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Leaking Heater Core?


DonoKess

New Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2014
Messages
1
Vehicle Year
1996
Transmission
Manual
1996 Ranger, 2.3L, MT

Do I have a leaking heater core?

When I ran my AC the other day it blows nice and cold, but it looked like some sort of steam/vapor/smoke was coming out of the vents. I didn't notice any particular smell, but I might have a messed up sense of smell...

Passenger side carpet is dry...what can I do to test if it is leaking?

I live in AZ and hardly ever use the heater, shouldn't the bypass be closed preventing coolant from entering the core?
 
Well the most obvious question too ask is are you losing any coolant?

Once in a while when I first turn on my defroster the windows will fog up a lot worse like it's shooting humid air onto the windshield, but it goes away a few seconds later. Never gave it much thought. Then again, weather here in the Poconos is typically much different than what you probably experience in Arizona.

At least on my 98, the bypass valve only closes when on Max A/C. It only closes to prevent flow, so if the core is leaking it won't stop it from doing so.
 
As mentioned by Chris, check your coolant level. Most heater core leaks will manifest themselves by a puddle of coolant on the passenger side floor.

the fog you see might be from a leaking evaporator core on your A/C... Check for signs of the evaporator icing up. if your a/c quits blowing cold in a few weeks, that is probably your culprit.

AJ
 
I had this happen on an old Mustang ('67). The 'fog' also had a sweet smell (obviously coolant) but the carpet/floor wasn't wet. Sounds like your heater core is on its way out.

AKAIK, coolant passes thru the core all of the time. The blower fan is what pushes hot air into the cabin. If you don't want to fix it, I suppose you could disconnect the heater hoses, at the firewall, and hook them together. If you do that, try not to get any air inside the loop (creating an air pocket).
 
1996 Ranger, 2.3L, MT

Do I have a leaking heater core?

When I ran my AC the other day it blows nice and cold, but it looked like some sort of steam/vapor/smoke was coming out of the vents. I didn't notice any particular smell, but I might have a messed up sense of smell...

Passenger side carpet is dry...what can I do to test if it is leaking?

I live in AZ and hardly ever use the heater, shouldn't the bypass be closed preventing coolant from entering the core?

What part of AZ? Don't know about your 96 but my 94 has a drain tube to the outside for the heater core. Only about $28 at oriellys for heater core took me all of 25 minutes to put the new one in. Look for antifreeze leak on the outside in theggeneralarea of theheater ccore it should drip straight down
 
1996 Ranger, 2.3L, MT

Do I have a leaking heater core?

When I ran my AC the other day it blows nice and cold, but it looked like some sort of steam/vapor/smoke was coming out of the vents. I didn't notice any particular smell, but I might have a messed up sense of smell...

Passenger side carpet is dry...what can I do to test if it is leaking?

I live in AZ and hardly ever use the heater, shouldn't the bypass be closed preventing coolant from entering the core?

nope, you most likely have fog, literally. Cold dry air coming in contact with hot humid air causes the normal weather pattern of fog, AC can totally cause this, same as the fog that rolls out of your freezer when you open it on a hot day.

it IS possible i'm wrong, but from what you describe I don't think it's anything but what I said above

Well the most obvious question too ask is are you losing any coolant?

Once in a while when I first turn on my defroster the windows will fog up a lot worse like it's shooting humid air onto the windshield, but it goes away a few seconds later. Never gave it much thought. Then again, weather here in the Poconos is typically much different than what you probably experience in Arizona.

At least on my 98, the bypass valve only closes when on Max A/C. It only closes to prevent flow, so if the core is leaking it won't stop it from doing so.

this sounds like a heater core. my truck is fogging up the windows pretty good, and it goes away after about 3-4 minutes. i'm actually in the middle of putting a rock auto order together right now that includes a replacement, I haven't bothered to test it to see if that's what's actually happening, but for the cost of the heatercore ($30 plus shipping) i'll take my chances
 
If you have that heater control valve dogbone looking thing [connected to the two hoses going to the firewall] (or even the inline one from other models) you can disable the flow thru the heater core by pulling the vacuum line off the valve actuator and taping a screw down in the vacuum line (to prevent vacuum leaks)

The valve won't open w/o vacuum on the line, it will be redirected right back into the radiator thru the bypass hose

getimage.php
 
i could be wrong on this, but those are flow diverters, not pressure diverters. meaning the valve that changes where the coolant flows only works if there is the same pressure on all legs of the valve, if pressure drops on one, the coolant is going to overpower the strength of the vacuum solenoid actuating it. you can't use it as a plug. disconnecting that will only make your heater not work, it won't stop the leak

plus the outlet of the heatercore is pressurized also, so even if you were to plug it on the inlet, if there's a drop in pressure there is nothing stopping the coolant from coming into the heatercore backwards
 
i could be wrong on this, but those are flow diverters, not pressure diverters. meaning the valve that changes where the coolant flows only works if there is the same pressure on all legs of the valve, if pressure drops on one, the coolant is going to overpower the strength of the vacuum solenoid actuating it. you can't use it as a plug. disconnecting that will only make your heater not work, it won't stop the leak

Ah..didn't know that..thanks
 
Ah..didn't know that..thanks

like i said, i could be wrong, but i don't think it is a valve like what you would have on a garden hose, it's more of like a traffic control person, in a perfect world everyone listens and follows the directions, but if for whatever reason you don't want to, the traffic control person can't really stop you from ignoring them (reason you don't want to listen is the hole in the heatercore)
 

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