Hi Guys,
After reading through the posts here, I'm pretty sure my heater core is on the way out. The symptoms just started two days ago (window fogging, coolant smell in the cab). My question is how long do you think I can let this go for? I rely on this vehicle for work and have no backup transportation. I really cannot afford to pay someone to do this and the thought of pulling the dash in the dead of winter horrifies me. Will I do further damage to my system if I delay this till spring and more importantly is anyone aware of the health risks associated with breathing in coolant fumes? Obviously it's toxic if you drink it. I've been taking short breaths while driving just as a precaution : p

(background side note: I did a coolant flush ~2 months ago replacing the orange for the green. I followed the instructions verbatim on the flush kit and cycled water through the system for about 5 min with the engine running. I was able to dislodge a lot of solids. After the flush the car has been running beautifully. I can't help but wonder if this failure is related : / )

 

It's already gone. Your on borrowed time now. It probably is related though there is nothing your really could have done as the corrosion would have been an issue sooner or later. No way to tell.

With mine, I got just a slight smell and then it just totally went out on me one week later. Smelt like dead animals and then it went sweet and fogged the windows.

I really don't think you can or should delay till spring with it busted like that, though you can probably reroute the coolant lines going into the heater core on the engine side of the fire wall. No heat but you won't have that crud flying in your face. You can buy the connection at Auto-Zone that allows you to do the bypass easily.

 

It's funny, I actually re logged on to post that very question. I'm thinking for the time being I might just reroute the lines. Having no heat may be miserable but I suppose its better than the mess of coolant I can expect. When I did my flush I cycled water through the system, then ran the coolant flush kit and then cycled more water through for about 5 minutes. I'm wondering if the car had a leak all along and the sediment I cleared was plugging the holes. Guess thats what I get for being "thorough."

 

I once flushed my radiator and produced a pile of leaks. Thing looked like a sprinkler system. My vote is that you may have accelerated the process by removing sediment, but it was going to go sooner or later at that point.

 

If you can live without heat you can jumper the supply and return heater hoses together (In the engine compartment) with a short piece of pipe and a couple of hose clamps and you can run forever or untill you have the opportunity to get the repair done.

 

I am not positive but I think the hoses on a chevy are two different sizes, so the part at AZ may be a good investment. you could also try putting in some of the crud you cleaned out!! Stop leak....

 

i bought a coolant flush kit, then just used the T with its cap on to connect the heatercore hoses together till i could replace it.

dont drive around with it leaking, it will make you sick, give you a sore throat!

the heater core replacement is EASY its just intimidating cuz u got to remove the dash, lol. There are pics in my album. hope it helps.

 

Can you please elaborate on the "T". Did you use a 3 way adaptor but keep one outlet capped? I was thinking if I could find the right size pipe I could make a coupler with some hose clamps. I really need to do something fast, this smell is naseating.

How long would people estimate this job takes (from start to old HC removal)

I noticed in your album Ugly Monkey that you dropped the steering column. Was this done in order to remove the dash or an unrelated endeavor?

On a side note, has anyone had any luck with cigarette lighter heaters for the defroster? Do they even make these anymore?

 

I used the fatter t with the cap.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=97280

on 95-97 trucks you can drop the wheel to get the cluster bezel off much easyer. but i think you need to drop the wheel to get the dash out either way. but its only six bolts that hold on the dash. 4 on top and 2 on the bottom at each corner.

 

Well sure enough the heater core went out on me the other day. The smell had been getting weaker for the past few weeks so I thought I had bought myself some more time. On the drive to work last week I noticed the smell was very strong and the windshield was fogging up the worst I have ever seen. The cabin seemed like it started to look smoky and when I opened the dash vent white smoke came billowing out. I knew it was toast. I was able to drive back home and after a trip to the hardware store was able to devise this:


It seems to be working well however having no heat really sucks. Has anyone had good luck with stop-leak? A few people have told me that if the problem is as bad as I've made it out to be, I am beyond stop leak. I have also heard that you can inadvertently plug nozzles in the radiator. Being that its almost March I might try to tough it out.