ok, so I have raiator fluid all over the floor board of the front passenger side of my car. is this my heater core going? if I stop using my heater will it stop leaking inside? how can I figure out what is going on? is it just a hose that is no longer attached? I cant see or feel in the carpet where it is coming from, no wet trails down to the floor (though it looks like there are recently dried lines running down from the floor vent in the center)

tia,

John

 

it's 90% of the time the heater core and there's 2 ways to stop it
1) Replace the core and everything is fine
2) disconnect the heater core from the engine but this time of the year it gets awful chilly doing this

 

yea its gonna be the heater. Unfortunatly that requires taking a fair portion of the dash apart to get to. If you can live without a heater just connect the 2 hoses i the engine bay and bypass it...

 

What is a good estimate of time to change the heater core? I have turned many wrenches and changed a few heater cores. I believe the heater core is the cause of my windows fogging up. I smell coolant in my car all the time but dont see and leaks. I think steam is comming from the core. Any body change one before?

 

yeah, ok. the above also sounds like me, steam rises from the defrost vents onto the windshield when i turn the car off, or if the car is on, the heat is on but not blowing (ie. the temp is placed to heat, but no fan) if I dont do the bypass, but dont use the heater, will this still leak?

also, if i bypass it, will my ac still work?

 

Yes.

Yes.

 

cool, thanks 4 the info

 

Yes. It took me 6 weeks and a couple of days.

 

to bypass the engine I need to remove both hoses from the firewall and connect them to each other. what should I use to connect them? Ideas appreciated.

 

Use a 3" piece of copper tubing (available at hardware stores for a buck or two)that fits snuggly inside the hoses and a couple of hose clamps. It's that simple.

 

Did the same thing on my SE - had the radiator shop shunt down the heater feed at the radiator outlet to the engine, and then fashioned a plug to insert into the driver's side of the block where the heater core would normally return the heater coolant.

Works great, and no more coolant leaks on my right foot when I drive - heater flow volume control is right by the driver's foot and is the part that breaks and leaks. HTH,

 

ok, I did the bypass, but now i have cash for the heater core. what all do I need to remove? the center console (with radio, etc), the glove box, do I need to remove the top of the dash as well as the lower part behind the center console? anything else I am Forgetting?

btw it's an '82 gls-se with ac

 

How cold dose it get in San Jose? I left mine bypassed and dont drive it when its cold out. I think this may be a good way to preserve those northern cars. LongDuck you lucky bastard in Phoenix

 

WTF ?!?

 

No -SE's in 82 buddy.

 

Odd since the decals on the car claim both?

 

Then your car is a mutt.

Do you have a 13B RE-EGI fuel injected engine and 4 wheel vented disc brakes? A Tach and Speedo of equal size side-by-side in the dash? A silver strip of plastc down the centre of the console? Then it might be a GSL-SE, but not an '82.

Do you have a 12A carb'd engine? A black strip of plastic down the centre console? A large Tach with Speedo off to the side? Then you might have an '82, but most certainly not a GSL-SE

You may find these helpful:

http://www.rotorhead.ca/ref_1982.php

http://www.rotorhead.ca/ref_1984.php

 

uh oh some one got ripped off.................