Method of sealing leaks in a cooling system

The cooling system of automotive and other engines are permanently sealed by a cooling system sealant which will seal both small leaks caused by corrosion and large leaks caused by warped heads and blown head gaskets. The cooling system sealant comprises a major part of sodium silicate and minor parts of blue vitroil and gum of arabic. The cooling system sealant is added to the engine while running and with the coolant warmed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
This invention is not disclosed in any co-pending application for the 
patent or any issued patent. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The modern automotive engine may lose its coolant by any one of several 
means. It may have a blown head gasket, a warped head, a cracked block, a 
leaking freeze plug, a heating core leak, a radiator leak or a lost pet 
cock. 
The engine will overheat rapidly as the coolant disappears. Additionally, 
coolant within the crankcase leads to rapid corrosion and coolant within a 
cylinder prevents ignition. For all of these reasons, coolant leaks must 
be repaired. 
Correcting these sources of leaks may be quite expensive, including the 
removal of the engine. Serious leaks are often so expensive to repair that 
an entirely new engine or new radiator is required. 
For many years cooling system sealants have been marketed with the 
objective of stopping the leak without incurring the substantial expense 
of automotive repairs. 
At the present time, the following products are on the market: Wynn's 
"Radiator Stop Leak", K & W "Permanent Metallic Block Seal", "Bar's Leaks" 
(Extra Strength), Prestone "Heavy Duty Sealer and Stop Leak" and Dupont 
"#7 Formula Stop Leak" (Bordons). 
Many of the prior art products are designed for temporary purposes. They 
will work for a few hours or days to enable a car to return home from a 
trip. These products rely upon solid particles to enter small holes or 
cracks and block the passageway. 
In time, the solid particle may break down, thus allowing coolant to pass 
through the hole. The sealant may also plug up the small tubes in the 
radiator, thus reducing its effectiveness. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The cooling system of automotive and other engines are permanently sealed 
by a cooling system sealant which will seal both small leaks caused by 
corrosion and large leaks caused by warped heads and blown head gaskets. 
The cooling system sealant comprises a major part of sodium silicate and 
minor parts of blue vitroil and gum of arabic. The cooling system sealant 
is added to the engine while running and with the coolant warmed. 
The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of 
one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the 
apparatus embodying features of construction, combinations of elements and 
arrangements of parts which are adapted to effect such steps, all as 
exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the 
invention will be indicated in the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The cooling system sealant used in this invention comprises three widely 
available ingredients, sodium silicate, blue vitroil and gum of arabic 
preferably mixed in an aqueous solution. 
The first ingredient, sodium silicate or water glass may be pure sodium 
metasilicate or mixtures of sodium metasilicate with two other silicates. 
It is available as granular, crystals or 40% Baume solution. The N Grade 
liquid is preferred. 
The second ingredient, blue vitroil or cupric sulfate pentahydrate, is 
available as crystals. It is used presently as a fungicide, in printing, 
as an electrolyte and ubiquitously in swimming pools. 
The third ingredient, gum of arabic, a product of the tropical acacia 
senegal tree is one of the many related gums which are complexes of 
carbohydrates and which are the decomposition products of many plants. The 
gum of arabic is available as a powder. 
The cooling system sealant is prepared in two steps. In the first step, the 
blue vitroil and gum of arabic are mixed. In the second step, the blue 
vitroil and gum of arabic mixture are mixed with the sodium silicate. 
In the first step, one teaspoon (tsp.) of gum of arabic and one tablespoon 
(Tble.) of blue vitroil is mixed with one gallon of water. This produces 
an initial aqueous mixture of 0.39% blue vitroil and 0.13% gum of arabic. 
In the second step, one gallon of sodium silicate is mixed with one-third 
of one pint of the initial aqueous solution. This produces a final mixture 
of 95.8% sodium silicate, 4.1% water, 0.16% blue vitroil and 0.005% gum of 
arabic. 
This final mixture is then bottled in pint bottles. One pint of this final 
mixture is added to the cooling system of a car. 
The cooling system of a modern car has 10 to 20 quart coolant capacity. The 
mixture within the cooling system is therefore from 2.5 to 5% sodium 
silicate, from 0.004 to 0.008% blue vitroil, and from 0.001 to 0.003% gum 
of arabic. 
The engine should be started and warm before the cooling system sealant is 
added. The radiator cap is then removed and one pint of cooling system 
sealant is added. The engine continues to run until the leak is sealed. 
In many cases, leaks can be detected when the engine is running. Visible 
vapor may come from the exhaust. A warped head or broken block may allow 
coolant to leave the block in a visible stream or drops. Sealing takes 
about ten minutes and may usually be visibly confirmed by the absence of 
the vapor or liquid previously noticed. 
After the leaking stops, the engine should be stopped and allowed to cool. 
The sealant has now formed a permanent barrier and the leak is cured. 
It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made 
apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, 
since certain changes may be made in carrying out the above method and in 
the article set forth without departing from the spirit and scope of the 
invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above 
description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as 
illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 
It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover 
all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein 
described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a 
matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.