Coolant leaking into cabin next to gas pedal

[PannikAttk]

So I've Googled this one and apparently it can either be a faulty heater core or a bad valve. My question, how can I identify the culprit? Also, does someone have the valve part number handy in case it is the valve?

Gracias

[JinormusJ]

Coolant leaking into cabin next to gas pedal

It's usually the o-rings that go bad. My car had my heater core bypassed by the PO (probably due to the cabin leak) so I also didn't have a heater either.

Being connected to aluminum hard line, the valve is usually the last thing to go bad/leak, and even if it does, most of the time it stops functioning (it doesn't start leaking until the pipes at heavily pitted; you will know it is good if you check the 2.5a fuse and it is good and you can hear a audible click from the valve when turning from hot to cold/vice versa on the HVAC). However, seeing as my hard-lines were pitted, I opted to change them anyway

What I did was buy new O-rings, valve pipes, and a heater core. I tested my old core out of the car and it didn't leak, so I reused it. If I remember correctly, there are a total of 4 rings.. I ordered 6 from BMA just to be safe; they were literally pocket change per ring

Ended up selling it off my extra heater core for the same price I paid for it, so no-harm/no-foul


My suggestion, buy the whole setup and begin by just replacing the pipe and O-rings; if it still leaks, replace the core aswell. Did that 2 years ago and my car has been leak free and heater fully functioning

[CorvallisBMW]

It's such a PITA though to do! I'd rather do it once. OP, get yourself a coolant system pressure tester (most auto parts stores have them for rent, usually for free too). Remove the trim and pull back the carpet so that you can see the valve, core and pipes. Then pressurize the system up to the standard operating pressure and look for leaks. This way you'll know for sure what the culprit is. In my case the leak was between the metal core and the plastic end tanks (though of course I changed the O-rings at the same time). I just would have hated to go through the hassle of pulling it all apart, draining the system, replacing the o-rings, refilling and bleeding, etc etc etc... only to find the problem was still there.

[AndrewBird]

^^^What he said.

Royal pain in the ass to pull it all apart just to do it again. Pressure test it to find the leak, then replace the necessary parts.

[Liquidity]

I can only imagine you guys have never done a heater core on any other car before. 45 minute job is not a royal pain in the ass. A 6 hour job pulling the dash out is a royal pain in the ass.

[AndrewBird]

I've done heater cores on several cars. 45 minutes is pretty damn fast. Maybe that long just to swap teh core, but then you also have to bleed the cooling system and everything.

Most of it is just a bunch of pulling shit apart in the interior and putting it back.

[CorvallisBMW]

Plus the coolant that WILL spill on to and under your carpet when you disconnect the lines.

[goldenbb]

I can only imagine you guys have never done a heater core on any other car before. 45 minute job is not a royal pain in the ass. A 6 hour job pulling the dash out is a royal pain in the ass.

This! I once had to do a heater core replacement on an '88 Mustang. Every bit of the dash had to come out and it was still an uphill battle from there. I will never own another Ford.

[Chessmaster]

make sure its not the heater hose that connects near the firewall. my old eta was leaking from there and it would drip down line in to cabin. but had to waste 30 secs to tighten hose up.

[JinormusJ]

Plus the coolant that WILL spill on to and under your carpet when you disconnect the lines.

Put a used towel on the carpet when pulling lines?
Easy fix

[PannikAttk]

make sure its not the heater hose that connects near the firewall. my old eta was leaking from there and it would drip down line in to cabin. but had to waste 30 secs to tighten hose up.

I might check this out. The motor was recently swapped so maybe the hose is brittle and/or was displaced during the process.

Thanks to all for the feedback.

In the event that it IS the valve - anyone have a part no. and know where I can get it for cheap?

[CorvallisBMW]

Last I checked the valve was NLA