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Jeep Stop Leak Stops Everything

Q. I have a 1990 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 that had a small radiator leak, so I poured a whole bottle of stop leak into the radiator. This clogged all of my lines from the reservoir to the tank. I took it to a shop and they cleaned out my lines and the truck ran fine for one day but now is overheating again.

I went back to the shop and they said that the gunk I used either clogged my radiator or my heads. What do you recommend I use to try to flush this mess out of my cooling system?

De Shan

A. Oh man, what a mess. The only thing you can try is to do a reverse power flush and hope that all the old stop leak gets flushed out. If you used Bars Leak, there's a decent chance it will come out. Some other brands are more insidious.

Once you have given it a good flush, fill it with the proper mix of anti-freeze and water and cross your fingers. And don't be surprised if there is a heater core replacement in your future.

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA

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