heater core confusion

[sluggo42]

I saw a couple of lines of water leak this morning on passenger side carpet. One looked to be coming out from the plastic just in front of the door, and the other seemed to be coming from under the dash. I searched for heater core issues, but never really could find out for sure just exactly where the core is. Is it on the drivers side or pass. side? I know the dash needs to be pulled to get to it and all.

thanks

 

[Dirgle]

Toward middle closer to the passenger side.

 

[hvyman]

Ya like right in the center almost and the a/c evaporator is more on the passengers side. Dash needs to come out and then the heater box needs to come out and taken apart and viola.

 

[QWIKSTRIKE]

time for a new heater core

 

[Dirgle]

I would highly recommend picking up an OEM heater core if you can afford it. I got one from Autozone and the fin and bar density is much lower than factory. So it doesn't put out near as much heat, also the quality of the seams and joints doesn't appear as high. Not something you want to have to replace again considering how hard it is to get to.

 

[sluggo42]

Well, it also rained for the first time in about a year, so maybe my targa top isn't sealing as well?
I'll dry it out and see if it does it again after the rains. Here is Socal we don't get too much of that wet stuff that falls from the skies...

 

[CajunKenny]

Well, if it's coolant, then it's the core. Unless your targa leaks coolant...!

 

[sluggo42]

It's a very small amount, so I'm not sure how to tell if it's coolant or water.
Now it's raining again, so I'll have to wait even longer to find out...

 

[shaeff]

Tracerline kit.

/confusion

 

[te72]

Here's another way to tell... what color is your coolant? I thought my heater core was leaking, as I had pink dried coolant on my driver side near the throttle pedal/linkage. Kinda panicked because pulling the dash isn't exactly on my "fun things to do with a Mk3" list. Come to find out, when we did my 1j swap, whichever one of us hooked up the heater pipe didn't get the hose onto it far enough, so it was just leaking out of there.

I will say this though, if you're running straight water for coolant, at the very least make sure it's distilled. Unless you like tracing down all sorts of leaks and rusted out pipes anywhere your coolant runs...