heater core going or what?

[SASHO91]

yesterday me and my friend were heading over to a local performance shop that we had just found out that it had a dyno. 2 pulls for 65 bucks so was like cool i go see what im putting down. any wayz we had to make an appointment and i was low on cash so we made an app. for thur. or fri. so we get of the highway and we are stopped at a light. i notice what seemed to be smoke coming from the defroster area up by the windshield.but the vent wasnt on or anything for that matter. so we pull in to a resturaunt and i pop the hood to see if its in the engine bay. nothing, then i turn the vent on to see if i could blow the smoke out. when i turned it on more smoke came out of the vents. i only had it on about 70 then i turned it up to like 85 and then it just started to come out like no tommorow. what does that sound like. all i can think of would be thaty there is a leak in the hearter core, right. thanks for the input.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Did the smoke have a smell, and if so how would you describe it?

 

[SASHO91]

it kinda had a sweet smell to it. but that was after about 2 min. of smelling it though.

 

[fastsho92]

ive never done a heater core on a SHO but i have done 2 on a 01 f150. let me tell you it was a pain in the a$$. i never had smoke but in the winter time when we had the heat on it smelled like antifreeze then after a day or to it go really bad and very aparent. the heater core in a f150 is right behind the dash so knowing this we pulled up the driver and passenger side carpets to find that there was antifreeze everwhere. im not sure if the heater core is in back of the dash in a SHO to. well anyway we changed it then the replacment went back the next year so we had to do it all over. but that is odd that there is smoke im not sure why there would be any smoke. and also antifreeze has a very bitter sweet tast to it so animals will not drink it and die. so that might be why it smelled sweet. hope this helps.

 

[Freak SHO]

Probably...

You don't want to hear it, but It sounds like your heater core. I replaced mine last Thanksgiving...it took about 12 hours all told and it is a huge pain in the ***, (relatively speaking). One way to be sure is to look at your firewall on the passenger side, you'll see where the a/c condenser lines enter the heater box...just below the bottom line, you'll see a drain hole, from the bottom of the heater box...if you see a/f leaking out that hole, it's your heater core. Before you rip anything apart check both hoses with an inspection mirror and rev the engine to make sure they're not squirting a/f into the heater box via one or both heater core inlet/outlet pipes. If you DO have to change it and you decide to do so yourself, here is the breakdown of tasks as I did it. (just by estimation I think I could cut the time in half the second go round)

-Remove console
-Remove Driver's seat
-Drop steering column
-detach all instrumentation, (speedo cable, etc)
-remove all fasteners, wiring harnesses, etc, that prevent the dash from moving
-swing the dash out from the passenger side, (as if there were hinges on the d/s), to gain access to the heater box
-remove the three bolts on the firewall that attach the heater box

Easy from there. Good luck. Email me at [email protected] if you need to.

 

[SASHO91]

thanks guys for the info i had a feeling that it was my core. instead of replacing it im just going to bypass it. why you might ask? cause i live in texas. and the winters here get down to around 60 or so. but not that bad right now so what the ****. another ? the 2 lines that lead to the heater core are on the side by the throttle body right? i was just going to put a 90* elbow on the 2 lines and call it done. is this a better idea then the 12 hr. plus job heater core replacment? just curiuos on what yall are going to say but going to do it either way.

 

[Shoaz]

-remove the three bolts on the firewall that attach the heater box

Easy from there. Good luck. Email me at [email protected] if you need to.

That last one got me. I'd bought a pre-emptive replacement heater core to plop in when we replaced my Blend Door Actuator. Got all the way in there and realized that the fasteners for the heater core plenum are behind the motor on the firewall side. ARG! On an MTX there's very little room to access these. Since my existing heater core is still fine, we elected to leave it.

 

[xpnsiv93]

My heater core has went bad TWICE w/in the last 2yrs...P.O.S!!! First a shop fixed the issue then the 2nd time (just this past May) it went out again...steam/smoke out the defrost vents and foggin up the window, I by-passed mine also w/nothing happening other than the fact it heats up a lil quicker than normal....and in texas I dont see you having any issues w/it being by-passed....since you dont have to worry about harsh winters like here in Chicago....