Mystery of the leaking coolant...

[Rickman]

Went to the dealer last week to have my cooling system checked as it was leaking coolant from the system. I worked out it is from somewhere under the dash on the passenger side. Dealer said they tightened the radiator hose. It didn't leak for a day or so, now the same leak is back. I took it back to the dealer today and he said that it must be leaking from the heater box. He said that you need to take the "whole dash out and it will cost a minimum of $1000 to fix". Does this sound right, or do I have a flashing neon sign on my forehead saying "I'm a fu%*wit?" :hit:

 

[Scooter79]

They could be trying to take you for a ride there. Where exactly is the leak coming from? Inside the car or the engine bay? Correct me of I'm wrong but they don't need to take the dash out to access the heater box anyways do they? I'd get a second opinion but don't tell them what the dealer said. Just see what they say.

 

[kopper69]

Does it only happen when the air con is on by any chance?

 

[maginoodle]

to check if the heater core is leaking you could bypass it and see if you still have the leak.

 

[Immortality]

replacing the heater core is not a simple job, most of the lower dash will need to come out, i think ifyou do a search in the how-to section there should be a thread there on how to do it. you would definitly want to be cetain this is your problem before going down this road. if the heater core is leaking you would normally find a wet spot in the carpet in the footwell. take it to a radiator outfit and get them to do acoolant system pressure test, that should track down theleak

 

[Rickman]

The leak is coming from under the car. I measured it - 1.6m from the front of the bonnet. It is slightly off-centre, on the passenger side. I top up the coolant about every 6 weeks and it uses about 3/4 of a litre. I will check if it's only when the aircon is on though. Is there a leakage problem from the aircon sometimes?

 

[hako]

If it does turn out to be the heater that is leaking there is an easier and quicker way of replacing the heater without pulling the dash - its somewhere in the "how to's" From your description of location it could be coming from one of the aircon/heater drain tubes which would mean the heater leaking but thats without actually measuring so I could be wrong.

 

[Harvs82]

The leak is coming from under the car. I measured it - 1.6m from the front of the bonnet. It is slightly off-centre, on the passenger side. I top up the coolant about every 6 weeks and it uses about 3/4 of a litre. I will check if it's only when the aircon is on though. Is there a leakage problem from the aircon sometimes?

Sounds like the heater core is leaking, and then running down through the evapourator drain points under the car, where the water should drip out from when running the A/C, especially in humid conditions.

 

[hako]

Here's a link on how to do the heater by the 'short-cut' method:
http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/showthread.php?t=10470&highlight=heater
Good Luck.

 

[Rickman]

Sounds like the heater core is leaking, and then running down through the evapourator drain points under the car, where the water should drip out from when running the A/C, especially in humid conditions.

I had another look today, and it looks to be leaking from 2 points about 100mm apart that run across the car. That's from looking at the drip pattern on the ground. I've had problems with the evaporator tube before and had it fixed (again) about 6 months ago. I can't be sure, but I don't think it is coming from the evaporator. I'll check the repair link though - thanks for that.