Looking more for the bandaid fixes. Reason I ask is because I found a very slow drip at the corner of my head gasket, right below the water housing, and my mechanic friend told me to dump a can of black pepper in the radiator to seal it. Anyone done this or heard of it? Hows it work? He said its better than Bars Leaks or any of the commercial sealer products because it doesn't gum up the rest of the cooling system/heater core. He also said its an old race trick, and has seen many a race driver win with pepper in the radiator

I'm not terribly worried about it, its only a slight drip (no bigger than a small rain drop, and its every 5 minutes or so), and I don't need to top off the antifreeze for about 5000 miles or so. And since I'm selling the car, its $400 I don't want to put into it (I won't do the labor myself on it since its a SOHC setup and I refuse to screw with timing since I don't have the training/experience to do it).

Anyone else have any old school bandaid fixes they've heard of?

quote 1. Open the car's hood. Wait for the engine to cool and then remove the radiator cap. It's sometimes necessary to press down on the cap to turn and remove it. 2. Put two tablespoons of ground black pepper into the coolant in the radiator. Put the radiator cap back on and close the hood. 3. Start the engine and drive the car slowly for half an hour. Drive on surface streets, not the freeway. The idea is to allow the pepper to flow through the system and to accumulate at the leaks, eventually plugging them and stopping them. 4. Park the car and check for leaks. Allow the car to sit for half an hour and inspect the area under the vehicle for any signs of leaks. If the car is still leaking, add two more tablespoons of ground black pepper to the radiator and drive the car for half an hour at moderate speed. 5. Park the vehicle and check it once again for leaks. If leaks persist they may be too severe to be cured by ground black pepper.

Spray a little starting fluid into the popped bead of a tire.
Hit it with a tossed match.

Presto, a fully aired-up tire!

Bars Leak (powder and pellets) contains ground walnut shells. They expand when they dry out and shrink when wet... Probably the same principle as the ground pepper (if it's true). But the Bars Leak products contain seal conditioners as well...

Boonie, I've heard of the starting fluid and match one Hairspray and a propane torch or a bic lighter work as well.

Ryan, from what I understand (and Boonie's post confirms it), the ground pepper just accumulates at the leak, and doesn't expand or contract. Just acts as a plug.

1. a quart of trans fluid in place of a quart of oil will flush out system
2. Bon Ami scouring powder sprinkled in a running engine thru the carb will help break in new rings. A few oil and filter changes immediately after though. Dealers were told to do this to 55 Chevy V8 engines that didnt break in properly when new.
3. Packing grass into a blown out tire out in the boonies with no spare. Take off the wheel, use your jack to break the bead on one side and start stuffing. Pry bead back on.

mythbusters proved an egg in the radiator will stop a leak! Thats backyard mechanicin' lol....wonder who decided to try that lol

Zipties! Those things will fix anything.

ALWAYS have zip ties and duct tape.......................LOL.

Hopefully no one will bring up the miracle slave cylinder "fix" from 1999-2000...

Drip water into carb/throttle body to clean carbon out of engine.

Use laquer thinner and old towel to remove oil/grease from Nylon carpet (don’t smoke while doing this).

Castor oil restores rubber parts.

i heard of ATF in the oil system to clean it out. iv tryed it on an old car. holy man did the oil look super black.

Coke or Pepsi poured on battery to clean off acid corrosion.

Keep em coming guys! Some good ones so far

I know the egg works, never tried the pepper.

Starting fluid to reseat the bead on a tire.

If you can’t fix it with a hammer. Get a bigger hammer.

Sawdust in the rear end will quiet noise.

Expanding foam for bodywork, spray in large hole, then trim and paint.

I have a million of them, just cant remember them right now.

Steve

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Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

Hmm, a piece of a leather belt in place of a spun main bearing just to get you jome, and of course, you DO have some shim stock to go with it--don't ya? (I have rolls of it.) You keep a set of adjustable reamers for those pesky suspension and piston pin bushings--don't you?

late 70s--80s Ford/Jeep/AMC ign module quits far from home?? Try placing a bag of ice on it. (it's the square box on the fender well--I've done this myself--it works)

Just remembered one from when I had my first V6 jeep. More of a "dealership screws customer" type of trick though.

Gear oil/sawdust in the engine to cover a rod knock/spun bearings

Panty hose works for a bad Alternator
belt as well.

Steve

------------------
Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

quote Originally posted by 84fiero123: Panty hose works for a bad Alternator belt as well. Steve

I've seen that one. There was a video on youtube that someone posted here of that being done on an old VW Beetle (and putting it on while it was running). Pretty neat actually Think it may have been bmwguru that posted it

I have used the following with success--

Rub your wiper blades down with rubbing alcohol to stop the scrubbing across your windshield.

Pour transmission fluid threw the intake to lube valves.

Pour water sparingly threw the intake to remove carbon from the heads before an overhaul.

Take out a plug and fill cylinder with diesel and let set for days to loosen up stuck rings on piston.

Pepper in radiator for stop leak. Also tooth pick in a small hole to stop a leak and a screw in a larger hole to stop leak.

Carb cleaner and silicone to stop crankcase leaks.

JB weld dabbed in wallered dial holes for bearing dial fixes. (works great on old VW engines to stop bearings from rocking in case even if the dial holes aren't wallered)

WD40 for starting fluid.

Rub news paper on windshield to clean window.

WD40 for tar remover.

Chewing gum foil wrapped around blown barrel fuse. I don't recommend this without monitoring it or in place of a real fuse.

WD40 sprayed on pulleys to find a noisy pulley.

Wet shirt tale rubbed in sand to make makeshift sand paper to clean/sand old points.

Rub Bar Soap on gas tank hole to stop leak. Temp fix.

quote Originally posted by Butter: .........clip Rub Bar Soap on gas tank hole to stop leak. Temp fix.

Reminded me, bar soap on squeaky fan belt, temporary fix.

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: Coke or Pepsi poured on battery to clean off acid corrosion.

I would recommend using diet soda so it doesn't leave a sticky film on things. Also, soda can break loose rusted nuts and bolts. The phosphoric acid in it breaks down rust. Just pore a little on the rusted part, and let it sit for 10 minutes. This also works for cleaning nasty toilets.

I like to use a section of 3/8" hose to start spark plugs. It guarentees that you won't strip the threads.

Speaking of hoses, a nice 3' or longer section of garden hose works great for finding the cause of engine noises. Just place one end on your ear and move the other end around until you find the cause noise.

If you are trying to remove screws but your screwdriver slips, then dip the tip of the screw driver into some Ajax or other cleaning powder. If you really need extra grip, then a drop of water or a little spit on the screwdriver tip will make more powder stick to it for even more grip. I keep a small bottle of Ajax in my tool box just for this reason.

WOW.. With all these ideas & the economy in a slump you boys should solicit your talents to all the used car dealers. Probably make a small fortune.

Anyway heres mine.

Car anti-theft device. Take a plump potato and shove it up the exhaust pipe. Car can't exhale and wont start. For dual exhaust add extra potato. A sweet potato will work in a pinch but cost more. To get it out just poke a screw driver through the potato and ream it out.

Hand brake running out of pull travel. Disconnect cable at a common point. Find a 3/4" or bigger hex nut and lace the cable through it as many times as it takes to shorten the cable length. Reconnect and your good to go.

Engine noise. A quart of 90 weight gear oil will quiet the most obnoxious rod knock.

I was stuck at an accident scene and my Jeep started to run hot. I've been in a pinch before and used windshield washer fluid instead but I didn't have any this time. Fortunately there was a creek running along the roadside maybe 40 ft away but I needed something to put the water in. I used my "Hard Hat" and had to make several trips but it saved the night. A baseball hat might work too but you'd have to run a bit faster.

Spoon

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Two yeast spent their entire life "about 2 days" discussing what the purpose of life could be and not once did they even come close to the fact that they were making champagne. Quoted by: Unknown

I can verify that both ground pepper and egg whites will work to seal radiator leaks. Don't forget the foil gum wrapper to use when your glass fuses blew.

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: ALWAYS have zip ties and duct tape.......................LOL.

...THIS from a guy who **ehem** has so many younger lady friends ????

Whatchyou aint tellin us ???????

quote Originally posted by spark1: Reminded me, bar soap on squeaky fan belt, temporary fix.

Also works on a leaky fuel tank.
Just rub it over the hole.
Lasts untill you drive through a puddle.

EDIT: Whoops!

quote Originally posted by Butter: Rub Bar Soap on gas tank hole to stop leak. Temp fix.

[This message has been edited by Boondawg (edited 03-31-2011).]

Find an intake leak

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/081547.html

I didnt have anything to do the the Logan, Ohio girl found tuesday murdered with a zip tie around her neck. They already arrested the ex and his parents for it. . RIP Summer. I do have several friends into things like floggers and handcuffs though (Ashley).

Ive seen cars with banana peels stuffed in differential to stop noise too. Guess that was common back in the 60s.

Can verify the pepper trick works. My sister in laws jeep is runnign around with it now. Been there for 2 months now with no issue. Did the leather belt engine baron for on an olde dodge i had for a few years. Just have to soak it in oil before installing it. Drove for a year on it when i couldnt afford to do a lower end rebuild. Also used to put brake fluid through the caberator once a year to clean the valves. Worked great. the ford i was doing it in lasted 350000 miles. was originally bought from a junk yard. For cars with a Cat use water or it will clog up. Did my moms truck recently and it went from studdering to running smooth in minutes.

Not exactly old school, but can vouch for this too. A product by Super Seal called Spray on Duct Tape is sold to seal just about any kind of fluid leak as long as its not under pressure. I had an oil pan leak at the gasket on an engine I didnt feel like pulling out to fix. It leaked about a 1/2 pint a day. I cleaned it thoughly and sprayed a coat over the area and let it dry overnite and then sprayed some engine color back over it. It didnt leak a drop for 6 months before I sold it and still sealed as far as I know. Its at Autozone and I assume most auto parts stores for less than $10.

Another way to seal coolant leaks... Just use GREAT caution!

Sodium Silicate

"Also known as liquid glass, sodium silicate is one of the oldest engine additives currently in use. As the name implies, liquid glass is essentially silica dissolved in water. When the liquid glass encounters a crack in the cooling system, the water evaporates away and the silicate forms a rock-hard repair that won't re-melt below about 1,500 degrees. Using sodium silicate to repair a head gasket is very easy, and the repair can last for many years without leaking."

Above from ehow.com

http://www.ehow.com/how_807...ate-head-gasket.html

If used incorrectly, it can plug radiators, heater cores, and other small coolant passages.

Another tip I just remembered, if you have an oil filter that is stuck and in a difficult position to get to, it can be removed using a leather belt.

quote Originally posted by Doug85GT: Another tip I just remembered, if you have an oil filter that is stuck and in a difficult position to get to, it can be removed using a leather belt.

Hammer and a long screwdriver works for this as well

quote Originally posted by Xerces_Blackthorne: Hammer and a long screwdriver works for this as well

That is assuming you can get a hammer and screwdriver in there. Some cars don't give you that much room. You can always get a leather belt around the filter.

Also, if you break up the oil filter, then it makes a huge mess and if you don't get it off, you are screwed.

quote Originally posted by Xerces_Blackthorne: Hammer and a long screwdriver works for this as well

I am so going to smack you, brian....

60 grit sandpaper....wrap in arond the filter....
h
Jebusus-hebus-bebis ....I can take a filter out of a mack truck with sandpaper.....and you want to punch it with a screwdriver....frack

The redneck toolbox is necessary for any car owner.
1.) duct tape 2+ rolls. (reason below)
2.) Aluminum foil for many reasons.
3.) pb blaster
4.) tube of quick steel

Ok. I can confirm both the pepper and egg tricks. I have used both with great success.

Aluminum foil wrapped correctly in duct tape can replace a belt for 200+ miles. (been done)

Quick steel will fix: gas tanks, fluid pans, headlight motors (temp), will make for a temp gasket for just about anything, and is good to fix just about anything metal. This stuff you can shape into anything and it becomes solid in about 5 minutes. it is possible to drill and tap quick steel... works very well. I have used this on the side of the road to temp repair an trans mount on a fiero. Lasted 75 miles of interstate driving. I have also used it to temp fix a popped out freeze plug on a 350TPI

***ONLY USE IN A EMERGENCY***
Brake fluid in an automatic trans will stop slipping for a short time. It will get you home but it expands the bands and doesn't last for any great amount of time. YOU WILL HAVE TO REPLACE THE BANDS INSIDE THE TRANS AFTER THIS.
***END EMERGENCY ONLY FIX***

Two box end wrenches can be put together to achieve leverage as well.

2'-3' copper pipe will allow for leverage on your socket set and or box ends. There is no substitute for leverage with a pesky nut or bolt. This will also help with the tire iron instead of jumping on it.

Metal coat hangers. Not a bad idea to have a spool of the same wire to hold up exhaust, coolant pipes if they fall etc. etc..

I'm sure there are more. but just not hitting me right now. If i think of them i'll post em.

Edit to add: A cap full of Marvel mystery oil put into an apparently seized motor left over night and hand cranked the next day will usually break loose and allow for driving. I've done this and had a motor last another 40,000 miles.

------------------
"Remember: amateurs built the ark ....
professionals built the Titanic."

quote timgray Because that is all a corvette is good for, parts for the fiero..

[This message has been edited by Finally_Mine_86_GT (edited 03-31-2011).]

quote Originally posted by MidEngineManiac: I am so going to smack you, brian.... 60 grit sandpaper....wrap in arond the filter.... h Jebusus-hebus-bebis ....I can take a filter out of a mack truck with sandpaper.....and you want to punch it with a screwdriver....frack

LOL

Hey, if it works, it works. I never said it was a good idea Most of the time though I can manage to get the filter off by hand. It's only the stubborn ones that the idiots at places like WalMart overtighten that I have to punch or use a filter wrench on.

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: Not exactly old school, but can vouch for this too. A product by Super Seal called Spray on Duct Tape is sold to seal just about any kind of fluid leak as long as its not under pressure. I had an oil pan leak at the gasket on an engine I didnt feel like pulling out to fix. It leaked about a 1/2 pint a day. I cleaned it thoughly and sprayed a coat over the area and let it dry overnite and then sprayed some engine color back over it. It didnt leak a drop for 6 months before I sold it and still sealed as far as I know. Its at Autozone and I assume most auto parts stores for less than $10.

i sincerely hope you told the buyer about your "patch" before he bought it..

Keep a coat hanger under your car.

To clean windows, use vinegar and newspaper, or an ammonia cleaner with newspaper, no streaks and a better clean then Windex and paper towels.

quote Originally posted by Renegade blob: To clean windows, use vinegar and newspaper, or an ammonia cleaner with newspaper, no streaks and a better clean then Windex and paper towels.

Which is weird since the ink is vegitable-oil based......and who know what the paper really is anymore.