Do oil treatment additives actually stop leaks?

[GreenNirvana101]

I've had a small leak on my car which I think is the intake manifold or coolant elbow - I always see these engine oil additives like GoldEagle's No Leak, Bar's Stop Leak, AutoRX, Etc... do these things really work? They explain that they clean and rejuvinate the seals by swelling the gaskets. These products are also backed by a money-back guarantee.

Anyone have any experience with any of these for minor oil leaks? Success or failure?

 

[archemedes]

if it's the coolant elbow an oil additive won't help, I have never seen any of those products work on a newer engine (aka one with no cork gaskets) and few work with cork

 

[SyntheticShield]

I will tell you from personal, repeated experience that Auto-RX works. I have three bottles of that stuff in my garage right now. Ive got one bottle in my Rodeo treating that engine, and I had another bottle in which I added some to the gear box and differential. Ive ran it in my GP after buying it and I have seen it do some miraculous work on cleaning engines and restoring seals.

However, as archemedes stated, if its a coolant leak at the elbow, then you dont need a oil stop leak, you need a $5 replacement elbow set and a couple hours of work.

 

[GreenNirvana101]

Just ordered 2 bottles of Auto RX. I'll post the results in about 6 months. lol.

 

[SyntheticShield]

Well the only way you will have any visual indication of change is if you have visible oil sludge or varnish build up, then you will see how Auto RX cleans that up rather well. The other way to tell is by doing a compression test. If you have some piston rings that are not sealing correctly due to some type of build up or are stuck for that reason, the Auto RX is very good about getting in there and cleaning it and restoring compression. Also, if you have an oil leak from something like a front or rear main seal that is due to possible age or gunk build up then you will see the leak stop. Auto RX is very good about rejuvenating seals and such.

Ive told the story here before of how a co-worker avoided a $1500 repair job by getting a bottle of Auto RX from me. He had a rear main seal leak on his wifes Lexus and the Auto RX treatment cleaned things out and rejuvenated the seal and no more leak.

Other than that the only way to tell is to have an oil analysis history on the vehicle before and after the Auto RX clean and rinse cycles. It is VERY VERY good at what it does, but its hard to notice or see anything if you have a well maintained car. But it is good at getting vehicles with an unknown maintenance history up to par and ready to be taken care of.