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Leaking heater-core? Anyone?

2951 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  TerryY
Some time ago I posted a topic about coolant loss and the sweet smell of it inside the car.
The ones that replied were both convinced of the leaking heater o-rings being the cause despite the fact that there was no trace of water in the footwell or anywhere else.

So I removed the glovebox and with a small mirror and a torch you can very well see the spot where the o-rings sit but no evidence of any residue there. I placed some paper towel under the connection point of the 2 pipes going in and out of the heater, just where the temp sensor is wrapped around it. If there was any leak, it would certainly show on the towels.

After a day of short distance driving with multiple cool downs and warm-ups (when the smell is most noticable) I lost about 200cc of coolant and when removing the fillercap on the reservoir there was a hissing noise. So some pressure was in the system. While doing so the level did rise. But the paper towels were still dry, no trace of a leak there.

Apart from the smell I cannot find where the coolant goes. Has anyone got experience with a leaking heater core and does anyone know where the coolant leaks on or into if the leak would be in the core? Or any other suggestions are greatly apreciated.

Regards, Olav
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Thanks Jos,

With residual pressure I meant after cooldown of about 6 hours.

I'll have a look under the car. I saw a picture of these drains in the 'repair' section of this site.
Today, before reading the new post, I checked the same thing. Putting it on low and leave it there for a while and then increasing the temp settings all of a sudden.

I went to a specialist and we soon agreed on the matrix leaking. BUT....

As I started the engine to go home again the startermotor encountered some serious resistance just about when the rest of the cylinders took over and the engine was running. While driving off I noticed some condensvapour in my rearview mirror coming from the exhaust. That's o.k. when cold but the engine was allready on operating temperature for about half an hour.
I've parked it on the driveway and it will not start again due to the build up of water on top of one of the pistons, The starter just cannot cope with the force.
It has done 108000km's, that's roughly 67000mls and as you can read on the RPI site that's about the time almost all blocks crack. If I'm lucky it is a blown headgasket. If not you'll be seeing my name on this forum more often at various stages of the rebuild/exchange.

Olav
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