coolant leak, rear passenger floor carpet is wet with coolan

cgreygoose · Post by **cgreygoose** » 03 Feb 2011, 11:47

I just noticed that the rear passenger floor carpet is wet with coolant. Not enough for the shop vac to even suck any up but is wet to the touch. I'm assuming it's heater core issue so I need to find and isolate which hose it's coming from. Any idea where to look? The front passenger flr is dry as is all other carpeting. For those who read my first post re: white gel on oil dip stick was successfully addressed with some good old fast interstate driving.

jason

Post by **jblackburn** » 03 Feb 2011, 11:55

Heater core wouldn't leak to the back of the car. Check your trunk drains - there are two between the rear windshield and trunk lid.

Look in your spare tire well; there's probably quite a bit of water in there, and you can put your shop vac to use!

cgreygoose · Post by **cgreygoose** » 04 Feb 2011, 14:27

I' ve checked the trunk area and it's all dry, it's no rained on the car recently and it's coolant on the rear passenger carpet not rain water. I'm clueless as to how the coolant has gotten their. I've been underneath and cant' seem to find any link to it. Is this an uncommon issue? any other suggestions?

Post by **precopster** » 04 Feb 2011, 15:25

OSMOSIS!! This is where fluids travel along a membrane such as carpet.

The coolant has seeped along the console from a breach in the heater core and has settled to the lowest point in the floor.

If it is definitely coolant, it is definitely the heater core!! This may help:
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=36218

cgreygoose · Post by **cgreygoose** » 04 Feb 2011, 15:50

I figured it had to do with the heater core and it's hoses. weird that it's not wet anywhere in between where the heater core up front and the back flr carpet. one would think that somewhere in between its going to be wet too.

Post by **precopster** » 04 Feb 2011, 17:53

There aren't any hoses carrying coolant in the cabin. The heater core is fed by two metal pipes with o ring seals at either end. These metal pipes usually don't leak unless they are disturbed.

The heater core replacement thread as above attempts to explain.

hrahn · Post by **hrahn** » 05 Feb 2011, 04:07

If its a wagon, check behind the D pillar and the floorboard in the rear on the passenger side (clips out when pulled upwards). There should be a valve there for the rear windscreen washer, if that gets disconnected, the liquid flows to the rear seats.
If your coolant level doesn't drop and it's still wet my money would be on this valve.

cgreygoose · Post by **cgreygoose** » 06 Feb 2011, 15:48

i've broken down the front passenger's kick panel & glove box, pulled down the carpeting and I found it wet with coolant. I followed it towards the left center behind the radio. I had the engine running with heat on high and I could see it start to drip on the far left side towards the driver side area. I took a picture and I hope you can see what I mean, I've got the screw driver pointed towards the leak. IT is dripping on the front corner of the square bottom housing. Do I need to break it all down or is it a matter of tightening down screws or perhaps a new gasket?

Post by **jblackburn** » 06 Feb 2011, 16:02

Crack it open and look around, but it looks like you're going to need a new heater core since it isn't leaking from the O-rings themselves.

The heater core is essentially like a radiator - once the plastic/metal lets go, there's really no way to fix it.

cgreygoose · Post by **cgreygoose** » 07 Feb 2011, 07:41

is my 99 S70 the same basic removal? Do I need to tear down the dash some more to pull it out? I can't see the picture you've posted so I'm assuming within the large white square plastic housing (see photo) on mine is where I will locate my core? will go out and begin to tear apart and I will post back should I need further assistance. thanks