Coolant Leaking Under Dash

[tiesto]

Hi guys

Just yesterday I could smell coolant while driving and didnt think too much of it but then today I noticed my shoe wet after about a 30 min drive to work and I then looked up under near the pedals and noticed a few drops of coolant coming from somewhere

Where would it be? some pipe cracked? What should i be looking for to replace?

Could someone please give me some advice

Thanks

[tiesto]

Update just had another look

Near the pedals I look towards the center about in line with the gearbox and I can see coolant sitting in there? Seems to be sort of coming from there? Also when I was driving I could hear it makin hissin sounds....

Anyone?

[SECURITY]

when its coming from the centre its usually the heater core leaking.

you've got 2 options here:

1 - rip out your dash to get the heater core out (someone has done it without taking the dash out though).

2 - bypass the heater by running a pipe between the feed and return to the heater core. this will disable your heating though.

[tiesto]

if i was to go by the second option as a quickfix just to stop the leaking how would it be done? blocking it through the engine bay somewhere? is it easy to get to and block? just need the car back on road and will rip out my dash in a few weeks to properly fix it.

[mid life crisis]

i replaced the heater core on my sons r33 . we used the core from a 300zx cost 190 bucks brand new from natrad .

we pulled the whole dash out tho as we needed to fix the clicking actuator for the air con . it looks pretty daunting when ya start pulling it apart we marked the elect plugs so we knew what ones went where. it took most of the week end but some places wanted around 800 bucks to fit it

[ricsvtr]

You can replace the heater core via the glovebox however you will need to get the aircon degassed and regassed. The procedure is outlined in the 'replacing heater core' tutorial by Predator.

Edited June 2, 2007 by ricsvtr

[tiesto]

thanks heaps guys

I just managed to bypass it for now took couple mins

think I just caught it in time aswell, my radiator was empty.. luck ;D

[govich]

For those who are going to run into this problem in the future, here's a picture of what i've done:

The hose is SV21 Camry heater hose (was a nicely shaped bend), held on with 2 clamps where the coolant enters to make sure it doesn't come out. Haven't had any problems in about 3 weeks of daily driving (too busy to get around to replacing the core).

FYI, Nissan quoted me ~$350 for a replacement heater core.

Edited June 2, 2007 by govich

[tiesto]

yeah I've done the same, unplugd them both and joined them togethor, put a piece of plastic sprinkler pipe inbetween and secured it tightly.

[ricsvtr]

You can also buy a brass barb connector from places like Enzed to join the two hoses together

[dano4127]

anyone got a part no. for this heater core? mine is gone just bypassed it for the moment but the mornings are cold!