Signs of a dodgy heater core

Wagonman · Post by **Wagonman** » Sat May 21, 2011 9:50 pm

After my experiences with owning 3 L series now and what happened today I thought I might write up and get some other peoples input on what happens when your heater core goes.

I've had a few different things happen from the same problem.

Firstly is a minor leak, your heater still works but there is coolant dripping into your car mostly into the footwells but also i had one leaking under the little centre console box.

Then there is a medium leak, where it leaks pretty badly and causes the car to gradually run hotter because of the lack of coolant which it loses over time.

Then you get what happened to me today after not dealing with the problem when the first two signs popped up. The heater core or hoses leaks so badly that you lose so much coolant it starts to overheat and causes escaping steam to pour out of every vent in your dash and fogs up your entire windscreen. Not helpful at 100kmh!
Long story short a good mate came with some tools, a hose, hose clamps and water and she was all sweet.

So what storys do you have about heater cores and over heating?

Wagonman.

guyph_01 · Post by **guyph_01** » Sat May 21, 2011 9:59 pm

Lol, I hope that wasn't because you drove up only cause of me:P

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sat May 21, 2011 11:11 pm

Wagonman wrote: So what storys do you have about heater cores and over heating?

One particular corner on the Calder just as you rounded Kyneton in the Melbourne direction I blew the radiator one week then the heater core the next, no leaking before it blew either. 110km/h and an extremely fogged up windscreen (in the middle of summer too) was not fun. The CFA rocked up to make sure I wasn't on fire!

Then there's the freshly rebuilt EA82 MPFI that got my brother and I to perth and almost home. A piping hot day driving back to Vic and my brother blew out the radiator - I was not happy jan! Screwed the engine and we got towed home. Ran with a brumby radiator that had some serious holes in it until I got the 3 core!

Other than that just the usual high temps on the beach that I've been trying to deal with. One time I remember pushing the subi hard in some soft sand, it was slow going. Temp hit 120 but I had to keep moving or I was really stuck. It took 15 minutes to cool off - one dodgy thermo was not up to the task!

Generally don't have an over heating issue, just an over cooling one now...

Cheers

Bennie