Crackling Sound from Heater Core - Caprice

Hi,

I've found a crackling / snapping sound coming from my heater core. If I pinch off one of the heater hoses, the noise stops. The noise comes on acceleration, and at a slight rev in neutral. Causes I can think of :

1) Steam is forming somehow in the cooling system, and I am hearing the old-fashioned steam radiator sound in the heater core. 2) Air bubbles are trapped in the heater core and are slapping around in there. 3) A piece od debris (metal) is flopping around in the htr core.

Additional info : I do have a coolant leak at the rear of the intake manifold.

The car is an 85 Chevy Caprice. The heater core is only 3 years old.

Any ideas / thoughts / ruminations / reveries welcomed ....

L
Reply to
Lecher9000
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In article snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (Lecher9000) writes: $Any ideas / thoughts / ruminations / reveries welcomed ....

At this time of year, it's probably chestnuts roasting on the heater core :-)

Reply to
Hi Ho Silver

That's close. I was thinking it might be dry leaves rattling around. There are no moving parts in the heater core itself but there is a fan near it.

Reply to
Tom Eisenman

Time to replace the leaking intake manifold gasket and have the cooling system flushed. As the engine cools, air is being sucked into the block instead of coolant from the recovery/overflow bottle. You're risking a warped head and more if you don't get it repaired soon.

Lecher9000 wrote:

Reply to
Mike Behnke

I too thought about the possibility of air getting in from the leak, and not allowing coolant to be sucked back in from the reservoir on cooldown, which would possibly result in a cooling system half empty even with a full reservoir. But after this noise was going on for about 7 days, I twisted off the rad cap, when cold, just to see, and the rad was full. Could be steam blasting through the core, but how would steam get here ? Properly mixed coolant is not supposed to boil or steam. Maybe just debris ?

Reply to
Lecher9000

Reply to
Mike Behnke

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