67 coronet evaporator drain hose DRAINING! and my air not hooked up....help!

[uncledon]

so i got home the other day from a nice drive around town to see water/antifreeze leaking from back of my motor...it was about 60 degrees out so no heat was on... but it appeared to be leaking out that little L shape rubber hose out of the firewall... did a search and looked to be called a evaporator drain hose???

why would it be leaking water/antifreeze out of it? my car is a factory air car but most components have been removed and the air is non operational. no hoses, no condenser etc...

any ideas? is this normal? is my heater core leaking? its not inside the car just out side on back of transmission down to ground from I think that little hose....blah.

any ideas? or why?

[FRATZOG]

The drain was designed to be for water from the Evaporator, but it can also be from a Heater Core as it is the lowest point on the HVAC box. Do a quick old time mechanics taste test... dip a finger in and if it tastes sweet, it's antifreeze/coolant....meaning your core is bad.

[uncledon]

Oh I could see the hint of green in it from the antifreeze....
my heat works great though?

[67r/t4speeder]

Oh I could see the hint of green in it from the antifreeze....
my heat works great though?

Fratz is correct your core is bad, it will still put out heat because it is not clogged just leaking, pinch off the heater hoses tell you fix it. It will leak on carpet soon and make a mess.

[FRATZOG]

It will work fine ... until it doesn't. If it is a small leak, it will not be very noticeable until the coolant level drops to the point it will not circulate... then it will cause problems. If enough leaks out, the level in the motor will drop as the water pump tries to fill the void in the system.. then it can overheat and take out a head gasket, etc. Fix it now while it's just a minor issue. Most garages can do a quick pressure test on the system to see if pressure is escaping and if it is, check for the location of the leak.

Another way I used to confirm leaking heater cores is by asking a customer if there was a sticky film on the inside of the windshield above the defrost vents, or, if when the heater was running it smelled of "burning candies"<--- You wouldn't believe how many people recognized the "burning candies" smell...LOL. Both are signs of a weeping/leaking heater core.

It's been a long time since I changed one, but it is pretty straight forward to change. They are not very expensive either: Rock Auto has Spectra units for about $35.00 US.

If you can't fix it right away, I would install a by-pass: get a piece of pipe (copper, cast... etc) the same diameter as the inside of the heater core hose, remove the hoses and clamps to the core and connect the two hoses together with the piece of pipe with the clamps. You won't have any heat, but you also won't overheat the engine.

[Racer Brown]

You can also turn your defrosters on high and see if the windshield fogs up!

[uncledon]

nice...
butttt I like this more than what I thought it was, I assumed it was a rear freeze plug leaking...
heater core I can handle!!!
anyone got a pic of what that pipe apparatus looks like once its done? I know what your talking about I just want to hook it up correctly...
thanks guys!

[FRATZOG]

If you decide to by-pass the heater core, make sure that the engine is cold. After you by-pass, you can then check that you do not have a leak somewhere else too.
372937303731
This is a picture of a home made cast iron by-pass I found on Google, you can also buy 5/8" PVC pipe elbows (above) at hardware stores that work good (as long as you don't over-tighten the hose clamps and crack them). Blow some air through the heater core to get the trapped fluid out and top-up the rad after.

[uncledon]

I drove it last night, drove it hard, let it idle, etc...
cant get it to leak now...
and it wasn't overheating..
hmmmmm

[FRATZOG]

I drove it last night, drove it hard, let it idle, etc...
cant get it to leak now...
and it wasn't overheating..
hmmmmm

If it's too low on coolant, it won't leak. Also, if it is low a little bit, the system may have a void and can not correctly pressurize; and therefore, it can't leak.