Fogging windshield

[gip63]

    Every time I get one thing fixed something else goes out. I turned on the heater vent and vapor rolled out the vents big time so I assume I have a pin hole in heater core and water is getting in. I would bet good money the core is hard to get out so does anyone have suggestion on using some stop leak to fix problem? Thx

[Archie]

Yeah it's probably time to replace the heater core. If it's a non-a/c car it's not that bad of a job and a chance to resto the heater box. A/C boxes are a little more complicated but I got both of mine done last winter. Wasn't pretty, both were loaded with plenty of seeds and other mouse stuff. I have plenty of mouse traps around the garage now.

[Deleted]

Don't use stop leak. I'd bypass it under the hood, before doing that. Of course, changing it is the best thing to do.

Did one in a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee yesterday.
My mom was just about to leave my house to travel back to Tennessee.
I noticed a stain on her passenger side floor mat that looked like coolant. Felt the passenger floorboard and it was soaked in antifreeze.
Typical "pull the dash" job.
I think the book time is 5.9 hours. I did it in about 4.5, to include recharging the A/C, without working particularly hard or using air tools.

It was a great refresher as to why I choose not to work on cars for a living anymore.
Why would I want to do that job for $150 and let the employer keep $650+ ? No thanks

As Archie mentioned, if your car is non A/C it is a fairly easy job.
Significantly harder with A/C but hardly rocket science. It's just nuts, bolts, and screws....
Heck, if you look around the site...there is bound to be a complete step by step dash removal thread.

[gip63]

Ya it's an AC car. Does the whole dash haft to come out, that does look like a job. I saw that to get gauge cluster out the steering wheel had to be taken loose and If i haft to do all that its really gonna be a pain in the ;$?&. Why is stop leak not recommended; the liquid aluminum stuff looks like it would work well. 

[Deleted]

I personally don't like stop leak...because I consider it to be a half-arsed way of doing something.
As a mechanic/technician, I never put stop leak into a customers car, not even when they asked me to.
(One exception- I have used GM stop leak on Cadillac products-others with mechanic experience should understand why)
Not to mention that what makes it work....is also what I don't like about it.
Do you really want that stuff restricting the coolant flow in your radiator too? Not me.
The core is probably 40+ years old. It's old and weak. Time for a new core, not some goop/crud "magic in a can"

In my opinion....half arsed methods occasionally have their time and place....
The one and only time I used stop leak was on my F150. I was going out of town, the rad developed a leak from one of the side tanks, when cooling down only.
Once hot, it would seal. I could not readily get a radiator, the same day, for a 5 speed with dealer added A/C.
So, I added some stop leak, ran it for an hour....then drained it. Filled with fresh coolant and water. It did the trick. However, I did eventually replace the radiator.

Yeah....it's a pain in the rear job. Having an old car isn't cheap or easy.

[gip63]

I think I'll use it to hold off fixing it in cold weather, I don't have a shop to work out of. I would like to fix it around June when temps are warmer. Its true these cars are worth the trouble, i know a lot of guys that would like to have a charger to fix. Thanks for the input guys!

[Archie]

Count on an hour or two to drain the coolant, undue the heater hoses, a/c, vacuum lines and detach the box from the firewall. I took the glovebox out to get the nut off one of the brackets. Detroit Muscle Technologies sells the rebuild kits, I got mine on ebay and it comes with instructions. Also a good idea to get your new heater core pressure tested before you install it. I found a nearby radiator shop that did it for cheap.



Once cleaned it up a bit the rest of the work was done inside. Also take lots of pics as you take it apart. I had to leave it for a couple weeks and when I got back to it I would have been lost without the pictures.