Does anyone have any experience or knowledge on using Blue Devil to repair the seals until I can afford a rebuild.

 

We've had sucess in some cases with Alumaseal. Search on it, and you'll turn up many arguments. It usually works great for 12a, but seems hit or miss for 13b. But, since it is an aluminum based product, there is little chance for damage and it is not nearly as "gunky" as a block sealant. If Alumaseal doesn't fix it, then chances are nothing will and you will need to rebuild. But the Alumaseal is pretty incredible stuff. I've watched it close a 1/4" hole in a radiator in just a few minutes, followed by a 150 mile drive home from the race.




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I have heard of "Bars leaks" working (its a radiator repair thing from an auto store) although it didn't work for me on my 13b

 

Alumaseal didn't work on my 86. But I did it for my friend's, it works well after 20,000miles.
The earlier where you catch the problem, the easier it will be fixed

 

Dude soft seals are not to much money, couple hundred bucks to fix that issue.
If it runs you could probably get away with (if your willing to pull and rip apart).
Javi does it for I believe 500 that includes OEM Mazda soft seals. And he doesn't take weeks to do it.

Im living proof, I blew a coolant seal and actually blew out the iron grove towards the bottom of my rear iron and he plugged the entire water jacket with this material the use to plug the stock intake for periphial ports.
Ive maybe put 5000 on her with NO coolant leaks, in az!

He's building my nos engine next.
Just wanting for some goodies to roll in.

 

I already have everything laying around, my friend had it and gave it to me for free. I have a 13b, and the seals have been blown for some time. I have oil in my thermostat housing where it blows out the overflow. Atkins Rotary is selling a Water seal kit on eBay for $153, but I don't have any money to spend right now and have to catch up on bills.

Which is why I need to know if I should go with Blue Devil or Alumaseal. Which works better for my 13B n/a?

 

Alumaseal hands down. if it fails, then you need a rebuild

 

Umm using those products will make the rebuild cost more because you'll probably ruin everything internally and will have to get a new block. Sure it'll seal the leak but it may seal other things too.

 

A block sealant will cause issues for the rebuild. Alumaseal should not.

 

Then it looks like I'm getting some Alumaseal.

 

How Alumaseal the bottle etc.. look like? I went on ebay and alot of products shows up
with the same name as alumaseal!

 

Sometimes you gotta bite the bullet and face the inevitable.
And in this case,There is a difference between wiping your *** and tearing it all to pieces.The correct way to fix a blown coolant seal is to replace it.
That means a Tear down and rebuild,.

You wanna get cheap?,it will bite you in the the ***.You will be in the same boat you were in before you went and spent money on Crap.

A little knowledge is a good thing so learning how your engine is constructed and how to rebuild it,will serve you a lot better than going out and buying a bottle of "snake oil" that is supposed to hold the Fountain of youth to the longevity of your engine.

 

Just fix it. And the sooner the better. If you let it go or try the cheap fix, coolant will sit in the grooves, causing pitting and rust. That will make the iron junk and the rebuild more expensive.

 

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whos javi that fix ur coolant stuff bro..

 

^ 88rota hasn't been on the forum for over 1.5 years. And it's difficult to describe what he said about coolant seal grooves being blown out and plugging water jackets as anything but that which comes out the back-end of a horse. I could speculate on where that car is now.

 

My engine had a crack all the way through the metal. Nothing I could have added in would have helped me close that up. I think when these go it is just worth assuming it is time to rebuild it. That is what I did.

 

Also I used alumaseal before I learned and I can tell you now, do not add it if you plan on rebuilding it. It was so gross when I got it open. Do not make the clean up harder on yourself!

 

there's plenty of threads on this subject, this one however is the worst for bad advice.

 

^Agreed!
Waiting too long just makes the inevitable more expensive. And checking for the presence of that stop-leak crap in the cooling system should be first on the list of any prospective buyer.