i think my heater core went bad... help

[Foxfan88]

i was adjusting the timing on my car i was about 4 miles from my house and it was idling for a bit while i messed with timing. got back in the car and smelled coolant in the car i was like hmm. i drove on and played with the car for a sec. after about a mile i noticed white smoke coming out under the hook by the windshield on the passenger side. stopped at my dads and checked it out, there was one of the small heater tubes hoses going to the firewall all busted up. the black rubber sleeve came off and it was shooting steam out of it. after i shut the car of it stops withing a minute or so.

got back into the car to baby it home and noticed the passenger floorboard was wet under the dash i instantly thought the heater core was bad, i have heard about the floor getting wet when it happens. i drove it home and white smoke came out behind the dash and fogged up the windshield, car got hot and was about to start overheating then i got home. the hissing steam was coming out of the heater tube under the hood and once again it stopped very fast.

so maybe the heater core clogged up and caused a pressure buildup to bust the heater hose???

i wasnt using the heater or anything

and are there any write ups on the heater core fix? i heard its a PITA

 

[Roland69]

do you use the heater.....if not bypass it That's what I did

 

[Foxfan88]

i dont drive the car much but i would rather fix it and have a heater for when i do drive it. my heater never has works very well in this car at all. it would just barely defrost the windows and thata about all it could do.

plus it gives me a good reason to do some wiring stuff behind the dash i have been putting off.

 

[Mustang5L5]

Replace the hose and bypass it for now. It will allow you to drive the car until you replace the core

 

[sweetstangchic5]

to replace the core its a PITA. Everyone has said if you replace it you will be replacing it every year. Everyone I know just says to bypass it.

 

[ryan218]

to replace the core its a PITA. Everyone has said if you replace it you will be replacing it every year. Everyone I know just says to bypass it.

when i did mine i thought it was easy..... just stupid...i already had my dash out so i though what the hell..mis well while im able to get to it.

 

[PeteyAce]

yea i had half my panels taken apart so it wasnt that bad, but when my core started to leak it got into my blower motor so that had to be taken out to, you might as well change the blower motor while your there too just my .02.

 

[89stangGT]

Its a PITA mainly because it is time consuming

I did mine three years ago and have not had to do it again. Just make sure you get a genuine replacement.

 

[jrichker]

See http://home.netcom.com/~skent/mustang/1990/heater_core/hcore.html

 

[fiveohwblow]

Its a PITA mainly because it is time consuming

I did mine three years ago and have not had to do it again. Just make sure you get a genuine replacement.

This is good advice. I have had the same experience, however I have had to replace three amongst two of my vehicles. There are some amazing writeups on this and it can be done with an afternoon and preferably with a friend. Good luck