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Leaky heater core? '90 Celica

I turned my heat on yesterday as I drove in the morning. I don't usually use the heat because the days have been rather warm. I took it into a garage to have my exhaust inspected and after raising the vehicle, both myself and the mechanic noticed that there was a steady antifreeze drip coming from my car. We lowered it and noticed that it was coming from a tube coming from the firewall. The leak is just outside the firewall and steadily drips whenever the heater is on.

The mechanic told me that it was the heater core and that it would need to be replaced to solve the issue. The repair is rather expensive ($800?) and not something I want to repair right this instant considering I am not going to seriously need heat until the end of fall.

I was reading through this group and noticed that a few causes of the issue could be a blown head gasket. I do believe my car may have this issue because it sometimes seems to burn oil (though I recently checked my oil dipstick after an oil change and didn't notice any drop in the oil from when I originally did the oil change about a week ago).

Would it be safe to have the heater core replaced if I suspect my head gasket is blown? It'd be a shame to have it replaced only to find out less than a year later it would have to be replaced again.

Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Reply to
omnineko
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First check whether you have a leaking core or just a hose connection loose. Remove and re-fit/tighten the exisiting hose connections providing they arent too brittle feeling. Just re-tighten if they are. If it is clearly coming from the matrix then its not necessarily a HG failure. Check for water in your oil (mayo around the filler cap) and oil in your water. Do a compression test. If these 3 arent wrong then its unlikely you have a HG problem to speak of. Especially if you dont see water loss or high water temps while driving hard for a few minutes, in which case its probably fairly safe to assume your HG is fine. Ive had a few blown HGs on other cars but never caused a leak in the matrix/rad, though it IS possible.

A replacement matrix shouldnt be several hundred in parts but the labour will be expensive - in this car its a case of removing almost all of the dash. I'd say 800 was a bit much though.

Reply to
Coyoteboy

The heater core is inside the passenger compartment under the passenger side of the dashboard.

When you say that the leak is coming from a tube coming from the firewall, what is the diameter of the "tube" and where is the tube located?

If the "tube" is a black rubber hose and hose is leaking in the engine compartment, you may be able to just replace the heater hose. Better yet, send me a picture of the hose with something pointing to the source of the leak and i can tell you.

A blown head gasket will not directly cause a heater hose or heater core to leak.

There is no physical danger to replacing the heater core if you suspect that the head gasket is blown. If you are wondering if you should spend the money to replace a heater core if the head gasket is blown, then you should check the head gasket first. Look for signs of oil in the coolant - you can see the oil floating on top of the coolant in the overflow bottle or in the radiator. Look for signs of coolant in the oil - when you drain the oil into a pan, it will have a milkshake appearance. Have the compression checked and a leakdown test performed.

Why do you think the engine is burning oil? Are you seeing clouds of bluish smoke any time? Do you know for sure that the oil is not just leaking?

Reply to
Ray O

Burning oil may not be related to a blown head gasket. Does the car run OK? Why did you put it up on the rack? As the other posters state, it could be something else beside the heater core. If it is the heater core and you are not ready to replace it. You may be able to clamp off the coolant hoses going to the core or bypass it.

Check related TN threads at the bottom of this page.

Reply to
toyomoho

Does the car run OK? I think the car runs quite well. I get excellent gas mileage, it seems to run smoothly, doesn't overheat (though the temperature gauge remains at cold when I'm driving then when idling, the gauge will slowly rise).

The car sat for about three years and is just now being driven again. When I first got the vehicle I would see an oil smelling smoke coming from the exhaust manifold. The smoke seemed to stop after I drove it for several hundred miles. I would constantly smell burning oil but the smell seems to have gone away. There are days when I think there could be blue smoke coming from the muffler but most of the time the exhaust just seems to be "rather stinky."

The location of the hose...? It is almost in the center of the passenger side of the vehicle and sits about a few inches from where the hood would rest. As far as a picture, I can't seem to find my camera. If I do locate it, I will post a link to a picture.

I also suspected that the heater core may be leaking because I read posts on this group about windows fogging up when using the defrost. It seems that when it rains, my windshield quickly get fogged and when I use the heated defrost, it takes several minutes to clear the windshield. However, if I use the A/C (on cold) to defrost my windshield, it seems to not even take a minute. From what I gathered from the posts I read, this is caused from a leaky heater core (though I do not smell any antifreeze).

Tomorrow I will check the hose. What should I be looking for when I am checking it? How should I go about checking it? If I purchased a clamp, could I try to tighten the hose as a quick "test" solution?

THANKS AGA> Burning oil may not be related to a blown head gasket. Does the car run

Reply to
omnineko

You probably just burn off 3 years of leaking oil at once.

You are not describing the heater core, it sounds more like a heater hose.

Some fogging on rainy days is normal, especially if you do not smell antifreeze. It does not sound like a leaking heater core.

Look for swelling on the hose, cracks, or leaks where the clamps are. If it is leaking from the area where the clamp is, try tightening the clamp before purchasing a new clamp.

If you cannot stop the leak, get a second opinion besides the place that told you it is the heater core.

Good luck!

Reply to
Ray O

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