Stop in for a cup of coffee

Tooljunkie said

Only time i ever replace a heated core is when it leaks.
Flushing 2 ways.
Ten minute rad flush and a pump to circulate it through just the core, i mix it with hot water.
Other is a funnel jammed into heater hose and a blow gun.
Drop in a cup of water and follow with compressed air.
Reverse hoses. Catch what blows out, otherwise you will never know if core is plugged or not.
Did mine yesterday and it was not.
Being a chrysler product, the pink coolant lasts 5 years. Then it starts leaving deposits in the cooling system. Wanna see?View attachment 1715268574after much headscratching trying to figure out what caused a jeep to overheat, i replaced rad and cut old one apart.that stuff is like sand. Owner said he bought it with low mileage.guess coolant was never changed.

Click to expand...

I take it the heater core is designed just like a mini radiator. Top and bottom 'manifold feeding through the small lines. So, it makes sense that the passenger side on the far end would clog first. I think the big problem with crap dropping out is due to wrong antifreeze being added. I Have 2 vehicles running G05 and never realized it till I had them several years. That said, my Magnum was more likely to have had wrong stuff added. '05 I had it since '08 and did not even know about the G05 till 2017 when I changed both it and the '09 Journey. The magnum has never had an issue. Not looking forward to the day it needs a heater core, cause I don't think there is any easy way to get to that one. We had the Journey from new and I don't think it ever got wrong fluid.
As for my flushing job today. I started by back flushing it with a garden hose. First stuff out was definitely dirty, but it was not plugged. The drivers side did have heat. So no doubt most of the flow was through those lines. I then used air to push back in direction of normal flow. Did that a couple times then filled with vinegar for about half an hour. Then flushed again.