I knew I had coolant going somewhere and I found it in the passenger foot well, draining into the right outboard foot well channel.. damn, damn, damn.. I've got the carpet up and pulled out and threw away the wet filthy underlay.. they used some fantastic glue to hold that down, lol. So where should I start looking, thanks billy, and yes, I'm attempting to use the search function, and I read somewhere that eliminating the rear heater was a good idea, so?
Coolant under passenger foot well carpet ??
- Thread starter billymagg
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Fj80oregon
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Try to search heater core, your rear heater lines go in the engine back under the truck. Your heater core is probable the culprit or maybe the lines at the firewall are leaking in. Take a flashlight and rag and inspect the firewall passenger side for corrosion/coolant. the dash is easily taken apart pull the glove box and look around.
^^^^^ this
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- #4
Sounds like my next project
Replacing the front heater core requires removal of most of the dash.
Make sure you get the correct one for your year. There are at least (3) versions made and only one is even remotely available in aftermarket.
You may have to remove yours, have it rebuilt, then reinstall. Having it rebuilt will be about $300. Not kidding.
The heater core most available is the rear heater core. Those never see leaks and if they do, they get removed usually.
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- #6
I was on my way to pull out the dash, but crawling under the truck, it appears that I have weeping under the rear seat heater?? maybe not, but the two hoses appear to be wet underneath,,, so are the back bolts for the seat removal under those nice plastic covers?? I have gently attempted to pry up the covers, but they are resisting.. I can see the front bolts, one is half out already, lol..
Yes, there are plastic covers over the rear bolts on the front seat. You can pry them of (may or may not break them) then easily remove the seat with 4 bolts and a harness connection.
The hoses for the rear heater are fully under the truck. The rear heater is the lowest point in the cab so any liquid will sit around that heater or next to the outside near the rocker panel.
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- #8
So seat is out, and no I can't pry the rear heater up far enough to get to those hoses, which one or both are leaking,, I'm thinking about removing exhaust system brackets to get to the hoses.. of course the rear section of hose attached to the nasty looking metal lines have some kind of funky factory clamp??
but that is where the coolant was originating, so I should be thankful its not that wretched heater core under dash?
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- #9
OK! so definitely rear heater, heater core leaking,, so I've tried cleaning under there a bit,, YUCK! and I realized I'm going to have to tighten it down to get those hoses off, hopefully, once they are off, the heater core will come out, and I can put a bolt or some such non sense in them to plug them and run my truck?? anybody have an idea of a U shaped pipe I could throw on them to maintain circulation,, or don't worry about it??
There is a "rear heater bypass kit" available from Wits' End. It installs on the firewall under the heater valve so you bypass those rusty hard lines as well.
@NLXTACY
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- #11
Yep, its out of stock at the moment, and I finally got everything out from under their,, heater core was leaking, I've got the two hoses clamped off for now, I'm about ready for my maiden voyage out here in about 10 minutes.. Heck, I'm so glad to get that out of there and the leak stopped!! Yeah hah!
and I only broke a couple of things!!!
Warning: the soft brass pipes which are part of the rear heater core can be damaged by prying on or pulling up on the rear heater assembly from above, or by yanking/pulling on the hoses from below.
The best method IMHO is to first get under the vehicle and slice the hoses
using a very sharp utility or hobby knife (scalpel type) that go up to the heater core. You can slice them length wise a couple inches in a couple of places where they are attached to the heater core pipes, then gently peel the hoses away from the pipes.
Once the hoses are removed from below then the rear heater assembly (with the attached pipes) can be lifted up and out from above.
Sounds like the rear heater core is already leaking but that could be fixable, what you don't want to do is make things worse by damaging the thin walled soft brass pipes which are attached directly to the core, IMHO
The best method IMHO is to first get under the vehicle and slice the hoses
using a very sharp utility or hobby knife (scalpel type) that go up to the heater core. You can slice them length wise a couple inches in a couple of places where they are attached to the heater core pipes, then gently peel the hoses away from the pipes.
Once the hoses are removed from below then the rear heater assembly (with the attached pipes) can be lifted up and out from above.
Sounds like the rear heater core is already leaking but that could be fixable, what you don't want to do is make things worse by damaging the thin walled soft brass pipes which are attached directly to the core, IMHO
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- #13
Yeah, those pipes are one of the things I dinged,, but she will go in for a re-core and straightening.. yeah, I was dumb and thought I could save those hoses as they were in good shape... not anymore.. but anyway, we'll see. The clamps on the end have a cotter key driven in to tighten them,, those are funky.
Well, the REAR heater is still in stock at aftermarket places. RockAuto, Napa, O'Reilly's, etc. And possibly Toyota.
It's the front one that isn't available and is a huge pain to get to, but fails more often than the rear one.
Yeah, the factory sardine can clamps are funky, If you haven't figured it out yet, you can twist the pin counter clockwise with needle nose pliers (or any tool that can hook the pin) until the metal ribbon loosens up then pull the pin and finish unraveling the ribbon.
Or, if you aren't saving the hose just cut through the metal ribbon with a dremel. IME if super careful it's possible to just cut the ribbon without damaging the hose, much.
Or, if you aren't saving the hose just cut through the metal ribbon with a dremel. IME if super careful it's possible to just cut the ribbon without damaging the hose, much.
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Eventually, you'll figure out the multi-quote. We've all done this at least once......
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Yeah, I wasn't trying to multi quote, my computer wasn't letting me reply,, I was on a slower link,, and to be honest I'm still running windows 7,,, because 10 and newer won't run my flight simulator.. I need a tech rep to keep my software/hardware running.. lol,, anyway, I did order a clean looking rear heater and fan assembly off ebay.. I can get those sardine can clamps, I'm wondering how much fun it will be trying to re-install all that fun stuff.. Wits end has them, but they are out of 5/8 green stripe coolant line at present
Do NOT buy those sardine clamps.
I have replaced all of my clamps with the squeeze type Toyota clamps. However, you have to get the CORRECT one to fit over the 5/8" Green Stripe hose. It's different than most.
I bought a 100 ft roll of 5/8" green stripe from Amazon and have not used any of it because it doesn't fit tight enough for what I like.
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- #20
Roger that, can you link the short rear heater hoses and clamps that you like?? when you get a chance, thanks billy.. and thanks for all your help,, I'm not a good listener, (so my wife tells me),, so I do break stuff.. actually I've worked at Klems Aero repair.. so the Illinois State Poolice had a Cessna 414c that we did all the maintenance on.. they did 100 hr inspections rather than annuals, kind for a more progressive maintenance, more ofter.. the 414C has a nitrogen bottle to "blow" the gear down in the event of an emergency,, (yes, if the gear doesn't come down, when you move the handle to down, that is an emergency.. so this has to be tested, and when they came in to land the "blew" the gear down..
So in the whole process, you got to the linkage reset, and then you need to fill the Nitrogen bottle.. the boss told us to fill the tank, so we pulled out the books and began to read up on the process and hooked all those hoses up to the Nitrogen canister on the fire wall.. we tried and tried to get it up to "1400 ft lbs" and couldn't get it over 600 ft lbs..
So we went home, when I walked into work at 5pm on Monday evening,, this was my 4th job, and we had 9 kids,, the boss said come over here.. the cops where all standing around the airplane with my boss.. he introduced me as "one of the lucky little assholes"??? I'm like what the hell, he NEVER cussed.. so Klem says look at your Nitrogen tank.. well it was a pressed steel tank with ribs and goodies formed in it to give it strength.. well that damn tank was nearly twice the size it should have been, and every rib was blown completely out.. like an over inflated beach toy..
I'm standing there with this stupid look on my face,, and he says, you two little idiots are the luckiest to jerks I've ever met?? still standing there, staring at our Nitrogen tank that clearly nearly blew with only 600 ft lbs of Nitrogen.. and he says 1400 INCH POUNDs, didn't you read the book?? and yes we did, but we both read ft lbs, when the book spelled out 1400 inch lbs.. he finished by stating for all the state cops standing around, you two little idiots nearly blew your heads off, and yes it was at head height, right on the front firewall... and had that can held its shape over the weekend and they it away, and blew the gear down,, it would have blown the gear completely off that airframe... what it would have done is cause catastrophic damage to the down locks and linkage, may have even bent the spar on both sides or worse,, so yes, being lucky is better than being good,, or I think God was watching out for two clowns that day,,, that was Saturday, that tank was still in the proper shape when we left at noon.. so
