gasket leak was present.
Now I can tell you I am not a believer in miracle cures. I can already see the replies that will berate me for not "fixing it right". With respect, not everyone has $2500-$4000 to do it "correctly". I personally lost my job as a pilot with a major airline in December, so the belt is already very tight at my house!
Enter a product from K&W called K&W Nanotechnology Permanent Head Gasket and Block Repair. It costs $20 but offers twice your money back if not satisfied. Do they actually refund you $40? I have no idea as I didn't request a refund - read on:
The product claims to use "nanotechnology" which involves atom-sized particles. It does not have the coppery sludge in it that Barrs head gasket repair (and most of them) use. It is a pure liquid with some brown slimy stuff in it that looks like it came out of your nose (hows that for a technical description?).
I followed the instructions on the bottle to the letter. Be advised you will have to drain your cooling system and flush it with water prior to using this product. They recommend pulling the plugs and checking them for orange/red color from coolant then leaving this plug (or plugs) out during the treatment. I did this but all the plugs looked pretty much the same except 3 or 4 had a grey powdery build up on them which looked like oil if you go by the spark plug diagnosis pictures you can see many places online. So I just cleaned them and re-installed all 8 prior to the treatment.
The treatment procedure has you idle the car for 30 minutes with pure water and the K&W in it then drain the system for a 12 hour drying period. I woke up the next morning with great anticipation - would it work or was my time and money wasted?
I re-installed the thermostat (they have you remove it during the treatment) and refilled the system with Dex-Con and water. Now time to put it to the test. As I started the engine, the car displayed the outside temp. as 104 degrees. I had four one gallon jugs of water in the trunk that I could use to limp home with in case the coolant spewed out the overflow again.
Turns out they weren't needed! I first let the car idle in the driveway with the a/c on. Previously the car would overheat within 10-15 minutes even if it was just sitting idling (Yes the fans work fine). After 30 minutes, no leaks and no overheating, so it was time for a test drive. I began by driving around the local surface streets at 40-45 mph with a/c on of course. To my amazement, after 20 minutes the temp needle never wavered from the 12:00, or middle position. Hmmm, could this have actually worked? My next test was on the highway, driving 65-80 mph, for 30 minutes. Once again, no movement on the temp gauge! I said a small prayer of thanks and headed home with a BIG grin on my face.
Now its been a few days and lots of miles but the car still runs great with no overheating.
YMMV, but I highly recommend K&W Nanotechnology for N* engines with leaky head gaskets.
Please reply with any additional questions you may have as I'm certain I didn't cover everything here.
Thanks and enjoy those Cadillacs!