Engine overheating, coolant stuck?

[Doubeleive]

Bump - is there anything I can do to squeeze a little time out of this engine without replacing the heads?

I think you are putting the cart before the horse here,
even if the head had a hairline crack or any crack for that matter you would be loosing coolant, it wouldn't make it just overheat unless it was a huge hole and again you would be loosing coolant and blowing white smoke.
and you would most likely have coolant mixed in the oil.
not loosing any coolant and simply over heating indicates something is stuck (thermostat), very low coolant, air in the system or water pump failure, cooling fan failure, clogged radiator.

 

[Meathead16]

True... you right..

Sometimes I focus so much on preparing for the worst that I forget to hope for the best..

There have been morning start ups where I'll get a decent puff of white smoke but not everytime, just randomly here and there. I guess after pulling the valve covers is what convinced me that it had to be cracked heads. Which, interestingly enough, I found a "Remanufactured by Non OE" sticker on yesterday.

 

[Meathead16]

I changed the water pump and started her up and coolant level never went down again. Got close to op temp and none of the hoses were hot.. weren't even warm.

I live at an apt complex that isn't the friendliest to those who don't take their vehicles to a mechanic so I don't really have access to a garden hose or a place where I can go flushing out the system... so I was thinking.. would I there be any possible consequences of using a shop vac on the rad hoses to try and suck out whatever was in there? Could something implode on me or breach a seal or something? I'd hate to suck the head gasket ha

 

[Doubeleive]

I changed the water pump and started her up and coolant level never went down again. Got close to op temp and none of the hoses were hot.. weren't even warm.

I live at an apt complex that isn't the friendliest to those who don't take their vehicles to a mechanic so I don't really have access to a garden hose or a place where I can go flushing out the system... so I was thinking.. would I there be any possible consequences of using a shop vac on the rad hoses to try and suck out whatever was in there? Could something implode on me or breach a seal or something? I'd hate to suck the head gasket ha

that's essentially what the dealer use's is a vacuum machine however no telling how much vacuum pressure it is set for, it's risky at best.
if the hose's didn't even get warm that could be a stuck thermostat or radiator is really plugged up good or the hoses are not plumbed right or the return line from the radiator to the reservoir tank is feeding back to much coolant essentially defeating the system.

 

[Meathead16]

what if I somehow fashioned some sort of plunger device? Had one hose open into a bucket, let's say the lower hose, and in the upper hose a plunged in somehow to try and push it out? Or would same risks apply as the vacuum?
If water was moving at minimum the heater hoses would be hot right? Even with a closed tstat?

 

[Doubeleive]

what if I somehow fashioned some sort of plunger device? Had one hose open into a bucket, let's say the lower hose, and in the upper hose a plunged in somehow to try and push it out? Or would same risks apply as the vacuum?
If water was moving at minimum the heater hoses would be hot right? Even with a closed tstat?

I don't know I would drain and fill with water and then go find a place with a hose to flush it out or just have a place do it.
what does the temp gauge do when you have it running does it just get hotter and hotter? or what

 

[Meathead16]

It builds up normally, I cut the engine before I had a chance to see if it would actually overheat, reason being when I felt that all the hoses were cool, it made me wonder since there's no flow, and the coolant in the surge tank isn't being pulled into the engine, if the coolant temp sensor was actually submerged in coolant or not and if the reading was accurate or if it was reading air temp which if that was the case I'm sure I've way overheated the engine. I thought this might be the case because the engine is smoking and I can't find the source. Most likely it's just coolant steaming off the exhaust manifold from me making a mess when I drained it. (Seriously, there's a special place in hell for the bean counter at GM that took the radiator draincock away) But I tend to assume the worst and thought maybe I've warped the heads so much it's coming from there. It's weird it's like it's coming from everywhere but no where at the same time.. I've tried shining a light, taking a video, but it must be so hot it's a vapor or something and then once it's floating in the air for a second or two it cools down and condenses enough to mix with particles in the air and be visible. Pure speculation, I really don't know lol

When this started the temps would basically just run away and not stop until I killed the engine. After the tstat and me cleaning up the old water pump it would rise and after hitting 190 or so it would still climb, but not as fast.

 

[B-train]

Bump - is there anything I can do to squeeze a little time out of this engine without replacing the heads?

You can try adding some K-Seal leak stop to the system. This stuff claims to stop head gaskets, etc and is a long-term fix. I used it in my 3 cinder diesel to stop weeping by the block heater because I didn't feel like pulling the fuel pump out for a stupid freeze plug......2 mowing seasons later and not one drop has left the system.

You can get it at any parts store. Blue bottle with orange writing. Put it in and run the truck without the cap on to try and allow more opportunities for the system to burp itself. It's a $10 try to buy some time

 

[Marky Dissod]

If you're going to 'suck' stuff from the cooling system, suck from each individual component SEPARATELY.
If you suck through two things - say, engine and heatercores - you may dislodge something from the engine and get that stuck WORSE in one of the heatercores.

If something is stuck in any component of the cooling system, probably wiser to replace that part.
If the 'clot' breaks into smaller 'clots', they may get lodged in other components that will need replacing.

Maybe you need an infrared temp measuring gun to find a sudden temp drop, may help you find a problem.

 

[Doubeleive]

It builds up normally, I cut the engine before I had a chance to see if it would actually overheat, reason being when I felt that all the hoses were cool, it made me wonder since there's no flow, and the coolant in the surge tank isn't being pulled into the engine, if the coolant temp sensor was actually submerged in coolant or not and if the reading was accurate or if it was reading air temp which if that was the case I'm sure I've way overheated the engine. I thought this might be the case because the engine is smoking and I can't find the source. Most likely it's just coolant steaming off the exhaust manifold from me making a mess when I drained it. (Seriously, there's a special place in hell for the bean counter at GM that took the radiator draincock away) But I tend to assume the worst and thought maybe I've warped the heads so much it's coming from there. It's weird it's like it's coming from everywhere but no where at the same time.. I've tried shining a light, taking a video, but it must be so hot it's a vapor or something and then once it's floating in the air for a second or two it cools down and condenses enough to mix with particles in the air and be visible. Pure speculation, I really don't know lol

When this started the temps would basically just run away and not stop until I killed the engine. After the tstat and me cleaning up the old water pump it would rise and after hitting 190 or so it would still climb, but not as fast.

the hoses are not really going to change feel much until it has cycled with the thermostat opening and even then they may only feel luke warm until it is driven. If the temp is normal at that point you are fine even if it is smoking as long as you are not loosing coolant and you have oil in it.
and unless it was severely not maintained and a bunch of rusty water came out when you flushed it then there is most likely no "clot" or blockage it's something else if it is still overheating