My girlfriend caught her foot on the floormat and noticed this huge puddle of green coolant on the passenger side floor. Any idea of where this is coming from and how do I fix it? The coolant light doesn't come on and the engine temp is fine. My friend says it might be the heating system. Is he right?

 

Definitely your heater core. They cost about $30 but are a pain to fix.
There's probably a tech article on how to do it around here somewhere. In the meantime (until cold weather comes) you can keep it from leaking by bypassing it.
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91 Z28
Come see The Vicious...

[This message has been edited by ViciousZ (edited July 25, 2001).]

 

I agree it has to be the heater core. it is a fairly big job. it is not as hard as some cars( mustangs the entire dash has to come out of the car) but it will take some time and Patience

 

Chappy ,
I had to have mine changed recently , I have a 88 camaro with a 2.8 .My friend is a mechanic (real good one) .He did not even want to mess with it , he said take it to the shop .The dash had to come out .Your lucky you did not have a big puddle like my friend did in his camaro .I dont know how your floorboard is in your bird , but in my camaro it kinda sinks in down there , well same thing in my friends , well it filled up that entire hole down there like 2 inches of coolunt in my friends car .....Wayne

 

I"m pretty sure it's in the same spot on a firebird as a camaro. well, I replaced mine in about an hour and a half. there's nothing complicated about it. take off the under dash hush panel, then you'll see a black box, take the screws out of it, there's only one that's a pain, it's on top. you can get ot that one with either 2 elbow attachments or take the dash pad off and go in from the top. then all you have to do isunhook the hoses in front of the firewall and pull the unit out. replace it and put it back together. just a handy hint, leave that top screw out, everything fits together fine without it in there.

 

Anyone that says the dash has to come out is wrong. One thing that helped me, though, was to pull out the passenger seat. That way, I could lie on my back and look up into the heater core housing, where you're doing your work. Obviously you'll want to vacuum up the coolant on the floorpan first

 

The dash in the firebirds must be different b/c my hanes manual says it must come out to change it .I had the best shop in the town I live in replace it and they had to take it out , they only charged me $250 though

 

I've done 2 on 84 and 85 firebirds, the dash doesn't have to come out.

As stated above, about 1 1/2 hours.

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ASE Mechanic/Machinist/Smog Tech

1999 NBM Trans Am
1986 Chevy 3/4 ton pick up
1981 corvette
1995 Kawi ZX6R
and 2 POS commuters...

R.I.P. #3
"He can see air"

 

Must be different on the t/a's and bird , wish I could have not taken the dash out but I had to .My hanes manual said I had to and the shop had to in the town I live in , as stated above ...

 

I had the same problem. My parents bought the car for me and a couple of days later my friends relized that there was a huge puddle on the floor (actually, his cell phone fell in it). The place where my parents got it fixed it for nothing, but they did say that the dash had to come out. Never have done it myself so I dont know. Thats my $.02

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1992 Firebird
3.1 Liter V6
K&N Filter, everything else stock, for now!!!

 

Thanks for the info guys. My friend thought it was the heater core and I'm sure he'll be happy knowing he's right. All I have to do now is convince him to fix it for me!

 

It's going to take a lot of convincing for me to do it

 

Any body that says the whole dash dont have to come on in a camaro is wrong. I tried everyway with out takin the whole dash apart and its impossible. Believe me...mine went out in the middle of winter and i was outside in my coveralls fixing it...i was freezin my *** off and if i could of got it changed without takin the dash off i would of!

 

been there done that and it sucks

 

nope, I did it, the 82-90 dashes may be different, but there's not much to it... Also, it may be located differently depending on wheter it's carbed, or fuel injection. At any rate, it's possible, just kind of a pain.

 

I have done an 82,87,and 92 camaros and an 89 trans am none of which I had to remove the dash... a mirror and lite along with the right combination of 1/4 drive extentions or a flex extention does it every time...

zroc

 

I have done an 82,87,and 92 camaros and an 89 trans am none of which I had to remove the dash... a mirror and lite along with the right combination of 1/4 drive extentions or a flex extention does it every time...

zroc

 

You should check your hoses that go into the heater core first. Mine were not very tight and it ran coolant along the pipe through the fire wall then made a large puddle on my floor. I thought my heater core was leaking too, then when I started taking it out i noticed the hosed were not clamped tight.

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82 Camaro Z28
355 w/4 bolt mains
9:1 comppresion
Federal Mougal Forged Aluminum pistons
heavily ported 882 heads
gasket matched Torker intake Edelbock Performer 750 carb
Speed pro cam 222 @.05 .447 lift
Edelbrock Flow Pro 1002 air cleaner
Headman headers with straight pipes
Borg Warner T-10
Posi
Fiber glass hood
Another 82 Camaro Z28
Black w/blue pearl w/silver racing stripes
355
Edelbrock Performer intake and 750 carb
Pro Flo 1002 Air cleaner
4 bolt mains
69 camaro heads 64cc
9:1 compression
TH-350 w/stage 2 shift kit
275/60R15 out back
205/60R15 front

 

You don't have to remove the dash on the firebirds, can't vouch for the camaros. Check this out: http://sethirdgen.org/heater.htm

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'87 Trans Am
S/D TPI retrofit including functional PassKey,
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JET AFPR, Ported Plenum,
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SSM SFC, KYB Shocks, Boxed LCAs, Wonder Bar,
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Summit 1-5/8" headers, 2.5" Dynomax catback.

Best 1/8: 9.519@72.74

'97 Bonneville SSE

 

You could always bypass the header core. Its much easier than replacing it. Just wear a warm coat in the Winter... or sell the car and buy one with a good heater core. :-)

 

I was going to leave the heater core as is, since my car will only be used during the warmer months, but it seems like I need to get it fixed. I cleaned up the mess on the floor and noticed that it came back a few days later. The heater is turned off, so maybe the problem is somewhere else. Anyone have an idea why it's still leaking?

 

I didn't have to completely remove the dashboard to swap mine. What I did have to do.

Remove the dashboard pad
Remove the ECM
Remove the center console
Remove the stereo/heater control console
Remove the stereo head unit
Remove the pad under the steering column
Drop the entire steering column
Remove all bolts securing the dashboard to the body.

After doing all of that I was able to slide the dashboard out far enough to swap heater cores. If you don't relocate the dash, you will never be able to fit the heater core inside the small space it resides, let alone get your hands in there to position it right.



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92 Camaro RS, LO3, 5-spd, T-tops

Performance:
K&N Open Air Filter, Edelbrock performer TBI intake, Fastchip Prom, Timing +4 degrees, Centerforce clutch, Xact 8mm wires, SLP 1 3/4" Headers (coated), Flowmaster Catback Exhaust, Z28 Grille w/aftmkt fog lamps, MacEwen white-face guages
Electronics:
Alpine 8030 Alarm System, Valentine One Radar Detector (How did I ever drive without one?), Pioneer DEH 7450 Head Unit w/6-pack CD changer, Pioneer DEQ 7600 Sound Processor, 2 Kenwood KAC-846 Amps powering 2 12" Pro Red subs, 2 Pioneer 6x9 and 2 MTX 4x6 speakers.
NEXT UP: TBI mods, 3.42 gears w/Torsen posi