Ok......now for another opinion.
I normally almost never use stop leak additives.
The only one I use is bars leak, and I've never a negative or down side from
using , no clogged anything ....except the pertinent hole.

'it can't hurt' putting a reasonable amount of into a waterboxer engine.
It 'might' help seal an external leak out of those joke 'water retention
gaskets' ...
That pinch/split, and corrode.
Of course it's not a real repair, but the most that is at risk is the cost
of the bars leak, if you're reasonable about it.
Scott
www.turbovans.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Benny boy
Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 4:40 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Head leak

Sorry to say... but stuff like "Bars Leak" are pure crap! they clogued rad
and heater core with time. It's like putting a bandaid on an infected wound.

If outer gasket is failing, the inner one will to soon.

Ben

On Sun, 5 Aug 2007 13:54:33 -0500, Wesley Alden Pegden <wes@CS.UCHICAGO.EDU>
wrote:

>If all you have is a drip here and there, why not try some "bars leak"
before pulling heads?  My understanding is that the gaskets can "seep" for a
long time before they need to be replaced, and you can prolong this time by
stopping the seepage (for example with bars leak).
>
>-Wes
>'83 1.9l westy
>'84 1.9l gl
>
>
>On Sun, Aug 05, 2007 at 09:38:18AM -0700, Brendan Slevin wrote:
>> Ok, so I think Totoro may need a head gasket soon. I've noticed a drip of
>> coolant here and there and when I try to find the source it seems as
>> though it's the driver's side head.  This is the side that can be done
>> easily (!) with the enigne in, right?  Anything I should be ready to
>> change at the same time?  How long do I have until it absolutley must be
>> done?  I have no coolant in the oil and no hydrocarbons in the coolant
and
>> no apparent loss of performance.  Hmm. . .
>>
>> Brendan
>> 84 GL Totoro
>> Bend, Oregon
>>