1995 F-150 351

Have been smelling coolant in the cab for two days.

On the way to work smoke started coming out of the vents, alot. Fogged up the windows. Heat was working, immediatly turned off when this happened.

Anybody have a likely cause?

thanks
stew

 

sounds like a leaky core to me

 

Is it coming out from under the glovebox, if it is it's the heater core. Real simple fix.

 

Welcome to FTE

I'd agree.....heater core has took a dump. Not hard to replace......access it from the inside after you pull the cover. Haynes or Chiltons will give you a good idea of the replacement.

Good Luck
Bob

 

the floor board is dry.

defrost was on at the time.

no leaks can be found and the truck did not overheat.

 

I agree with heater core. It doesn't always leak on the floor and can stay (pool) in the bottom of the heater box and then blow out the vents with the heat. If your fogging up inside and smelling coolant then that is what you are dealing with. It would take a long time to actually overheat because you aren't loosing it as fast as you would if say a hose broke or something.

 

how labor intensive is the replacement?


online diagrams show only having to remove the glove box and not the entire dash. correct?

if that's the case, shouldn't be to difficult.

thanks
stew

 

The trucks and vans are much easier than the cars. If the guys above have done them recently then I would believe them when they say this model and year is.

 

It's not a hard job to do, it took me 20 minutes to replace mine. Unhinge to the glovebox, take the cover off where the heater core resides. Take off the two hoses and remember which one goes where, pull out the heater core and put the new one in in reverse order and your done. The heater core itself is not that expensive either.Good luck

 

I just got through doin this on my 87 a couple weeks ago. Real simple just pull out your glove box (real easy, just squeeze it so the catch will pass the wall), then there is a half a dozen or so screws that hold on the black shroud. Once you get the screws out, you will have to wiggle the shroud around (its was a real PITA for me to get out). Now you should see your heater core. Open your hood and disconnect the two hoses runnin to the core. Get back in the cab and gently pull on your core and it should slide ride out. Your new heater core should come with some new foam strips to replace some of the old foam that is probably in need of some help.

 

Suggest to look closely at the new heater cores before buying. Don't automatically get the cheapest one without looking it over.

Went the cheapie way once - the new core just wasn't putting out like I thought it should - defroster wasn't as good, heater couldn't run you out of the cab as before. Pulled the core back out, and on closer inspection, it appeared that 1/3 of the fin area was blanked off, but in such a way that it wasn't readily visible. Aaargh!

 

The heater core is easy to replace in these pickups. Now in our 03 Sable, after you get the entire dash out of the way (about 3-4 hours), it only takes 20 minutes to change out the heater core then!

 

worst heater core i ever changed was a chevy berreta.

the memory still haunts me and i can't describe it yet even though it was 3 years ago.

 

Late 90's Chevy Astro took me and my friend 8 hours to do. Had to completely remove steering column to pull dash, to pull heater core.

 

Just did my wife's 2000 Expedition's heater core a few weeks back. I needed valium when I was through!! Had to unplug the dash from the harness and TOTALLY remove! Literally... the whole front dash assembly was sitting in the front seats. Had to unbolt and drop the steering wheel assembly into the floorboard as well. Firewall and frame was all that was left! Took ALL day and then some. A friggin' nightmare Our trucks are a snap compared to a lot of HC swaps.