Dannymik Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 I believe my heater core is shot since its leaking out of the drain plug on the firewall/ passenger side of car. Now is it ok to drive with this going on? Its 9:35 pm and I have to work at 7:30am tomorrow...the Cutty is my only car. My work is about 14 miles one way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl3196 Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 The one in my cutlass was leaking months before I sold it and I still drove it. Only shitty thing is it won't defrost the windows very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannymik Posted August 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 The one in my cutlass was leaking months before I sold it and I still drove it. Only shitty thing is it won't defrost the windows very well. When I had my car running for a few minutes I checked it to see how frequent it dripped and it was fairly steady. I guess I will keep antifreeze(or at least water) with me at all times until I get it fixed. Now how often did you have to add it to your radiator? I'm always keeping my eye on my temperature guage so that wont be a new thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl3196 Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 My coolant level didn't drop at all. The only reason I thought it to be the heater core was it wouldn't defog the windows and the smell of coolant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight rider Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 Get a piece of hose and bypass it for now if you don't fix it. at least that way, you won't be losing coolant and running the risk of engine meltdown.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannymik Posted August 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 My coolant level didn't drop at all. The only reason I thought it to be the heater core was it wouldn't defog the windows and the smell of coolant. you didn't notice any fluid leaking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannymik Posted August 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 Get a piece of hose and bypass it for now if you don't fix it. at least that way, you won't be losing coolant and running the risk of engine meltdown.... sorry for being sooo dumb about this, but how would I bypass that problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sl3196 Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 My coolant level didn't drop at all. The only reason I thought it to be the heater core was it wouldn't defog the windows and the smell of coolant. you didn't notice any fluid leaking? Nope if it was it must have been very little because my coolant level didnt drop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannymik Posted August 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 My coolant level didn't drop at all. The only reason I thought it to be the heater core was it wouldn't defog the windows and the smell of coolant. you didn't notice any fluid leaking? Nope if it was it must have been very little because my coolant level didnt drop. the funny part of the heater core giving me preoblems is that I used the defoggers this morning and had no problem at all. I did smell antifreeze though . So how do you bypass the heater core? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight rider Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 So how do you bypass the heater core? Remove the two hoses from the heater core and respective pipes. Hook a single hose from one pipe to the other. This will bypass the core until you can have it fixed. You won't have any heat, but it won't leak water either.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoStudd Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 So how do you bypass the heater core? Remove the two hoses from the heater core and respective pipes. Hook a single hose from one pipe to the other. This will bypass the core until you can have it fixed. You won't have any heat, but it won't leak water either.... If you want a really quick MacGyveresque fix, then cut the 2 heater hoses off of the heater core and splice them together with a coupler and a couple of hose clamps . Then top off your rigging with a little of Red Green's helper: DUCT TAPE! Seriously though, you don't need the duct tape, but as long as you don't kink the hoses, splicing them works just as well as replacing them with one hose. It all depends on how much work you wanna do ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannymik Posted August 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 so how unsafe is this to drive with it leaking like this? I dont want to crack anything! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulo57509 Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 so how unsafe is this to drive with it leaking like this? I dont want to crack anything! There is a risk associated with operating any kind of equipment that is in need of repair. I guess the short answer is "it depends". Sometimes you can go for a while with it dripping. Sometimes the core can just "let go" at anytime. The leak isn't going to get any better without some intervention on your part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoStudd Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 About a month ago, a friend of mine had the heater core pop (loudly, so he says) on him when he was sitting in traffic (97 Suzuki Sidekick.) He kept driving the sucker until he got home, and his front floorboards were covered in about an inch of standing coolant! So that's where this is headed. If the leak is tiny now, try adding some Bars stop-leak (the gray powdery kind) to see if it'll seal it up. It doesn't hurt to try it, seeing as that's a hell of a lot easier than tearing out the heater core. I was watching "Mythbusters" a couple of weeks ago, and they were putting automotive urban legends to the test. They tested the "crack an egg in the radiator to keep it from leaking" myth and it worked! Granted they only punched one small hole in the radiator with an ice pick, but the egg seeped into the hole, cooked itself in the hot coolant, and plugged the leak... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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