FOUND MY LEAK!!! pls advise....

[ryan roopnarine]

the coolant is coming out of a tube located right beside the transmission. is this the evaporator drain? can i take it this is also the vent for the heater core? when i turned the car on this morning, there was a heavy smell of antifreeze for about 1 minute, but it went away. this tube is under 3/4 OD, as i stuck one of my fingers into it to confirm that it was indeed where the leak was occuring. somebody PLEASE tell me that there is some way to bypass the heater core in an e34 like in regular cars, if only to confirm that this is where its indeed leaking from. it would be even nicer if there was a way to drive it now :D

[George M]

Sounds as though your heater core is giving up the ghost Ryan. Under the heater core and evaporator coil is a tray that accumulates condensation from the evaporator core to keep your interior dry in the even of a core rupture or during normal usage of the air conditioning. This tray dispells condensation to the ground via the hose you mention. If your core is leaking then this tray accumulates coolant as well and in turn discards it to the ground. The cores sometime rupture on these cars but it is rare. Typically it is the plastic piping manifold and/or O-rings that seal it to the core that fail over time. It is strongly advised however if taking on the tear up to replace the heater core when going in due to the ratio of heater core cost to labor cost, labor being the heavy hit for this job...don't want to do this job twice in the near term.
I have changed mine in my E-32 and is no picnic...about a 3 out of 5 wrench/beer job.
If the first time, document everything you remove and use your digicam.
George

[Bill R.]

using one of the heater hose repair kits that most auto parts places have connect hose 1 and 3 to each other... this should bypass it just fine for now.http://www.bimmernut.com/%7Ebillr/images/ryan1.jpg







the coolant is coming out of a tube located right beside the transmission. is this the evaporator drain? can i take it this is also the vent for the heater core? when i turned the car on this morning, there was a heavy smell of antifreeze for about 1 minute, but it went away. this tube is under 3/4 OD, as i stuck one of my fingers into it to confirm that it was indeed where the leak was occuring. somebody PLEASE tell me that there is some way to bypass the heater core in an e34 like in regular cars, if only to confirm that this is where its indeed leaking from. it would be even nicer if there was a way to drive it now :D

[ryan roopnarine]

thanks bill. was hoping that you would chime in and confirm/deny my idea. was going to get a metal natural gas or other heavy duty Tee fittings from lowes and connect three and two to the ----- section and connect 1 to the perpendicular section. i dunno if the carquest on the corner is open today or not, might end up goiing to the lowes no matter what. would it at all be possible to run air conditioning in this configuration? or is that asking too much.


using one of the heater hose repair kits that most auto parts places have connect hose 1 and 3 to each other... this should bypass it just fine for now.http://www.bimmernut.com/%7Ebillr/images/ryan1.jpg

[Bill R.]

thanks bill. was hoping that you would chime in and confirm/deny my idea. was going to get a metal natural gas or other heavy duty Tee fittings from lowes and connect three and two to the ----- section and connect 1 to the perpendicular section. i dunno if the carquest on the corner is open today or not, might end up goiing to the lowes no matter what. would it at all be possible to run air conditioning in this configuration? or is that asking too much.

[ryan roopnarine]

$1.74 in parts later, and no more heater core! buttoned everything back up, bled for 30 mins, took the car to 6500 to get rid of the water in the evaporator :D and no more leaks! thanks everybody that contributed.

[632 Regal]

now dont forget about that before next winter.
:D

[ryan roopnarine]

i estimate that i got about till november to do it
:)
just kidding. its so hot here that yesterday i pushed the car three feet on level ground with my open hands, and today my palms are still burned. i don't think ill have any use for heat till around then anyway. the floriduh heat can suck on my malfunctioning heater core. more realistically i think ill do it during my week off of school in july.

now dont forget about that before next winter.
:D

[632 Regal]

You will need it before then to defog your windshield, I tried that trick many years ago and went on a vacation, was pure misery I couldnt drive at all without constantly wiping (smearing) the glass. Just a FYI.

[Brian C.]

You will need it before then to defog your windshield, I tried that trick many years ago and went on a vacation, was pure misery I couldnt drive at all without constantly wiping (smearing) the glass. Just a FYI.

[ryan roopnarine]

jeff, i don't know if its just my car in particular, but down here the only time it fogs is when it rains, and when it does that, MY particular car defogs better with the a/c than it does with the heat. don't know why exactly.


You will need it before then to defog your windshield, I tried that trick many years ago and went on a vacation, was pure misery I couldnt drive at all without constantly wiping (smearing) the glass. Just a FYI.

[uscharalph]

Ryan when you did your heater core bypass, what type (material) of tee did you use. I found a copper one that'll work. Are there any problems with copper?

[ryan roopnarine]

id just go into any real autoparts store like NAPA or car-quest or bumper to bumper and ask to see their coolant line tee selection. i simply picked out the most substantial one that fit the hose (it was made out of a thick plastic, not too worried). autozone or such might have them, its just that their selection might not have one for you.

[Gene in NC]

Regal, sounds like your car had only the input hose to heater blocked, if so some coolant will back into the HC through the output ose producing symptoms similar to yours.