Honda Car Forum

jim beam wrote:
it's relatively uncommon for heater cores to leak since they're not as
> exposed to damage. if your condensation /smells/ of coolant, then it
> may be leaking, if it doesn't, then it's not. weather has been very
> cold of late and windows will definitely fog up more.

-------------------------------
Yep. John Paul, turn OFF the recirculator or you'll pump the moisture
from your floor mats onto the inside of your windows. Outside air is
bone dry, you want that instead.
You'd know all about this if you knew anybody who owned a Hyundai PONY.
Steam bath on wheels. :-(

'Curly'

"jim beam" <spamvortex@bad.example.net> wrote:
> it's relatively uncommon for heater cores to leak since they're not as
> exposed to damage. if your condensation /smells/ of coolant, then it
> may be leaking, if it doesn't, then it's not. weather has been very
> cold of late and windows will definitely fog up more.

I can smell the coolant in the car, though it's not a strong smell.
However the feel of that condensation on the window definitely feels
slick, just like the feel of the coolant. If I turn on the heater and
direct it to the windshield it's usually not strong enough to dry that
condensation.

JP

On Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:19:35 -0700, motsco_ wrote:

>Yep. John Paul, turn OFF the recirculator or you'll pump the moisture
>from your floor mats onto the inside of your windows. Outside air is
>bone dry, you want that instead.
>You'd know all about this if you knew anybody who owned a Hyundai PONY.
>Steam bath on wheels. :-(

I never use recirculated air except with A/C on. But then in the
Seattle area you seldom need A/C.

JP

R. P. wrote:
> "jim beam" <spamvortex@bad.example.net> wrote:
>> it's relatively uncommon for heater cores to leak since they're not as
>> exposed to damage. if your condensation /smells/ of coolant, then it
>> may be leaking, if it doesn't, then it's not. weather has been very
>> cold of late and windows will definitely fog up more.
>
> I can smell the coolant in the car, though it's not a strong smell.

are you losing coolant? the fan draws air that when not moving tends to
come from the engine compartment, so you'll smell what's going on under
the hood.

> However the feel of that condensation on the window definitely feels
> slick, just like the feel of the coolant.

that's unlikely to be coolant making it slick - when stuff evaporates,
it all separates out - just like a school science distillation
experiment. use some good old fashioned windex and clean the glass with
plenty of "elbow grease" and see what happens then.

> If I turn on the heater and
> direct it to the windshield it's usually not strong enough to dry that
> condensation.

got to go through the elimination process. if after all this, it does
turn out to be the core, then you have to strip a /lot/ of stuff out to
get to it for replacement. best to make sure.

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 06:32:25 -0800, jim beam wrote:

>are you losing coolant? the fan draws air that when not moving tends to
>come from the engine compartment, so you'll smell what's going on under
>the hood.

As I wrote in my very first post on the subject, I don't notice any
appreciable loss in coolant since I refilled the radiator. So perhaps
it's a pretty small leak.

>> However the feel of that condensation on the window definitely feels
>> slick, just like the feel of the coolant.
>
>that's unlikely to be coolant making it slick - when stuff evaporates,
>it all separates out - just like a school science distillation
>experiment. use some good old fashioned windex and clean the glass with
>plenty of "elbow grease" and see what happens then.

Been there, done that. It definitely smells and feels like antifreeze.
I also thought about distill but then I also know that the main
ingrediant in antifreeze is a type of alcohol which will be present in
evaporation as any moonshiner can testify to it. ;-)

>got to go through the elimination process. if after all this, it does
>turn out to be the core, then you have to strip a /lot/ of stuff out to
>get to it for replacement. best to make sure.

Well, I just got a call from my mechanic, informing me of what I was
afraid of: the core is leaking and needs to be replaced. Huge bill,
mostly labor and need to leave the car in the garage for two days
instead of just one. I just wish car makers would not bury those
heater components in such hard to reach places!

JP

"John Paul" <jp_invalid@freemail.hu> wrote in message
news:fg4ar29j89vm28ksf3f9nqfm9qhic9lm18@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 06:32:25 -0800, jim beam wrote:
> //snipped//
>>> However the feel of that condensation on the window definitely feels
>>> slick, just like the feel of the coolant.
>>
>>that's unlikely to be coolant making it slick - when stuff evaporates,
>>it all separates out - just like a school science distillation
>>experiment. use some good old fashioned windex and clean the glass with
>>plenty of "elbow grease" and see what happens then.

However, the residue left behind is oily and sticky. I had a partially
flattened copper tube leading into the heater core on a Jeep. The rubber
heater hose from the block was leaking into the housing around the core
itself. The result was vaporised coolant mixture blown through the defrost
system onto the windshield. The film obscured the windshield, smelled like
coolant, was oily and sticky, and very difficult to remove. As I remember, I
used heated club soda, followed by Windex to get it off.

>
> I also thought about distill but then I also know that the main
> ingrediant in antifreeze is a type of alcohol which will be present in
> evaporation as any moonshiner can testify to it. ;-)
Usually occurs only if an improperly cleaned vehicle is used as the
condensor vice a good quality copper worm.

DaveD

>
> JP

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 22:38:13 -0900, "Dave and Trudy" wrote:

>However, the residue left behind is oily and sticky. I had a partially
>flattened copper tube leading into the heater core on a Jeep. The rubber
>heater hose from the block was leaking into the housing around the core
>itself. The result was vaporised coolant mixture blown through the defrost
>system onto the windshield. The film obscured the windshield, smelled like
>coolant, was oily and sticky, and very difficult to remove. As I remember, I
>used heated club soda, followed by Windex to get it off.

This is exactly what I've had.

>> I also thought about distill but then I also know that the main
>> ingrediant in antifreeze is a type of alcohol which will be present in
>> evaporation as any moonshiner can testify to it. ;-)
>Usually occurs only if an improperly cleaned vehicle is used as the
>condensor vice a good quality copper worm.

I just had the heater core replaced and things look good right away. I
saw the old core and indeed it was leaking.

JP

On Sun, 21 Jan 2007 09:44:38 -0700, motsco_ wrote:


>Filling the rad isn't enough. There's a reserve bottle that needs to be
>filled to MAX, since you've got lots of air in your cooling system. Fill
>it to MAX again in a day or two since it will go low as air is displaced
>from the heater / block / rad. No tap water. This is in your owner's manual.

Is it? I also have the official Honda Service Manual and I only see a
strong recommendation for using Honda's own coolant (that is to be
expected, right?) but nothing specific against tap water unless I
missed it. Besides, not all tap water is loaded with minerals. Some
are quite soft.

JP

John Paul wrote:
> On Sun, 21 Jan 2007 09:44:38 -0700, motsco_ wrote:
>
>
>> Filling the rad isn't enough. There's a reserve bottle that needs to be
>> filled to MAX, since you've got lots of air in your cooling system. Fill
>> it to MAX again in a day or two since it will go low as air is displaced
>>from the heater / block / rad. No tap water. This is in your owner's manual.
>
> Is it? I also have the official Honda Service Manual and I only see a
> strong recommendation for using Honda's own coolant (that is to be
> expected, right?) but nothing specific against tap water unless I
> missed it. Besides, not all tap water is loaded with minerals. Some
> are quite soft.

"soft" means it doesn't calcine, not that it's not loaded with minerals.
minerals increase the ability of the coolant to electrolyze all the
dissimilar metals in the coolant circuit.

On Thu, 25 Jan 2007 22:03:56 -0800, jim beam wrote:

>"soft" means it doesn't calcine, not that it's not loaded with minerals.
> minerals increase the ability of the coolant to electrolyze all the
>dissimilar metals in the coolant circuit.

You are probably right technically speaking. What I meant with "soft"
was a general low level of all minerals, not just calcium.

Be as it may, I just doscovered that something happened to the rear
window defogger switch on the instrument panel while it was in the
shop. Its indicator light is not working, thus I don't know when it's
on and when it's off. The defogger itself seems to work though as I
notice the drying along the heating wires in the rear window when I
press it and the window has condensation, so perhaps its the bulbs in
the switch. The two fuses are OK in the left kick panel. I popped out
the defogger switch from the instrument panel to check on the bulbs
but it has such a short wiring harness that makes it hard to pull out
the switch far enough to even separate it from the connector. Perhaps
some wire got pulled out from the connector while the mechanic was
pulling it out for attaching it to the switch. That would be pretty
bad! I don't know why Honda makes these wiring harnesses such a tight
fit. I might have to remove some of the instrument panel to get to the
back of that darn defogger switch. I know, it's the mechanic's job to
fix it but I don't want to leave the car there for another day if I
can help it.

JP