Coolant Smell..

[SHO Nick]

I had an issue were my Bypass how blew..had a small rip in it. I fixed it, but no I have a coolant smell in my cab, and twice now, I have a white moisture film on my windshield inside...its really hott here in cali., so my bud told me iot could be my heater core going out.. is this possible? the previous owner had replaced this awhile back.
-Nick

 

[n8rsk8r]

my dad had an 86 or 87 slo, his floorboard was wet too, that did happen, the film, once he changed the OEM stock one, he ended up changing that damn heater core some 3 times after that, make sure to get a quality piece, and flush the system REALLY GOOD!! Keep it from going out on you so soon.

 

[yamahaSHO]

Sounds like the heater core to me... You have to remove or pivot the dash to replace.

 

[SHO Nick]

Sounds like the heater core to me... You have to remove or pivot the dash to replace.

Yeah..I suspected...can it do much damage if I leave it be for a month or two?
-Nick
BTW, Thanks for the help so far.

 

[yamahaSHO]

You can do a bypass.... use a hose to go from the outlet of the block straight to the inlet. This will completely bypass your heater core. If the leak is bad enough, you could soak your carpet and such, and you could also run low on coolant.

 

[SHO Nick]

Alright, but would I still hve use of my A/C? Also, im new to the FWD & V6 Catagory...so ill need help...how would I bypass this again? I R Slow....

 

[SHOfun 93]

Your a/c is a separate system. Currently on my beater sho I don't have either heater OR a/c. The heater core went out and I bypassed it, and I still had a/c for over a year after it went out. Being you are in Cali, I wouldn't think that the loss of your heater will be that critical as it isn't down here in Tx, but it is nice if the weather drops pretty low. I just couldn't justify the PITA in doing the job myself, or paying someone through the nose to do the job on a car that I only paid $1000 for. My 95, however would be a different story!

 

[yamahaSHO]

Yes, the heater core runs HOT coolant through it for heating your car. You will still have AC operation.

On the back of the block, you'll see two smaller coolant lines running into the firewall... Instead of running them into the firewall, run a hose from block to block. This will just route the coolant back into the block.

 

[SHO Nick]

Okay, going off my 89 mustang that I sold, I could look for a simular setup...so basically connect them both and 'loop' them so the doing go into the firewall at all right? I know alot about cars and how to work on them, just ive never done this, and want to do it right.
-Nick

 

[yamahaSHO]

Correct, nothing will go into the firewall.

 

[SHO Nick]

I appreciate the help man, once more question, what should I use to connect them together with? Also, do you know the diamter of the plugs on the firewall? This way I can cap them off JIC.

 

[yamahaSHO]

Use a hose with a hose clamp... You may be able to use what is there, just bend the hose. I don't know the diameter, I would guess 3/4"... but don't quote me on that.

 

[SHO Nick]

Thanks YamahaSHO, just bypassed it...I do have a small crimp in the hose, but looks like it should flow well enough.
-Nick

 

[SHOfun 93]

Yeah my bypassed heater core has a small crimp in it as well but no problems after a year. You should be ok!