Floorman

i have an anti freeze smell coming through the ac. it only smells when i back off on the coldness. when i have it on max air and turned all the way cold you cant smell it. i have a 190 thermostat in her. sometimes she climbs to over 200. but mostly runs at 190 . no leaks i can see nothing on the floor in the cab. i have been watching the level and it has been good until a couple of days ago the overflow was down 2 quarts




any help would be appreciated.

GAmes

Sounds to me like the heater coil is leaking. The anti-freeze is going out the same drain that the A/C water goes thru so it wouldn't be on the floor boards. The drain is easy to find with the truck running and A/C on if you crawl under it.

06 DIESEL

Sounds like a heater coil/core to me. Do you hear a gurgling noise also? If so then it is definately the heater coil/core.

Floorman

i have heard this answer but dont like it . the whole dash needs to come out?

GAmes

Pretty much. If you know a TDR member there is a how to article in issue 46.

tony597fitter

Yes, dash has to come out.

GAmes

It does not have to come completely out of the truck, but it does have to come off it's mounts and pushed back. It is then possible to unbolt the HVAC and push it back far enough to remove the heater core without unhooking the A/C lines. I did it a few weeks ago while replacing my dash top.

Although your controls are different I am pretty sure the HVAC comes out the same.

Floorman

i just drove to ct pulling a camper and just checked the level in the overflow i lost almost a half gallon how long do i have before i really need to do something. any ideas on costs.

Floorman

been doing some searching a heater core from the zone is only 75 .00 ? why would they put such a cheap part in a hard place

92DuallyCTD

Because the engineers(using the term loosely, probably should call them 'designers') who 'designed' them know they aren't to be the ones REMOVING them!! Just one more thing...would it actually make you feel better if the most-difficult to access part ALSO was the most expensive? I'd feel that would be adding insult to injury; I'm just glad it IS a cheap part after all!! BTW, I have replaced mine as described above, not removing the dash entirely, just be really careful not to snag/stretch/tug the a/c lines too much. Good luck, and I'd replace it asap! It could rupture completely most anytime and leave you stranded, right?

GAmes

It is a typical brass heater core. By the way, after 10 years and all my miles, mine looked like new. Do you flush and change your coolant on a regular basis?

Floorman

i flushed last season should i try this first?

EverydayDiesel

i had coolant leaking inside my cab about a month ago. I looked for a leak but never could find one but I could smell coolant from the A/C. I kept driving it and the bearings on the water pump gave out on me. Im not sure why but I replaced the upper/lower radiator hoses, water pump, thermo, and flushed the system. I havent had any problems with smell or coolant since.

GAmes

First you need to find the source of your leak. I only wanted to point out that regular coolant changes might result in the heater coil not deteriorating resulting in a leak.