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Brown junk in heater core

Kevinma255

NAXJA Forum User
Location
West Milford, nj
I am considering purchasing a 2002 XJ and rejoining your ranks. The only known problem is the heater core keeps clogging up. The current owner was able to clear it and it worked for a couple years but the heat was starting to get weak again last year. My first thought was a head gasket but their is no sign of contamination of the oil or coolant in the radiator. Any thoughts of what might be the cause? Should I gamble and hope it is just a coolant flush, for a clean unmolested, truly driven by a little old lady, XJ?
 
I would take the gamble if the price is right. Flush it, then run it with some vinegar, then flush it a few more times. Pull the hoses off the heater core and run the garden hoses through it both directions.

You can add a coolant filter on the inlet side of the heater core, but sometimes they're more hassle than help.
 
We are at $2500 and other than the heat and an ABS controller the jeep is clean. I personally don’t like ABS so I’m not too worried about that. It is well under 100k on the truck.

Thanks
 
My heater core had the same brown junk in it -- I have no idea on it's previous life -- came to me with 225,000 on the clock

For the heater core I used an Harbor freight 12 volt pump -- a bucket and some coolant system cleaner -- took off the heater hoses from the engine and hooked up the pump dumping one hose into the bucket -- let the pump circulate,from the bucket, just through the heater core -- then switched hoses and did it again -- I ran for about 2 hours switching directions of flow about every 15 minutes and changing my water in the bucket a few times

It ran very clean by the time I was done and the heat is plentiful
 
Was the coolant ever switched to the Dex cool stuff I think it's a red or orange color that is suppose to be a replacement for the old Greene stuff the P.O. flushed mine and filled with that stuff and I found all kinds of brown looking turds in the coolant reservoir and radiator. When the two mix they create a sludge that looks like someone crapped in the radiator not to mention the Dex cool eats gaskets due to the acid that's in it. If show you a picture of what came out of mine but I'm new to the forum and havnt figured that out yet
 
Mine looked like this before replacing every single component in the cooling system and a complete engine rebuild.
6a8339945802e22fc65893b915ffbfdb.jpg
0e4a59df7941bb33b94f69cc2f7680a0.jpg


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