Quote:
Originally Posted by Alec300SD
Metal flakes may be the residual evidence of prior treatment with a radiator stop leak product.
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Edit: after researching these stop leak products, I think you're right. What I have can best be described as "glitter dust". These shiny bits are not magnetic; if this was broken bits of water pump bearing, I would expect it to be magnetic. The pieces are uniform in size, and they're so tiny, you cannot feel them between bare fingers. Internet says there's a stop-leak product out there made with powered aluminum, and this seems like it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alec300SD
Unfortunately, the heater core may still require replacement at some point.
For your sake I hope not.
It's doable as a DIY, but very tedious work and expensive if you hire a shop to do the work.
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HC's are PITA on most cars, not sure why they don't design them for better serviceability. I'm curious what the motivation would be to replace it in my situation? It isn't leaking, and the heat is nice and strong so it's not clogged either. During my triple rounds of fill-drive-drain with distilled water, I had the cabin heat on high the entire time, so the heater core would be flushed clean as well.