A foggy windshield, wet passenger side floor, warm antifreeze scent, and a heater that doesn’t produce heat are signs of a faulty heater core. The component can develop leaks or clogs and needs replacing, which can be difficult without proper tools and knowledge.
If a vehicle’s windshield fogs up when the engine starts, it’s time to consider a heater core replacement. Another sure sign that a vehicle needs a new heater core is a wet passenger side front floor plate. Coolant often leaks from a broken or faulty heater core. A hint of a warm antifreeze scent while a vehicle is running or directly after it’s shut off is another sign that you need a new heater core. Perhaps the most overlooked sign of a required heater core replacement is simply a heater that puts out no heat when the blower motor is on the high position.
In vehicles that are liquid-cooled, the hot coolant passes through a small radiator-type component called a heater core. An electric blower draws air through the heater core and blows the warm air into the passenger compartment of the vehicle. Occasionally this unit will develop a problem in the form of a leak or a clogged refrigerant passage. When this happens, it’s time to replace the heater core. Older core heater units were made of brass and were harder to damage; However, newer drives are made of aluminum and plastic, which requires great care to avoid damaging the device when installing it.
Vibration, as well as continuous cycling from cold to hot temperatures, can cause the heater core to develop a leak. The most common area where a heater core will leak is in the inlet and outlet lines where the rubber heater hoses connect to the heater core. This leak can come as a large leak that soaks into the carpet on the front floorboards or as a subtle leak that just stays in the heater duct and fogs up the windshield when starting the engine. In either case, the first sign of a leaking heater core indicates that it is time to replace the heater core.
While heater core replacement is not a difficult task, it can often be difficult to get the heater core into its proper mounting location. It is for this reason that many shade tree mechanics take their vehicles to a professional garage for heater core replacement. These professional mechanics usually have access to special tools that make the job of replacing a heater core much simpler. With knowledge of a particular manufacturer’s method of installing the original heater core, the mechanic can understand the proper sequence of parts to remove to make installing a replacement heater core a much easier task.
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