Over the past several months:
-In May my 95 Formula blew a headgasket
-I was far from home so I walked to an autoparts store and got "Blue Devil" head gasket sealer and put it in.
-The "Blue Devil" worked well enough to serve as a "bandaid" to get it home.
-I finally got the car back together/running yesterday after replacing headgaskets

Today:
What I am running in to now is that Blue Devil sealer crap clogging up my coolant system. I've had the coolant flushed out twice and they have been getting a lot of "chunks" of this crap out of everywhere, but there still must be more. I decided to drive the car a few days to see if it doesn't "loosen" up more of this crap and I will probably flush the system again tomorrow.

Symptoms:
-Luke warm dash vent air on "heat"
-Warmer than usual engine temps
-When opening bleeder screws, it immediately squirts coolant, so I am pretty convinced there is no air pockets.

Question/Idea:
I was wondering if there was any reason why I couldn't remove the thermostat for a few days and put a metal mesh screen in there to help "filter out" the coolant?

Just an idea that came to my head, and thought I'd ask about it. Does anyone else have experience with stuff like this? I hope this isn't going to be a nightmare, Im ready to just enjoy the car again finally!

Thanks in advance for any advice, and for those of you who haven't used "Blue Devil"-DON'T! Save the money, hassle, and mess, and call a tow truck!

 

You might have to remove the water pump, sounds like its clogged where the coolant leaves it and goes into the heater core.

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+1 Your thermostat could also be gummed up. You should probably put in a new one regardless.

 

Ive checked the thermostat and thus far it is fine. When I get this stuff all flushed out well, I am going to make sure and replace it, though.

Does anyone have an entire diagram/ exploded view of how the coolant flows through the whole system?

 

Its tough getting stuff out of the block, debris likes to roll and tumble in spaces all over the block and heads. It took me a good hour to get all the little clumps of power steering fluid out when my fluid leaked into my cooling system.

I would remove the two heater hose ends from the two ports on the water pump, see if there's any evidence of that stuff. Check inside the two ports also. If you see anything, the heater core is clogged for sure. If you're not getting heat from the vents, then hot water/coolant isn't getting to the core. I bet the core is toast. BUT...you might be able to flush it clean.

You'll need to flush water through there as fast as you can to clean it all out though. Factory petcock valve won't cut it.

Cold engine:
Remove the t-stat and reconnect the housing. Remove the upper radiator hose from the radiator, leave it attached to the water pump. Then use a hose that can keep the radiator supplied with water and start the engine and let it flush.
I would also remove the metal coolant lines from the heads and blow them out with air pressure..or just make sure they are clear. Replace that small crossover rubber hose going to the radiator fill neck port.

Here's my write up on flushing. I would do the DEGREASER part of this flush process...it can't hurt.

Oh, if you have what they call a "one-piece" t-stat like I do...its really a two piece. Just push down on the two wing tabs of the t-stat and twist, it will pop out. **Watch your eyes and face, it can go flying from the tension. I use a rag over it when removing mine.**

This might save you from having to replace the heater core.

You might also be able to blow air into one heater hose and blast things out of the core....maybe. I'm not sure what they can handle, so don't just hammer it with serious pressure. Maybe just hold the nozzle away from the hose and start with little spurts of air.

Flush write up.....below, next post.

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************************************************** *******
Best/easiest way to flush and get every drop of old coolant out.

****My power steering fluid leaked into my block, so it was bad, but this flush process works for normal maintenance flushes too. You might just want to skip the degreaser stages.****
-Cold engine.
-Remove radiator fill cap.
-Remove the t-stat from the housing. ((Buy a new t-stat housing gasket, they're like $3.00)) Leave the housing attached to the rubber radiator hose, just remove the 2 housing bolts and pull it away from the water pump to get to the t-stat. (2-3 minute job).
-Put t-stat housing back on. (1 minute) Just put one bolt in, no need to put them both in, there’s no pressure in the system during the flush.
-Take the entire radiator drain valve (petcock) "off" and let it drain, don't just open the valve itself. It'll drain faster with it off and that’s what you want. ((Buy a new petcock valve before starting this flush process, sometimes they break when you remove them all the way just because they're cheap plastic and they get briddle over time, they're like $2.00))
-Take a hose and stick it in the radiator fill cap, running medium to high.
-Start the engine when the radiator looks like its full again.
-Turn heat on full blast
-Let it run for about 15-20 minutes or until the water is running out the drain CLEAR.
-((If you want to, you can wait till it runs clear, "close" the drain valve, add some degreaser (I use ½ gallon of Formula 88 to clean mine) and let it run for 15 minutes, then let it sit for 15 minutes, then run it for 5 minutes, then drain it all again. Then open the drain and put the hose in for about 5 more minutes and run it all out till its CLEAR. The degreaser will help break up the crap thats stuck DEEP in the BLOCK that sits and swirls and doesn't like to come out.)) ***NO…degreaser will not hurt anything.***
-When it runs clear your entire system is clean.
-Remove the overflow reservoir from the car and clean it out real good. (I had to use gasoline to clean mine out because the sludge and grime was so thick inside. The gas broke it all down and then it flushed right out. I filled it about 1/3 up with gasoline and shook the hell out of it real vigorously, the black stuff kept coming out. I did that like 4 separate times with gasoline till no more chunks of black crap came out. Make sure the lines that go to the reservoir are also cleaned out. Or just buy a new piece of 3/8” heater hose and replace that line, 3 feet will do, then cut to fit. My sludge came from my power steering fluid leaking into my coolant system.)
-Put the t-stat back in.
-Put the overflow reservoir back in.
-Put the drain valve back in. Use the new one, what the hell.
-Put half a jug of Dexcool in the radiator. (Or if you live in very cold places, 1 to 1 ½ jugs of Dexcool)
-Fill the rest with water.
***You do not need to use distilled water, clean hose water is just fine, just make sure your city water is clean and not total crap quality.

**Bleeding the system of air:
Take the radiator cap off when its COLD, start it up and let it idle, and let it warm up till the t-stat opens. I rapidly squeeze the upper and lower radiator hose like 20 times each while its warming up to help move any air bubbles through the system and by the t-stat on the engine side. When the t-stat opens you’ll see the level drop as you squeeze the hoses, its sucking the coolant through the system. You will also see the coolant start to flow in the radiator fill neck, once it starts to flow the level should drop down a lot, IMMEDIATELY top it off with coolant/water. Then the flow will stop when the t-stat closes. Wait one more time for the t-stat to open again and start to flow, if it drops down again top it off again. Do it a 3rd time if you want to make sure. When the level does NOT drop down when the t-stat opens and coolant is flowing....you're system is free of air bubbles. I always massage the upper hose during the whole process to keep any air bubbles moving through. Always works like a charm. Just keep checking your temp gauge until the t-stat opens for the first time to make sure it’s not sitting there overheating from a trapped bubble. May take 10-15 minutes for the t-stat to open the first time.
If you do start to get hot while sitting there and the t-stat will not open…..you have an air bubble on the engine side of the t-stat. Shut the engine off and rapidly squeeze the upper and lower radiator hoses again. Then start the engine again and see if the t-stat will open. Sometimes you just have to work those hoses to move the air through. Even after it seems topped off after a couple cycles…check it the next time you have a cold engine…top off if needed.

 

LS1 or LT1 or SBC...?

 

95 Formula......LT1

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BACK flush the block through the water pump. Your heater core is probobly cloggged. One thing I'll never do again is use a sealant. Unless i wanted to *** up some ones engine

 

You and me both! lol. The heater core has to be clogged because the system is free of air, full of new coolant, and I have no heat.

 

http://autocoolantfilter.com/

http://www.dieselsite.com/coolantfiltration.aspx

http://www.fleetguard.com/html/en/pr..._cleaners.html

find a truck stop or parts distributor in your area for CAT, or Cummings, or Navistar and get a cooling system cleaner from them, it'll probably be by Penray or Fleetguard but it will be much better than the prestone **** you buy at local parts stores. That should help clean out the sealant.
Bypass coolant filters are common but that's not really what you want in your case, if you can find those Gano filter traps that would work best. For the heater core, disconnect the lines from the water pump and then use a garden hose to flush the heater core, that should tell you immediately how plugged it is. I would flush the heater core manually but leave it disconnected or prevent coolant from going into it when/if you run a cooling system cleaner and a filter.
Or you could yellow page auto cooling system radiator repair and go to a shop that has a machine that can flush the system, for the $100-200 or whatever that costs might be worth it instead.

 

Im having a local shop flush out the car more today after driving just a little bit. The heads and block were cleaned out very well while the head gaskets were done. This may be a dumb question, but if the heater core was plugged up with this stuff would that alone cause the car to run hot?

 

Shouldn't make you run hot. That coolant just stops going into the heater core.
But the water pump could be jammed up with it and causing a clog near the t-stat. Maybe the impeller blades on the water pump are all wrapped up with that stuff too.

By giving it to a shop you are getting a very cheesy flush......just so you know. It will be nowhere near the flush I described above. Unless this shop is actually going to do a flush that they normally don't do for customers. If they don't remove the t-stat and if they DO use the normal petcock valve...nothing will change. By using the petcock drain....if they do loosen up anything in the system....it will get clogged inside the radiator and it will clog the petcock valve area as it tries to squeeze through that tiny hole.............

But who knows, if they break it up into little tiny pieces enough....it must just work.

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They flushed it using a garden hose and I had them replace the thermostat too while they were at it. I've got heat back now so the core is unclogged-a step in the right direction.

I will more than likely pull off the thermostat housing/pull the bottom lines off of the waterpump and flush out the pump this weekend to see if it helps at all (Ill cover up the opti the best I can, of course)

 

....cool....

I mean HOT......I mean Cool.......

Well, you get it............. lol

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Alright, so I removed the waterpump today and the bearing inside were shot. I picked up a new one and had it put back together this afternoon, new thermostat, new waterpump, heat is working again (so obviously the heater core is no longer clogged).

Off the top of my head, this would leave the steam pipe, radiator, block, and heads, correct? I assume its not the radiator because it's been flushed out like 5 times now.

This is what the car is doing now:
It's fine at idle, but as soon as you give it any throttle, you can see the temp climb. Would it make sense that the steam pipe is clogged? (The heads can't "vent" when they build heat?)

 

Possibly, thats why I said you should just replace that thing. Its dirt cheap. I did mine a couple weeks ago, cost like $10.00.

And take the metal lines off the heads and blow them out with compressed air or something.

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Really? I always thought I heard of people bitching about how expensive the coolant steam pipe was? (I'm talking about the metal line that runs from the back of the heads across the passenger side valve cover to the front of the motor just to be extra clear). If thats what youre talking about too, where did you get yours?

Also, will any kind of engine degreaser work to clean out the cooling system? Where do you buy formula 88?

 

I only have the metal lines on the front, coming from each head, merging into a "T" fitting, then it goes into a rubber hose that runs over and connects to the radiator fill neck. I have no lines on the rear of the heads.

I meant to blow out the metal lines and replace that one rubber hose in the front.

I get Formula 88 at Home Depot in the gallon jug. Its a black jub with white lettering. I use it for everything......from degreasing my car parts and engine to spraying it on my clothes when I get grease and grime all over them by accident. The stuff is amazing. I mix it 50/50 for everything....except when I do a flush, then I pour a half gallon in there full strength.

But any degreaser should do. Just make sure its 100% safe on metals, plastics and rubbers. Formula 88 is, and its stronger than all the rest by far. Way better than Purple Power and Simple Green, no comparison. F-88 is also great for washing your hands with after working on the car.

It takes allot of flushing to get all the degreaser out, so be patient. It foams up a little bit, you'll know its all out when you have no more foaming.

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Careful, two different systems are being discussed (LS1 vs LT1)...