Antifreeze through the firewall

[5.0TailPipeHump]

Just got back from a drive and got on it some and then i noticed white smoke out my back window , i though on sh!t head gasket but i don't think thats what going on here , i'm leaning more towards the heater core , on the passengers side there,s a small black hole with antifreeze coming out , i guess it hit the headers and poof white smoke.

If anyone can let me know what this hole is would be great , looks like there was a line attached to it at one point but im not sure . Can some one have alook at there five0 and let me know .

View attachment 150736

 

[txstang84]

It's the HVAC drain...and if you're losing coolant out of there, your heater core is leaking...BTDT...

 

[5.0TailPipeHump]

Guess its better than a head gasket eh, also i kept it outta the yellow in the rps but why would this happen when going through the gears? would some stop leak help is some? If not im just going to reroute the hose so i will have to do with out heat.

 

[txstang84]

I've used the alumaseal brand stop leak, and it worked in my wife's '04 with a small intake gasket leak. But, that alumaseal is only a temp fix. You'll still need to R2 the heater core.

It happens simply because when the pump is moving and when heat is in the coolant, it expands and it's pressurized...if you have a little crack or a rotten spot in the core, it'll leak...it's not out of the ordinary-do a search on here in the tech threads-you'll very likely find everything you need in regard to pictures and advice on how to change it.

 

[jdb3rd]

Sounds like you need a heater core. They can be a pain in the butt to do but after doing a couple I would say patience is key when replacing it otherwise you can end up breaking things you don't want to. Maybe someone else knows but I thought I remembered reading about a kit to cut out the firewall and replace it that way that came with patch panels.

 

[txstang84]

I can't say I've ever heard of a kit to do that...even if you cut a hole in the firewall, you still have to pull screws out of the top of the HVAC box to remove the core-and it's sandwiched between the top of the HVAC unit and the bottom of the cowl panel-no room to extract it even if you did have fwd access, let alone trying to get it past the engine.

There were models that didn't come with A/C where you just pull the glove box out and remove a panel, and voila-there's the core, but that's only early fox non-A/C versions. I've never personally seen that-just recall it from my old Haynes manual.

 

[Taino]

I bypassed it, problem fixed. Granted I'm in Fl and dont really need the heaters. It's just to complicated to remove dash and get new heater core

 

[5.0TailPipeHump]

Thanks for the replies, i put some leak seal in it and will see what happens down the road as i know it,s just a temporary fix, if it keeps on leaking i will just by pass it for now and get it looked after in a month or 2, this is my daily driver for now and can deal with the cold cause i,m Canadian.

I,m actually looking forward to replacing the heater core just for the challenge, now would the oem piece be the 1 to go with or i was thinking napa.

 

[MikeH686]

Anybody know where i can get one of these drain plugs? Ive been wondeeing what this hole was through my firewall for a long time and it didnt have this drain when i bought it