Got in the Camaro today and noticed a few drips of antifreeze on the passenger mat. it's dripping out of the black plastic vents in the passenger footwell. I haven't had time to look at it yet but, hope to this weekend while everything is shut down for the hurricane ;-)

Any quick tips or hints on what to look for? Where to look first?

Thanks,

 

Have you noticed any fogging to the front windshield after you park it?

 

Yep, bad heater core. If you live in a hot climate and don't use the heat, you can bypass the heater core by either forming a loop with the heater hoses, or go with the cleaner look and remove the hoses and fittings and put plugs in the water pump and intake manifold.

 

Nah, no fogging that I've noticed.

Damn, this thing is all fresh and everything is new. Sucks to have to replace that now!

Any idea how bad the job is? Estimated hours to complete and whats involved? I've never done a heater core before.

Is it sufficient to simply turn off the heater control valve for now?

Thanks,

 

You have an A/C (air conditioned) car then? The in-line heater control valve is vacuum operated, and is activated/closed when the A/C is turned on (for obvious reasons).

 

Nah, it's a non-ac car but, it has a manual heater control valve in the lower line. No vac-control, just a manual **** you turn to shut off the coolant flow.

I just looked a little closer and saw the lower hose isn't completely covering the brass fitting from the core (see pic below). I checked it and there was a small drop of antifreeze on the bottom of the hose there. I got a full turn of the hose clamp screw when trying to tighten it more- I'm wondering if this being loose allowed coolant to flow down the fitting and then leak on the inside? Is this possible?

Also in this pic, you'll see the manual control valve the P.O. installed.

 

Most times you can be forewarned with a fogging window when the heating core is starting to go bad, coolant in your passenger floorboard is soon to come.
Not unusual to find a full round left in those hose clamps as hoses contract and expand with the weather(those clamps don't).
That may be your culprit as a very slow leak will travel down the tube before it drops.

 

Ok, the previous owner retro-fitted an on off valve. I'd keep it closed until you ever need heat. And yeah, the hose leaking right at the core tube can let the coolant run back inside, especially since you don't have any grommets sealing it to the firewall. You might want to look into sealing those gaps with something, so that the heater core tubes don't rattle against the firewall and saw through. I periodically check my hose clamps, when the engine is hot and the hoses are more pliable.

 

Shutting the valve off may not stop the leak if it's in the core. Pressure will still build in the cooling system and coolant will seep if the core is bad.