2001 GT firewall coolant leak

[MD5150]

I have a coolant leak coming from a plastic fitting on the passengers side engine compartment firewall just above the exhaust. Attached is a random pic found online to show you where. See the double-lined red circle.

Can anyone tell me what this is, and how difficult this might be to fix?

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

Mike

 

[tonytaylor85]

That looks like the condensate drain for the AC system. Are you sure it is coolant and not condensation? If the heater core were leaking it could drain out of that hole. Does your AC smell like syrup or your defrost fog the windows up more?

 

[MD5150]

Actually, yes, for months now my AC has been smelling like maple syrup. And also yes, there has been a weird fog on the inside of the windshield at night.

It is definitely coolant coming out of that location. I know the smell quite well. And my coolant leve gets low and I see no other coolant leaks anywhere else. But it is only recently as of a week ago did I start smelling the coolant from inside the car. The AC maple smell has been there for a while.

 

[tonytaylor85]

that would be your heater core. Its a little radiator that warms your heart in winter and pisses you off in summer. Parts are cheap compared to the hours of labor to replace. Sorry dude.

 

[ocbaud]

yeap

heatercore.

i replaced mine in my old '01 gt. took about 8 hours or so. sucked at the time, but its really not as bad as people make it out to be. you have to pull the whole dash out though.

 

[tradde]

Sorry to hear this. I had that happen on my 85 Capri. If I had not had A/C it is a pretty easy fix. With A/C it took me all day. You basically have to drop
the steering column to allow you to remove the dash so you can get to the
heater core box. You also need to disconnect your AC as it goes into this
same box. This is all assuming Ford hasn't changed things. Back in my 85 the heater core and evaporator core are in the same box which has the drain line at the bottom. It is a real pain in the butt to get it all out. Replacing the core is pretty simple, but you should clean the inside of the box of excess coolant.
Putting it back together is the reverse of taking it apart. Good luck.