heater core? please advise.

[infurno]

Hey all,

Im pretty sure its obviously my heater core but I guess it wont hurt to ask:

Symptoms:
a) when heater on coolant smell in the cabin
b) white smoke pours out the vents
c) windshield fogs up

Started after:
Driving to work on a very (very) cold morning, at ~75 mph my temperature shoots up to red and I cut power to the engine and coast off to the side. The engine was wet, I found a disconnected coolant hose leading down to the water pump.

I just checked prices on heater cores, ~$160... I guess im hoping thats not it. Is there any hope its simpler then that?

Its been cold here, and looks like snow coming. If its going to take a complex repair I will have to wait.

[DaveVoorhis]

Definitely sounds like a heater core and/or leaky o-rings on the pipes connecting to the core, though there's a small possibility the coolant hose was leaking for a while and allowed coolant to be sucked in through the vents.

Replacing the core and o-rings isn't difficult, just tedious.

[CharlesAFerg]

just this morning i got white smoke from the vents for the first time, and my car was cold... What causes this?

I've had the window fog problem for quite some time.

[infurno]

I don't mind doing it myself. I have some friends to call too just in case.

This really started out of nowhere, makes no sense. There is no noise at all, it blows hot air, everything is functioning correctly except for the smoke. I did some searching before posting here and was unable to find anybody else mention constant smoke from all the vents.

Im just hoping DaveVoorhis is right about some coolant getting into the vents, and the problem eventually just goes away. Ill just keep the heat on max and a window a bit open. At this time its too cold to work on it anyway.

[uscharalph]

Hey all,

Im pretty sure its obviously my heater core but I guess it wont hurt to ask:

Symptoms:
a) when heater on coolant smell in the cabin
b) white smoke pours out the vents
c) windshield fogs up

Started after:
Driving to work on a very (very) cold morning, at ~75 mph my temperature shoots up to red and I cut power to the engine and coast off to the side. The engine was wet, I found a disconnected coolant hose leading down to the water pump.

I just checked prices on heater cores, ~$160... I guess im hoping thats not it. Is there any hope its simpler then that?

Its been cold here, and looks like snow coming. If its going to take a complex repair I will have to wait.

It's a lot more than $160, because of the huge amount of labor. I bypassed mine in July of 2005.

[CharlesAFerg]

It's a lot more than $160, because of the huge amount of labor. I bypassed mine in July of 2005.

This means no heater, yea?

[uscharalph]

This means no heater, yea?

Yes it does. It really hasn't been any inconvenience here in California until the last couple of months.

[uscharalph]

You'll know if it's the heater core. You're carpet will get wet. You'll notice greater amounts of coolant missing. And your car may start to overheat.

The problem with doing this job yourself is that you have to take the whold dash apart and (Even harder) pu it back together again. Many here have done it before.

Also, if you do it yourself, replace as many of the parts as you can. you don't want to have to do this job twice.

[Robin-535im]

Probably the heater core. Really not that hard to do, just get some baggies and a sharpie to label where all the screws come from. Pulling the center console is quick once you know how to do it, and a few bolts and clips later the heater core is in view.

Just replace the core and the o-rings, you can leave the tubes through the firewall in place.

You might consider pulling the seats for extra working room, and that way you can clean the carpets while it's all out. There is a tube that allows leaking water to exit the car so it won't necessarily get the carpet wet if it's leaking.

Bentley's process is clear and if you have a phillips screwdriver, 10mm and 13mm sockets and various hex/torx sockets it's a piece of cake! I've done two so far and the first was a PITA because I was lazy with the labeling. This time it's MUCH easier with keeping each bolt/screw/clip labeled clearly.

[CharlesAFerg]

It can be your heater core even if your carper isn't wet, right? I'm losing tons of coolant and fog in vents, but no wet carpets... hmmm