For a 1-2 weeks there has been antifreeze coming into the interior of the car, through the passenger side footwell. I don't know much about troubleshooting car problems, so any help would be great. My floormat is pushed 90% of the way to the back of the foot well (front of the car) and it ends up running down the floormat and pooling up on it. If this is a common problem how much would it cost to fix, just for the parts.

One of my friends said that it was the heater coil, if it is and ideas on how much it is to replace?

thanks

 

Sounds like your heater core is shot and is leaking into your interior. It is a pain from what I understand to change but it is just unbolting and bolting stuff on and off. You have to take off the dash pad and dig pretty deep on that side of the car. Buy a haynes or chiltons and follow the steps. Try a search for heater core and see what comes up.

 

A new heater core is in the $20-30 range

 

so im guessing that i will have to empty the rad fluid out right? Thanks for the help

 

Well your friend was close, it's the heater core. It looks like a tiny radiator and it site up under the dash board. Anti-freeze runs through it. When you slide the selector to heat, it directs air over the heater core and heats the air that then get blown in to the passenger compartment. That is why you don't have any heat in the car until the engine warms up.

Our cars are rather notorious for spontaneous heater core catastrophies. And yes I am speaking for experience.

You have two options. A by-pass or a fix.

By-pass: 30 min job.

Find the two heater hoses in the engine compartment that supply the heater core. They should be right in front of the passenger going into the firewall. Disconnect them at the fire wall and connect them together. Done. However the heater core will continue to leak until it is empty. Holds probably 2 pints. Maybe a little more.

Fix: Half a day and lots of four letter words.
There is a tech article you should read before tackling the job. Find it in the tech section of the site. Very helpful. But I will give you a short rundown.

Remove the passenger side under dash panel. Remove the dash pad on top of the dashboard. On the passenger side there is a big black box behind the dash. This has to come off. Top bolt will be a bear. Be patient, you'll get it.

After that is off you can remove the bracket for the heater core. The heater core should wiggle out. Keep in mind the pipes that are protruding into the engine compartment. Those are the ones that the heater hoses are connected to. Also keep in mind the core will still have some anti-freeze in it. Throw down some rags.

Reverse order to reinstall.

When I did mine I also unbolted the passenger side of the dash and pulled it out a bit. It helped me get my big fat hads into some of the small places. Most notably the top screw on the heater box.

Be patient. Its doable. Most shops will charge about $400 - $600 to do the job.

Good luck. Come back and ask questions if you need to.

Bill

 

You do not have to empty the radiator!!!!

YOu will get some leakage when you take off the heater hoses that are connected at the firewall. Just have a few rags ready.

 

The best part of the job is that you don't HAVE to finish it all in one day. The car is still driveable as the above post mentioned that you could bypass it.

 

Very true. If you need the car everyday, do the bypass first. Then you can tackle the replacement job when your ready. Even over several days is you don't mind driving around with the dash all torn up.

 

lol, i could just see it now


********
There i am driving down a street when all of a sudden, *sirens* out of nowhere comes a police car. It pulls in behind me so i assume i must pull over. The police officer gets out of his car comes up to my window and asks

"Excuse me son, why is there no dash on your car, or cover on your shifter?"

I say "Well sir, im just working on my car and i didnt have time to do it in one sitting, so i had to leave it like this when i drive around town"

Police Officer "step out of the car son with your hands in the air, your under arrest for auto theft!"

 

LOL!

Ya might want to keep the title handy!!