Too many heater cores!
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Too many heater cores!
I am about at my wit's end with this one. My 97 F-150 has eaten two heater cores in the last six months and I live in southern AZ! We just started using them a month ago. I smelled coolant very strongly today so I kicked on the defroster and sure enough, the haze was on the windshield. The previous one I bought from Ford (Motorcraft) and they leaked from the inner core. I was very careful with them as to not puncture them. Is there a possiblilty that some strange chemical reaction is going on (wouldn't think so since the radiator and heads are aluminum, but hey)? Am I just getting crap ones? Has anyone dealt with something like this before? Thanks.
AJ
AJ
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Both times I replaced the coolant. I talked to a family member that still works at a Ford dealer in town and he told me that they saw a lot of 97's that did this once they hit 100K due to electrolysis in the water pump and sense the cores are zinc coated aluminum, they are the least durable component in the system and fail. This makes sense so me because both heater cores I took out had black around the leak. When hydrogen ion (acid) and zinc mix they react and turn black. He suggested the ground wire too along with a good flush and a new water pump, we'll see when I talk to the district rep.
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He said just take a wire, strip is back an inch or so, solder it so that it shapes around a pipe and then house clamp it. He didn't have much time to talk, but I doubt you solder it to the pipe, though I don't think you could if you tried because of the metal compositions. Take the other end and put it to a good ground. I am going to put it right at the water pump. This should make a zero volt loop and stop the molecular seperation. Makes sense. We'll try it, but first to see what the rep says.
