Heater Core Leak?

[bprat318]

I think I may have a heater core leak on my 01 s10, however, I am not 100% convinced. The only symptom I have at the moment is the smell of coolant when I have the heat on. What I have checked is for wetness on the floorboards and around the bottom of the dash, I even stripped down some of the bottom portions of the dash this evening, dry as a bone. Also, my windows don't fog nor is there any residue left on the windows when running the defrost. I checked the engine bay for leaks and found none. Again all I have right now is the smell of coolant when the heat is on. Any thoughts as I am stumped.

 

[CT8]

Have you done a pressure test?

 

[bprat318]

Originally Posted By: CT8
Have you done a pressure test?


It's on the list for this weekend.

 

[krismoriah72]

its a warning sign. first u get the little whiffs then it lets loose. I would avoid the bars leaks or anything of that nature.

You have three choices. 1)bypass it 2)try the black pepper trick (some people have gotten 3 years or more out of the black pepper sealer 3)replace the bad heater core.

 

[eljefino]

I've had good luck with bars leak! I'm sure I'm alone.

What I do is drain a gallon from the system, mix bars leak powder with a pint, pour that in, start the engine, then put the rest of the coolant back in.

The problem IMO with bars leak is people put it up top so it doesn't get sucked through the system and just gunks up the radiator cap and other high spots

I had a cadillac cimarron with leaky heater core (smelled, fogged the windshield with green fog) and bars leak cured it of that problem.

 

[Merkava_4]

They got an ACDelco at RockAuto for $82.79

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
I've had good luck with bars leak! I'm sure I'm alone.


I also have used this successfully. When I finally took out that radiator after 17 years of using Bars (radiator was 20 years old) it was extremely clean on the inside.

 

[zzyzzx]

Heater Core Leak

Obligatory:

 

[Garak]

Now, that's a heater core leak!

 

[HM12460]

NOT a pretty sight.

 

[Leo99]

I had a Merc Sable with a bad heater core. Shopped around to find a place to change it out for me. It was a lot of work. Think it booked 8 hours of labor. Needed to remove the dash and AC lines which had to be evacuated and recharged. Cost me about $800. Two weeks later the new one sprung a leak. Seems they got a bad batch of cores that were not manufacture properly and they had to repeat the job. Nothing fun about this job. Hope the pepper trick works for you.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: Leo99
I had a Merc Sable with a bad heater core. Shopped around to find a place to change it out for me. It was a lot of work. Think it booked 8 hours of labor. Needed to remove the dash and AC lines which had to be evacuated and recharged. Cost me about $800. Two weeks later the new one sprung a leak. Seems they got a bad batch of cores that were not manufacture properly and they had to repeat the job. Nothing fun about this job. Hope the pepper trick works for you.


What was the brand and country of origin of the replacement heater core???

 

[Silverado12]

I would check the radiator cap and possible the radiator (esp. upper) hoses. I doubt it's the heater core if you're dry inside the truck. How much antifreeze are you using? Edit: I had a 2002 Cavalier I bought new and it smelled like antifreeze from day one. Turned out to be a defective radiator cap. I believe it was swapped at the dealer because it didn't look new, but by the time I checked it the engine bay was a little dusty so hard to tell for sure. That's another story, though.

 

[Leo99]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Originally Posted By: Leo99
I had a Merc Sable with a bad heater core. Shopped around to find a place to change it out for me. It was a lot of work. Think it booked 8 hours of labor. Needed to remove the dash and AC lines which had to be evacuated and recharged. Cost me about $800. Two weeks later the new one sprung a leak. Seems they got a bad batch of cores that were not manufacture properly and they had to repeat the job. Nothing fun about this job. Hope the pepper trick works for you.


What was the brand and country of origin of the replacement heater core???


Pep Boys did the work so whatever they used.