Where is my coolant going?

dunno - shud replace I guess.

no - but will.

no.

never sniffed it, but I guess I can - carefully.

shud check.

never.

seems so.

Thanks

Wei

...Then some more was snipped...

That expense is common to most cars. I had a 1980 Mustang. The heater core was right behind the glove compartment. 2 screws to remove a small panel, 2 hose clamps in the engine compartment and the core slid right out. Since I had to replace my core twice in the 6 years I owned the car, I'm sure glad they made it easy. All cars should be designed that way.

I thought the heater core was normally accessed through the firewall?

Wei,

It's possible that you have a small leak somewhere. Such leaks may not leave water under the truck but will leave a white spot where the leak is occuring. This is really obvious on black radiator hoses. How old are the hoses. It may be time to replace them. If you believe that you have a head gasket leak, take your car to a mechanic. A leaking head gasket could put water into the oil, which should be pretty obvious since you are losing gallons of fluid ,or the leak could be putting water into the combustion chamber where it gets evaporated and comes out the exhaust. A good mechanic should be able to diagnose your problem.

Dave M.

Not in any car I've been involved with. It's from the cabin and typically a nightmare of ripping out the dashboard.

On my Dodge vans, it was a box in front of the firewall. Other vehicles, under the dash, and about 9 hours labor to do.

Your vehicle is your home?

Hi, Yup, old hose is known to collapse causing coolant circulation problem and over heatoing.

Depends on the car. MOST are now accessed from under the dash. Worst one I experienced was on , IIRC, an XJC Jag. Book time was well over

Thank you! I'll try it. Wei

I've gotten good help at alt.autos and alt.autos.ford

One of my coworker's solutions on his personal vehicles was to just cut whatever plastic was in his way in the engine compartment. Duct tape and maybe silicone sealed things back up. He doesn't drive fancy vehicles by any means.

I serious doubt he could get to most, if any, heater cores with that technique.

Mid sixtied GM heater MOTORS required removal of the front inner dender to get to - which pretty well meant you removed the right front fender. We used to cut a hole in the inner fender to get the motor out and bolt an old licence plate over it.

A chain saw to the dash.

I'm glad Jaguar hasn't lost their evil ways. iirc, and meaningful work on an XK150 started with disassembling most of the car. They were pretty though.

Fist step in removing the back spark plug - remove back bumper - - -

I've never seen a car where the engine compartment was separated from the dash by plastic. It's steel. And with the engine compartment chock full of everything today, you can't even get at it to cut it. Plus it would be interesting to know how one cuts it without destroying all the stuff, eg wiring, regrigerant lines, motors, hoses, etc that you can't see that are on the cabin side.

I owned a Mark X and to this day believe that when they built the car, some dude held the power steering pump in place while they built the car around it. I had an aftermarket AC on the car (installed by previous owner) that hung off the front of the engine block with a bracket that blocked access to the number 1 spark plug. You had to remove the AC and all the belts for the alternator, water pump, etc. just to service it. While I can't blame Jaguar per se for that, it was the worst design I've ever encountered.

Even the Volvo 142's windshield wiper motor was easier to get to. I just drilled into the dash using a wide diameter hole saw. The engine, a tiny 4 banger that sat in the middle of a cavernous engine compartment, was so accessible you could probably fit two people into the compartment along with the engine. Both the Jag and the Volvo were made of very thick steel that has long since disappeared from cars because of weight. The Jag required an extra fee at registration time because it was so heavy.

Anyone here ever have to tune wire wheels by hand? Make tuning three Solex carbs look like child's play. (-:

Not sure how many other cars had it, but the Mark X had "anti-creep" controls which applied pressure to the brakes if the car was at idle even if you took your foot off the brake. Until the engine sputtered or died, that is.

I had a '51 Chevy where the master cylinder definitely was the first thing bolted to the frame before the body was added. It wasn't on the firewall but was under the floor. There was an inspection plate so you could fill it, but heaven help the poor bastard (me) who had to remove it to replace the seals.