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Interior coolant leak.

Burning oil said:
I could be wrong, but Im pretty sure you can do the heater core without tilting the dash and going through all those pains. On my 93 I was able to get in there to clean the evap core and it sure seems like I could have popped the heater core out.
I seem to remember certain points (about 4) are melted together on the housing, drill those out then on reassy used bolts, washers and nuts to put it back together.
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93, entirely different animal. dash is not the same at all.
 
Confirmed the leak was at the fire wall. Carpet was only wet in a small area. The padding and insulation underneath, however, was / is saturated. Low coolant light came on too which is consistent with the empty reservoir and the puddle under the passenger side of the truck this morning.

Dropped the fender well to gain access to the hoses in the engine bay, small channel-locks sufficed for the pliers/wiz wheel to get at the clamps and move them off the barbs. Grabbed each hose and while steadily pulling rotated them a bit until they leaked and then loosened on the barbs. Slid off easy.

Removed some of the trim panels and passenger seat to allow pulling the carpet back out of the way. Pulled out the floor insulation and rolled the carpet back to expose the underside to air. Then I looked at the heater case and there were several 7/32 screws holding the bottom panel to the rest of the case. Removed them, gave a good tug and split the panel across the back. :eek: That's the step backwards. Apparently there are a couple of screws I missed that are best removed once the heater case is out...:eek: Epoxy and duct tape will take care of that issue. Oh well, it will be out of sight an, therefore, out of mind.
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Pulled the heater core and there was no orange build up visible to help ID the source for the leaking so it hasn't been going on long. There was some darkening along one edge but otherwise the thing looked almost new. I then filled it with tap water, held the inlet and outlet closed with my thumbs, tilted the unit to the angle it would be if it were in place and there is a noticeable leak at the discoloration.
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Hard part now is going to be getting the carpet dry. I'll leave it pulled back for the next week since I'll be out of town.
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I've got the insulation drying in the sun now.

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I may just purchase new stuff though. I'd hate to have the smell of anti-freeze as a constant companion. Not sure if anti-freeze will prevent mold or not.

Put down the rest of my audio sound dampner material. I'll order some more and finish the job next weekend.
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I did manage a few other little things while building up the courage to start the heater core: Swapped out the grade 5 shackle bolts with the Gade 8 units I ordered from Fastenal; moved the block heater plug to the bumper nostril so I don't have to keep opening and closing the hood; replaced the spring clamps with hose clamps for the upper radiator hose and cleaned the Air Filter as it was looking nasty.

Sun is down now so I've put my toys away for now and I'll put humpty dumpty back together tomorrow.
 
Might try doing a shop vac job on the carpet to get as much of the liquid out as possible and then see about drying it. Anti-freeze does not like to evaporate...
 
Shop vac has been running pretty much non stop between sub tasks. The liner on the bottom of the carpet is molting or sluffing off material so the whole thing may become moot. LMC has a pretty good deal on carpet...nickle and dime, nickle and dime. It's still better than a monthly payment.
 
Picture Re-post

Crankme69 said:
Why can't I view the attachments pics?
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Not sure why the pics aren't coming up. I can only see them if I double click on them.
Upon review, they aren't even stored in the File Upload Manager so I'll repost them again

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On "preview Post" the reposting appears to have worked, pretty much.
 

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So this can be done without removing the dash and your only mistake was missing a few screw that WERE accessible ? Just want my facts straight, I'm sure mine will go sooner or later.
 
Burning oil said:
Cool. so it was'int such a pain after all??
Click to expand...

No, not much of a project. Just wished I didn't break the heater case's lower panel in the process but I couldn't see the other srews up against the fire wall. The fix is easy enough though so no big deal and it did save me:
-the 24 plus steps of disassembly of the dash and disconnecting all the electrical connections in the process
-dissable the airbag(s)
-the multi step process of removing the steering column (really?)
-rolling the dash back
-remove blower motor
-remove heater case assy.
-disassmenble the heater case
-now remove the heater core
-reverse!

A little duct tape and some Epoxy type cement is a good trade off.

Sorry this isn't much of a write up as was suggested. Then again, who knows? Perhaps it will save someone else from a weekend of a thousand cuts and scrapes.

Once it gets above freezing this morning I'll put it all back together, fill up with coolant and check for "quality of work."
 
Paveltolz, sorry I did not respond with thread links. I've been on the road working in Broomfield, CO. Temps in the past two weeks were down to -14 F and I was dragging a nice case of the flu which I managed to pass off to the wife (don't poke the bear). I basically was crawling into bed each night at my hotel and falling asleep while reading Internet on the iPhone.

I recall being able to pull the heater core without dumping the entire dash, but was reluctant to advise that due to the bolts behind the box and the chance you could crack the case. Been there and done all of that. The access is much easier when you really drop the dash. Then again I was doing the evaporator which really does require dropping the dash. It's definitely not a fun job, but fortunately it's not something you do on a regular basis. Glad to see that you got it done quick and dirty.
 
Paveltolz said:
Shop vac has been running pretty much non stop between sub tasks. The liner on the bottom of the carpet is molting or sluffing off material so the whole thing may become moot. LMC has a pretty good deal on carpet...nickle and dime, nickle and dime. It's still better than a monthly payment.
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There comes a time in a trucks life where you just have to accept its an oldie :) Let its age show through! Make her proud! :)
 
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