crap.. just an hour ago i started smelling coolant in the car. there is no visible coolant leakage from the radiator, radiator hoses, or the hose entrances into the firewall (assuming there are only two that go into the firewall). the under-hood area doesnt smell like coolant at all. the air doesnt need to be turned on for it to smell the car up, but it gets stronger when you turn the air up.

the smell is strongest at the vents in the dashboard.

has this happened to someone before? how do i get under the dashboard to check things out?

the coolant level doesnt seem to be dropping quickly, but ill be keeping some water on hand..

thanks to the group for your continued help and patience,
anthony

more clues: by mistake i found that there seems to be small collections of fluid, vaguely slippery and green, under the carpeting under the driver *and* passenger seats. it barely smells like coolant down there, much stronger at the vents, but i assume it is all teh same stuff.

this means it is a real leak, not just a drop here and there. there was definitely NO coolant smell this afternoon. suddenly it came on while driving, and now there is actual fluid pooling (not much, but..) on the floor.

i assume there is a leak somewhere in the heater core. odd, since i have not run the heater. the air temp dial has been set on all the way cold for a couple weeks. i guess some coolant circulates through the firewall whether or not heat is actually requested.

so my question is this: should i try a can of that stop-leak stuff, or do i actually need to take the front half of the car apart just to access the heater core? is there any reason *not* to try the stop-leak stuff?

and is there anything else it could be? anything i should know? i had a look at the haynes, and it appears that i need to remove just about everything in front of the seats to get at the dang thing.

bummer of a job to do in the middle of a roadtrip.

thanks for the help,
anthony

If you don't need the heat right now, you can connect the two hoses that go to the heater core together to bypass the leaking heater core. Splicers are available at hardware stores for less than $5-. Coolant fumes are toxic.

... Also, sometimes a loose hose clamp at the fire wall will cause a leak INSIDE the cabin, not outside down the firewall where you would expect it.

Don't use the stop leak... it will lead to more problems.

I agree with disconnecting the hoses from the core and running them together... but then you will have no heat until you replace the core.

Replacing the core is a big job... expensive if you take it to a shop, but inexpensive and very time consuming to do on your own.

... Also, sometimes a loose hose clamp at the fire wall will cause a leak INSIDE the cabin, not outside down the firewall where you would expect it.

the clamps there currently are the stock spring-type. they look ok, so id be surprised if they were the problem. however, as others say, i dont need the heat for a few months, so ill shunt the firewall hoses to each other and deal with this another day.

for future reference: does anyone have any tips on this job i should know about? (97 escort). i assume it will take me pretty much all day to take everything apart and put it back again.

There's a step-by-step guide on this thread - post # 7:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=206813

That was written by somebody who's done the job on a '92 and a '96, but hopefully it will still be relevant to your '97.

Also, there's a great photo on this page:

http://www.c-digital.us/work.htm

The photo is entitled 'Changing the heater core in an early '90s Escort' - obviously, yours is a later model so the details will differ but it does give some idea of the scale of the operation and what you're aiming towards if it should prove necessary to access the core. Let's hope it won't come to that though. Good luck.

There's a step-by-step guide on this thread - post # 7:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=206813

That was written by somebody who's done the job on a '92 and a '96, but hopefully it will still be relevant to your '97.

Also, there's a great photo on this page:

http://www.c-digital.us/work.htm

The photo is entitled 'Changing the heater core in an early '90s Escort' - obviously, yours is a later model so the details will differ but it does give some idea of the scale of the operation and what you're aiming towards if it should prove necessary to access the core. Let's hope it won't come to that though. Good luck.

ooh.. the photo shows the steering wheel still on. that would save me a fuss, and an extra tool... anyone know whether this is legit for a '97? the haynes manual says to remove the steering wheel.

i spliced the heater hoses together today. took 15 minutes and some arm skin.. it would probably be easier if you had the car on a lift and could access the hoses from beneath.

for folks who are interested in doing this: the rubber heater hosing is long and flexible enough to just splice the two hoses together with a male-male fitting. i replaced the OEM spring clips with real clamps, just in case. however, this leaves the hoses twisted a half turn to allow the fitting. i dont know if the hoses being under torsion like this will cause them to fail sooner. i probably will not fix this for another two to three months, so here's hoping.

in an ideal world, it would be nice to have a u-shaped fitting, or two 'L' fittings and bit of hose between them, to avoid tension/torsion on the hoses.

also, i secure the floppy spliced hose assembly with wire to the protruding heater core attachments in hopes that it will not fail from a lot of movement over the next couple months.

for the record, the coolant in the heater core is minimal. maybe a cup or two, tops. however, the right heater hose (entering the firewall on the passenger side) needs to be taken care of. if when removing it, you let it slip out of your hands, it will siphon off a sh*tload of coolant. the driver's side hose didnt seem to have much fluid in it, and did not attempt to pour fluid when dropped.

i secured the passenger side firewall heater hose in an 'up' position with a piece of wire and this kept things under control until i disconnect the other hose.

thanks for your help, everybody.