Does this sound like a heater core problem?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Does this sound like a heater core problem?

Posted: 2/12/2006 5:03:57 AM EDT

Wife was driving the car home late last night (`02 dodge intrepid) and the heat stopped working and smoke was comming from under the hood. The engine temperature gauge was reading normal.

Based on that I was thinking that it was the heater core. Am I right? If not any idea what else it could be?

Should I fix it my self or take it in for repair? I'm going to go out now and see if I can see any leaks anywhere.

Posted: 2/12/2006 5:22:35 AM EDT

[#1]

I can see coolent leaking from the right hand side but can't see where the leak is.

I Started it and the engine sounded horrible. It was running but making a rattleing like sound that sounded like it was comming from the front of the engine in the are where the belts are.

Any advice is welcome. I want to have an idea what is wrong when I take it into the shop. Thanks

Posted: 2/12/2006 7:35:14 AM EDT

[#2]

the reason she lost heat is because her coolant level dropped to the point where the heater core wasnt getting supplied with hot coolant to warm the air. the "smoke" was probably steam. you might have had an old hose burst, perhaps your water lost a seal, maybe a hose just fell off somewhere. first thing I'd do would be to jack the car up, put it on some jack stands and start poking around from below and look for a bad hose.

Posted: 2/12/2006 8:29:51 AM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
the reason she lost heat is because her coolant level dropped to the point where the heater core wasnt getting supplied with hot coolant to warm the air. the "smoke" was probably steam. you might have had an old hose burst, perhaps your water lost a seal, maybe a hose just fell off somewhere. first thing I'd do would be to jack the car up, put it on some jack stands and start poking around from below and look for a bad hose.

Will do hopefully it is just the hose. Any reason why the engine would be rattling louder now though? It wasn't before this problem. She drove it for 15 minutes of so after the heat gave out. Thanks for the reply.

Posted: 2/12/2006 9:20:47 AM EDT

[#4]

check the oil for headgasket issues and metal shavings, she may very well have overheated the hell out of it without the gauge(which shows coolant temp, not too effective when there's no coolant) showing an overheat condition.

Posted: 2/12/2006 1:23:17 PM EDT

[#5]

Yup I'm pretty sure I blew the head gasket. There is junk in under the oil cap and I put in some new coolent to see if there were leaks and it is leaking right out. Hopefully it is just the headgasket now and no other damage! Anyone have some vaseline I can borrow this is going to hurt!

Posted: 2/12/2006 3:43:08 PM EDT

[#6]

Looks like somebody's gonna be buying a new cylinder head.... sorry man. Maybe now's a good time to let the missus know that when it breaks, you stop. Coulda saved you a buncha cash bro.

Posted: 2/12/2006 5:25:07 PM EDT

[#7]

heater cores go bad in 2 ways, they clog or they leak, really no inbetween. Sounds like you figured out it is the head gasket or cylinder head. Heads up though, a bad head gasket or cylinder head can cause combustion gasses getting in the coolant making it acidic, that acid can eat away at the heater core and cause it to leak, very expensive to replace a heater core nowadays since the whole dash has to come out. BTDT got the t shirt

Posted: 2/12/2006 7:34:05 PM EDT

[#8]

Almost sounds to me like the water pump went....that would be the noise.....take it to a shop.

Posted: 2/12/2006 8:19:14 PM EDT

[#9]

Just don't be crankin' it over now that you've added coolant.

It might leak into a cylinder and ugly things can happen when the piston comes up on a load of liquid.

Posted: 2/13/2006 6:44:11 AM EDT

[#10]

After replacing the hoses, man that sucks, I put in new coolent and it was leaking out. I only started it that one time and when it sounded funny turned it off.

It is in the shop now.

Posted: 2/13/2006 11:07:53 AM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Almost sounds to me like the water pump went....that would be the noise.....take it to a shop.

This is what it is. Head gasket is fine. BUT the water pump is burried inside the engine so it is still going to be a pretty peny to fix. Cylinder head is fine. So it is not as bad as it could be but not as good as I hoped. Thanks for the help/advice.

Posted: 2/13/2006 5:05:00 PM EDT

[#12]

Most of the time a heater core goes..it leaks inside the car..usually in the passengers side floor..and your windshield will fog up, you'll smell anit-freeze, you will get a scum on the inside of the windshield...BTDT.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Does this sound like a heater core problem?

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