I have a 89 0r 1990 volvo 240 , non turbo.

Ive owned the car for a long time. some 20 years back I had a head gasket blow, water in the exhaust. air in the water reservoir.

I was younger and eager so I tore it all apart, new pistons , oversized the bore by .030 new oil bump bearings seals wrist pins,, it was pretty well a new engine again..

since Ive just kept it as a spare car, its a bit rough but Ive put a lot of time into it lately and otherwise mechanically its in good shape, the body, not so much.. great compression though, the motor is very strong.

Now it seems to be back to the same issue and I'm planning to try this head repair compound.. its made by bars leaks and is part number 1100

it's called head gasket sealant, made by Bar's leaks.

They have 3 different similar products, the first two are added to the rad water..

this one requires draining and flushing and then put it in, run the car a while , flush , put the antifreeze back in.. it wants me to leave the car overnight, hopefully it wont freeze. maybe a tarp and a heater..

some are antifreeze compatible, some are not , this one is not so it's a bit more work but is supposed to close larger gaps. i figure Ill start with the stronger stuff. If it still leaks maybe I can try the other that you simply dump into your rad water.

I also have some rad flush stuff. I might use that during the first flush. then put in the miracle cure stuff. my thinking is it may help clean the problem area where the gasket has damage.

If worst comes to worst I'll be pulling the head to install a new gasket but its crappy and rainy now. I can do this rad flush stuff in the rain but I dont want to do the head gasket job outside in the winter.. I'm not afraid of the work but I'd like to give this a try.. If the car was really perfect and nice I dont think I'd try it but I figured why not.


I have a spare engine and a spare rad and stuff, so I'm not terribly worried that it will plug up the rad. I don't want to pull it all apart in the rain, no garage. If it does not work I can go deeper into it in better weather during summer.

to try to re-torque the head I forget if it should be hot.. I seem to remember that when it was installed I was to torque it , run the motor up to temp and re-torque when warm.. I spoke to an elderly mechanic and he said don't torque an aluminum head when warm , do it when the engine is cold.. whats your opinion?

now maybe if I do the bar's leak stuff and allow that to accumulate in the gap that is causing the issues as it is supposed to, AND then I could then try to re-torque, my theory is I want to fill that void and THEN apply the pressure

I really don't know if I can turn the bolts any further before reaching their limit , what is is about 90 ft lbs? I can look that up anyway..

Now I suspect many will immediately say , that stuff wont work, but maybe it will, I dont hold huge expectations but if it gets the car going so it can act like a winter beater , that will please me. If not it's a head gasket job anyway.

now before everyone jumps to "this miracle stuff will never work" has anyone here tried these products? Obvious they are sold with the intent that they can work, but I figure it's somewhat of an experiment..

here is the link
https://barsleaks.com/gaskets/symptoms-blown-head-gasket/

I think I have ordered the bottom one HG 1100 the label on this one says "head gasket sealant" but the add on the link above calls it "Block Seal Head Gasket Repair".. maybe just a different label. I ordered it on amazon after trying a few places locally but they only had ones that are antifreeze compatible.

There are a bunch of other competing brands. I just figure this company has been around for a while.

I' ll let you guys know what happens after I try it..

Thanks for the read and I invite your comments, good or bad, If you've tried this It would be interesting to know what result you had.