Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Complete amateur with first post, so please be gentle!
My 1.8i shot plenty of hot water out of a core plug last week and a very nice AA man cleaned it up and sealed it with a product called BlueMagic QuikSteel. The plug was intact and had leaked due to rust he said. After 4 hours for it to set, I did 20 miles, and the next day 100 miles back home. The repair has held.
Looking at the work needed to access and replace the plug, it is (a) beyond me, and (b) pretty expensive at a garage. My question is, does anyone think that a further application of QuikSteel, to cover the original repair and the rest of that particular core plug, is likely to be fairly permanent fix? The AA man didn't want to cover it all because it would make the plug much more difficult to remove. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Neil.

There are two trains of thought here...

1 - if it is working, then don't faff with it.

2 - for long term peace of mind and a more permanent fix, then it should be recommended that you get the core plug replaced with a new one.

The O.C.D. in me would say replace all of the core plugs with new ones, as they may all be in a similar state of corrosion / leakage potential.

years ago the core plug on my cavalier turbo started leaking quite badly, so i put a bit chemi metal on with a `1p cion over the top, it lasted for about 5 yrs until i changed all the core plugs a few yrs back, and believe me the bodged up one was the hardest one to get out

Thanks very much for those views. I agree that if/when the work is done properly it makes sense to do all the core plugs. Though I'm reluctant to spend that money now, the situation is complicated by the fact that the AA will not attend again should their 'temporary' fix break down and the leak - it was big - recur. So it's a bit rock and a hard place!

For now, I shall just continue to use the car very locally and see what if anything happens. Thanks again.

A few weeks down the line, and the AA temporary repair started leaking. I didn't want to spend money I didn't have on a garage replacement of the core plug(s), so I have covered the offending one with QuikSteel. It is holding so far.

Of course, getting that particular plug out will now be a nightmare, but I figure that if it never leaks again, it won't need to come out. I obviously need to make sure there's plenty of anti-freeze in.