need help finding coolant leak (with uber cool pics!)

[rudefyet]

well i'm working on my car today finally...i've pinpointed the general location of the leak but i'm confused what it's coming from

 

i would crawl under the car but the ground is soaking wet from rain...so i'll have to clean out the garage

 

on the firewall...there is a piece of frabic/w a reflective cover on it...not sure what to call it....if you looking at the car head on it's just to the left of the exhaust downpipe...has a couble cables going in the firewall there

 

the leak is coming from that thing...about halfway down it...around the bend in the firewalll so i can't see it from up top

 

there are no coolant lines in the engine compartment in that exact area....so i'm wondering what the hell the leak could be coming from

 

i assume it's a line inside the car that's right next to that part of the firewall

 

but any help would be greatly appreciated

[jimmy91444]

sound like your heater core .

[rudefyet]

that's what i orginally thought

 

but i figured my floor would be soaked....hmm

[rudefyet]

upon closer inspection theres a little L shaped rubber hose sticking out with a hole in the botttom....that's where the coolant is coming from...

 

wtf is that thing?!

 

EDIT: It's the evaporator drain tube....wtf is coolant coming out of that for?

 

EDIT2: checked some sites....seems that a bad heater core will cause this...disasembling the dash now

 

looks i was right about the heater core....and my dad didn't believe me *sticks out tougne*

[terryk2003]

well, it seems as if a few days ago in the post about telling your dad how w-body's work...i recall me posting "SOUNDS LIKE THE HEATER CORE" soo...

 

http://www.w-body.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23132

[rudefyet]

THIS IS FUCKING RIDICULOUS

 

the hoses are glued together from 14 years of corrosion

 

and theres NO fucking room to fit any useful tools to help me out

 

I'm cutting the damn thing out...i'll go buy some new hoses....i ain't cutting m hands up in a 3 inch space trying to pry these hoses apart

 

FUCK YOU GM

 

[rudefyet]

muyahaha....fixed

 

i got some scars to prove it

 

i need to quit talking to myself on here

[Dannymik]

good job! I had this happen to my Cutlass this past summer. It was my heater core and was a easy fix for buddy who is a specialist at fixing those SOB's. That L shaped rubber hose is to get rid of condensation and shit from your a/c or when you heater core has an issue. I was also confused since I didn't have any coolant on the floor of my car, but I could still smell it.

[rudefyet]

i'm bored so i feel like posting pics i took while i was bored

 

Just pulled the new core out of the box

 

Old core laying on ground

 

Where it was leaking

 

Nice new hoses

 

New core under dash (yes i know iit's crooked)

 

All done!

 

Vroom Vroom

[Dannymik]

so how bad of a job was it? I hate laying in akward positions when doing those kind of fixes.

[rudefyet]

eh...well...let's see....hardest part is probably getting most of the plastic from under the dash out....it's wedged in there real tight....

 

then getting the heater core itself out is a pain...screws in tight places that a socket barely fits in...and then getting the hose clamps next to the firewall undone was quite a challange...

 

after i got it out...running the new hoses and putting the heater core in place was easy...i had to climb on top of the engine in order to get in position to tighten the new hose clamps

 

but putting the dash back together again was a PITA....till i figured out how to get the duct sticking out of the floor disconnected....then it was easy

 

overall....it took me about 10 hours...being my first time doing something like this

 

if it were to happen again...i'm confident i can pull it off in 2-3 hours