Heater Core Question

[SonofaBish]

So - my beater DD has been having a bit of an odor to it as of late - honest, for a good bit of winter it would have a anti-freeze smell come from the heater for about 15 seconds and then go away. Carpets were never wet or anything, so I've let it go until very recently where its gotten significantly worse. But here's my question - would a leaky heater core cause the anti-freeze smell through the A/C? When the A/C is on, a bit of a smoke will come from the vents, and smells as described.... Still no wet carpets, but the smell is pretty bad, so i've got to do something about it.

Its a Chevy Venture minivan, but i don't think that makes a difference at the end of the day

Thanks

[Terminated]

Is this a 3100/3400? If the heater core goes then it goes, I don't think it's a gradual thing. Have the intake gaskets been done? If not, you could be getting a leak and the smell is coolant purging out onto hot engine parts.

[George C]

3100 3400 are known for intake gaskets failing...gm uses dexcool to help seal leaks.
Dexcool is great until it mixes with air then its properties go to work clogging leaks or in many cases gm heatercores


So what youre smelling is coolant and your intake gaskets are probably due....job isnt hard but if you have to pay a shop your bill will be more thrn car is worth

[yeahloh95]

you can also pressurize the system to find the leak ..intake or heater ?

[George C]

Smell of coolant is where fan draws in from...since its duct tract is under cowl which is above intake manifold.. This is very common on these motors

[SonofaBish]

Ok so it sound like George thinks it's the intake gaskets, not the heater core, which would explain why the carpets aren't soaked...

Are there any additinal tests i can do to rule out heater core? Or be certain it's the intake gaskets? Just wanna avoid doing double work if I can


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[Cam99]

Don't claim to be an expert, but if you are getting smoke (steam) from out of your ac vents that smells like anti freeze I would assume it would have to be the heater core because it shares the same duct work as the evap coil for the ac. Not sure how intake gaskets could cause this to happen out of your vents?

[Terminated]

A heater core is just a radiator that coolant passes through to generate heat. I'd think that if it was blowing smoke that would mean that the coolant was on fire or smoking. Coolant is probably burning off somewhere which is where you see the smoke as it passes through. If you look down into the intake valley where the lower intake meets the block and the heads (almost directly under the intake tube), you may see coolant pooling up. As George said, it's such a common issue on those motors I would be willing to bet that is the problem, I had the same issue in my Beretta just no smoke through the vents. When the heater core went bad, my floors were soaked with DexCool. That car was a pile I fixed everything coolant-related on it.

[George C]

With intake gaskets being bad chances are your heatercore ia ginna need replaced


Dexcool acts as sealing agent....ever wonder why every s10/blazer or any other gm v6 that has intake that has coolant passing thru it has a clogged heater core...well now you know

[SonofaBish]

Thank you for all the help from everyone.....

As of two days ago, the floors were not wet.... i did one last check last night, and indeed the carpets are wet with coolant, and I could see a small drip - So, i'm going to start with the heater core and go from there.... we'll see how much of a PITA that is....

[Stangman701]

I think you should just sell it and get something that's not a minivan :tongue:

[Cam99]

I think you should just sell it and get something that's not a minivan :tongue:

or this, lol

[SonofaBish]

Oh trust me, it's something that's high on my list once fixed.....

F CHEVY... Tore it apart last night... With any luck, will have it back together tonight


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[Martin0660]

F CHEVY...


Not just Chevy ...

Car design process starts with 10 meetings about where to place the heater core, then they build the rest of the car around that.

My Capri is a factory no AC car, a heater core change involves removing the glove box door, two screws o nan access panel, drain the coolant 1/2 way, two hoses, remove ... I never understand why that isn't more common across cars.

[SonofaBish]

Got heater core fixed last night, but now my a.c. isn't as ice cold like it was... Dunno why..... I need to see if the a.c. compressor is kicking on.... When I hit the a.c. button, seems like there's no engine idle change or anything


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[SonofaBish]

Any thoughts from anyone? A.c. Doesn't get real cold anymore... Everything is hooked up... Seems like compressor is kicking in..... I dunno what I may have broken


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[TooFast98Cobra]

Where u live heat is more important so id say job well done my friend.

[George C]

Have it recharged

[SonofaBish]

So i did this.... with one of the recharge kits you can buy.... I can hear the leak but can't pinpoint where its at... I must have jarred something when i was doing the heater core .... under the hood, the A/C goes through the firewall right beside where the heater core goes trhough, so i must have jarred something..... only thing i can think...

[George C]

Theres a core in the box for AC unit...if so youre gonna have to remove dash and then remove box and open up to get to ac core

[SonofaBish]

this thing will go to a dealer before i do that crap again....

[George C]

As i said previously about that job....

[Palmira]

If you look down into the intake valley where the lower intake meets the block and the heads (almost directly under the intake tube), you may see coolant pooling up. As George said, it's such a common issue on those motors I would be willing to bet that is the problem, I had the same issue in my Beretta just no smoke through the vents.