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1996 Ford Ranger Antifreeze Leak

Greetings:

I have a 1996 Ford Ranger (5 speed - manual transmission). Within the past week I've been noticing the smell of antifreeze in the cab. This is occurring whether the Heater, AC or Vent is on or off.

Yesterday, I checked the radiator hoses as well as the heater core hoses...all appeared good.

Today upon closer inspection of the engine area and determined to get to the bottom of this, I discovered that on the engine firewall, straight down from the heater core hoses towards the bottom, there is a small hose sticking OUT, which is "seeping" and/or "slow-dripping" the antifreeze solution.

I stopped into a local Autozone & read through the Haynes manual, but the information was limited & didn't help.

Is this a drain hose? What would cause the seeping of the antifreeze solution? Is this hose supposed to be connected to something? (Nothing appeared out of place or hanging down).

ANY assistance is greatly appreciated.

Tnx in advance,

MikeyB

Reply to
M1K3YB
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You already know the answer. Your heater core is leaking and antifreeze is running out the evaporator drain tube.

Reply to
JimV

Your heater core is leaking. That tube you described is a drain, which usually drips condensation from the Air Conditioner. If your heater core has a major "eruption", you will have a badly fogged windshield, and the passenger side floor will be full of hot anti-freeze. You are much luckier than I have ever been, you have a warning, I have always had the "eruption".

Get it fixed as soon as possible. Not knowing your financial position, if you can't afford it right now, you can pull the heater lines off the core from under the hood, and temporarily splice them together with a coupling until you can afford it.

Good luck,

Spdloader

Reply to
Spdloader

Greetings:

Tnx a million for the advanced information. I searched & priced out a new heater core & it'll only run about $48.00 + tax. It'll be worth the fix, believe me. Now I have to figure out how to get this thing out w/o too much dismantling. Researching the removal & installation instructions seem easy, but when I looked at it....hmmm. Anyways, it'll be a challenge for me. No big deal!

Again, THANK YOU for all of your assistance.

MikeyB

Reply to
M1K3YB

Good luck. Heater cores swaps are never a fun job...

Reply to
JimV

FWIW, If the heater hoses are flush against the firewall, a leak from them can appear inside and drain from the inside housing. Check the hoses and clamps first and then take it from there. TomC

M1K3YB snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.org wrote in article snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Reply to
TomC

Greetings:

In regards to what TomC mentioned about the heater core hosing. The distance from the hose to the firewall is about 1/2 to 3/4 in., so I can tell that it's not leaking from that area. The heater core is definitely shot.

I was at a crossroad in regards to what I should do.

Step 1) Get the heater core, the book & take a shot at changing it out. Nah...I'm afraid that if I take the whole dash out, I won't be able to get it back together correctly. (Frustration)

Step 2) Take the truck to a shop...pay 400 to 1000 in labor plus the part. Nah...It'd be too much cash to spend on a truck where the trade in value is around 2,000.

Step 3) Time to trade it in for a 2003 or newer truck since the heater core is not the only thing acting up.

I'm going to opt for #3 on this one.

Tnx for the assistance.

MikeyB

Reply to
M1K3YB

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