iam not overly sure how bad this is but sometimes when i get in my car there are drops of water on the car mats each side underneath the heater unit, ive brushed my hands underneath and both edges are damp, does this mean my heater will need replacing or is there a simple fix?
thanks
Heater Leaking?
Started by
damonwidd
, Jul 15 2009 08:18 PM
3 replies to this topic
#2
jmetal88
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Posted 15 July 2009 - 08:46 PM
iam not overly sure how bad this is but sometimes when i get in my car there are drops of water on the car mats each side underneath the heater unit, ive brushed my hands underneath and both edges are damp, does this mean my heater will need replacing or is there a simple fix?
thanks
I used to have similar problems and I had to replace my heater core when that happened. It might be a good idea to take the core out of the unit and take a look at it before you just replace it though. Mine had rust holes and leaks all over, but if yours is leaking from a small spot you might be able to get away with adding some stop leak to your cooling system and running with the heater on for a few drives. Only problem with stop leak is it can lead to clogs later on, and you'll eventually have to replace the heater core anyway.
#3
damonwidd
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On The Road
Posted 15 July 2009 - 08:56 PM
yea mine has bits of rust on the edges underneath, how easy is it to take the heater core out?
#4
jmetal88
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Posted 16 July 2009 - 04:29 PM
yea mine has bits of rust on the edges underneath, how easy is it to take the heater core out?
It's a little time consuming and you'll have some coolant to catch. You have to disconnect the coolant hoses that connect up to it, then get the blower assembly out of the car. After that you undo all the screws along the edge of the blower unit on the side where the core's pipe stubs are sticking out and take the side panel off. I think you might also have to remove the switch panel at the front but I can't remember exactly, it's been a while. You should be able to pull the heater core out from there, although IIRC my unit was rusted so badly I had to take the other side panel off as well so I could push the thing out. Then I had to clean up the inside of the blower unit because it was soaked with antifreeze and replace the foam that went around the core before I could put the new core in.
Oh and be aware that in some places the heater core is called the heater matrix, knowing both terms might make a replacement easier to find.
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