Digitalchaos
Registered User
Earlier I started the car after a night of rest to run an errand. As I was about 5 minutes into my drive, haze starting misting onto my windshield and a strong smell of coolant took to the air. Next, some white smoke started emitting from the passenger side engine bay. I drove to my destination and popped the hood. I found what looked like a round black plastic outlet nozzle on the lower passenger firewall dripping coolant to the exhaust. First I thought perhaps a hose came off, but after looking around I realized there was none. Next I thought about my heater core, and looked inside near the floor vents to find drops of coolant. Hence I realized my heater core had failed, after detecting a faint smell of coolant for weeks inside the cabin.
First, I would like to know what this small plastic nozzle is. Is it some form of a drain or air inlet for the HVAC box?
Next, I am considering either bypassing the heater core, or replaing it through an alternative method I came across since I do not have the facilities to dismantle my dashboard. The alternative method I think I happened upon involves removing the heator core through a white 'access panel' on the left front of the HVAC box, behind the dash. It seems this panel can be accessed by removing the glovebox.
The access panel can be seen in this picture: http://www.sccoa.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=5327&stc=1
And I located the information in this thread: http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41109&highlight=heater+core
It was stated however that a foam tape used to seal the heater core would be destroyed through this method. What exactly does this foam tape seal, is it important, and can an improvision be made?
Your help is appreciated as always.. If I am able to sucessfully replace the heater core through this method, I will attempt to create a writeup to greatly ease the difficulty of this task in the future.
First, I would like to know what this small plastic nozzle is. Is it some form of a drain or air inlet for the HVAC box?
Next, I am considering either bypassing the heater core, or replaing it through an alternative method I came across since I do not have the facilities to dismantle my dashboard. The alternative method I think I happened upon involves removing the heator core through a white 'access panel' on the left front of the HVAC box, behind the dash. It seems this panel can be accessed by removing the glovebox.
The access panel can be seen in this picture: http://www.sccoa.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=5327&stc=1
And I located the information in this thread: http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41109&highlight=heater+core
It was stated however that a foam tape used to seal the heater core would be destroyed through this method. What exactly does this foam tape seal, is it important, and can an improvision be made?
Your help is appreciated as always.. If I am able to sucessfully replace the heater core through this method, I will attempt to create a writeup to greatly ease the difficulty of this task in the future.