the main issue is the direction of the leak.. coolant into exhaust (blowing steam, not smoke) or engine products into the cooling system (greyish goo in the cooling system).
in the first place you have about a 70% chance of a long term fix with sealants.
in the second case *anything* is a waste of money.
if yer lucky & it's # 1, the first thing to do is a radiator flush. Save the coolant if it's still a fairly good green AND has not floating shit in it. If your cap goes directly into the radiator, so that you can see the cooling fins, and there's no significant build up, fill the system with water & run it until hot, *not* over 180"f, & then let it sit until cool, then drain. Refill with original coolant & bars leak or other sealer.. the mechanics and chemistry of sealants make for a lot of theoretical considerations.. basically you want a polymer AND fiber seal.. bar's leak is strong on the fiber, weak on the poly.. others are strong on ploy, weak on fiber... do the fiber based sealant first, then a poly to add extra cementation. IMHO, only.
I would avoid anything with silicates, at first (some radiator based sealants). the sodium silicate creates a mineral matrix in the failure area, which can tend to fracture with age.
there are old timer solutions, too.. check them out.. i've heard, for instance, that ground pepper can work in survival situations, which makes sense, but i would never try it long term..
if the exhaust is blowing into the cooling system, you can try the heavy duty money back guarantee shit that makes a profit by selling shit to people who don't demand refunds, but do that only if yer willing to spend the $30 & get your money back..
i imagine you might be able to buy 2 cans, use 1/2 each & take them back to walmart saying they didn't wor & you're returning the unused portion..
it will probably be a bust, though..
the main thing is are you steaming with no shit in the cooling system..
you may get a 20 or 30,000 mile fix if yer really, really, really lucky..
the best thing is to try & do the fix yourself, though, but ONLY if you have the time & experience.
if you HAVEN'T done major top end work before, and you are doing this on your own, or with someone with no/little experience, expect at *least* 2 weeks down time, and be ready to take her into the shop at the end anyways, in case she needs minor adjustment or repair.
MARK ALL TIMING ISSUES AS IF YOU ARE JUMPING WITH ONE PARACHUTE!!!!!
if you fuck up the timing during the repair (rotating the OH camshaft or otherwise screwing up the timing gear relationship -, distributor rotation, etc,) you can kill your engine instantly.
but.. the gasket change is the thing to do..
BTW.. you didn't mention symptoms, as far as i saw..
in any case, good luck..
