Coolant "filter"? (Don't use Blue Devil)
 

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"-(NOW FIXED)
-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! :bang:

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!

Nobody?

do a really good flush, a filter put into the system might actually clog it and kill the car, pull the WP and run a hose into the block at a moderate pressure to force all the crap out.

same with radiator and heater core lines... flush one direction then the other, just be weary of how much pressure you put on the heater core as they have busted before.

buy a new heater core (like 60 bucks new), flush and rod the radiator, pull the water pump as stated above, remove the plugs on the side of the block and the water pump and flush with a water hose for awhile until the water coming out is clear, then button it up and fill it up with a 50/50 mix. Good luck!

The radiator and heater core have the smallest openings in the coolant system. I'd say you might have to replace both. The block & heads should flush out well enough. Pull the coolant crossover pipe and flush it out of the car.

Any type of "pour in" sealer works by clogging up the small openings.

It turns to a mud like paste in the coolant system and when it hits air it hardens up. This might work for some coolant systems but for a LT1 it isn't the best thing to use. With all the small openings in the banjo bolts and for the cross over you will be lucky to get it all out with the motor in the car.

Thanks for all the pointers guys, we'll see what we can get accomplished over the next few weeks. How hard is the heater core to swap out?

you used the whole bottle, didnt you.

Unfortunately :bang:

i figured. most people do that. ur only supposed to use about half

I usually go through 3 or 4 bottles. SIGH. Yeah, I've slowed down in my advancing years...:chug:

and to answer your question the heater core is a cake walk, hardest part is getting the hose connections off

^Good deal, thats what I like to hear. Could a plugged up heater core cause the car to overheat on its own? The heads, block, and water pump were all cleaned up while the headgaskets were being done.

No...

Shop got the heater core flushed out and Ive got heat again. I had them throw a new thermostat too. Its still running hot, Im going to flush out the water pump as the next step.

Alright, so I removed the waterpump today and the bearings 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

a). steam pipe,
b). radiator,
c). block, and
d). heads, correct?

I assume its not the radiator because it's been flushed out like 5 times now. The heads and block were cleaned when the motor was taken apart, so Im thinking those are less probable as well.

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?)

http://www.google.com/search?q=coola...&ved=0CIABELAE

I'd just buy an oil filter relocation kit, and plum it in to a heater hose. Then find a coolant filter that will fit the thread. A kit for a PH8A would have the most common thread.

Al 95 Z28

Use drain cleaner , yes draino or suttin like it . Get it hot and flush system wit cold water . It will shock the deposits so to say and clean it . Then refill wit fifty/fifty and enjoy

dont do this.

One time, when I was a young lad, I ran my car hot and decided to put cold water into it. I heard a distinct "pop", which were my heads warping. $1300 later I decided not to do that anymore.