Hello guys , new to this forum and I have a problem , friday I started smelling coolant , when I got home there was coolant in the passenger floor and some other coolant leaking outside the passenger side by the firewall ,for what I have research this morning it seems to be the heater core ,the part is not expensive but the job to get it done seems to be a pain in the a$$ according to other post I found.
This is the question how can I patch ,plug or half a$$ fix this without taking the dashboard out ?? reason is that I trading this truck in a month and I dont have the time or money to fix this the right way.
This is a 2002 ranger edge 3.0L v6 2wd ...any help will be appreciated ,Thank you .

 

I am sure whoever buys the truck will appreciate the half a$$ed fix.

 

I love comment's like this ....the same dealer that jerk me with other repairs is getting this truck so I dont really feel sorry for them ,plus they will have to repair it before selling it again ....so if you have something useful please post ...

 

Use a short section of pipe and two hose clamps to bypass the heater core inlet and outlet hoses into eachother. They will be garden hose sized hoses going to a box on the curb side of the firewall.

The core will stop dripping once it is empty.

I have no sympathy for used car dealers, over the years the negative sympathy factor increases at a geometric rate...

Pull out the carpet on the passenger side, spray everything with carpet cleaner, then use a shop vac (wet and dry) to take up the rest. Spray it under the dash with a fine spray of water from a hose to rinse, then vac again.

Stuff a sheet of fabreeze or other fabric softener (X-hundred to a box) under each front seat to give it a clean smell.

Clean the footwell rugs before putting them back in so no smell is evident.

This is the same they did to YOU! And all is fair...

Cracks in tire sidewalls can be hidden with black shoe polish.
*They don't know diddly about reading tire manufacture dates from the DOT stamp

Use armor all on the dash.

Armor all or unscented baby oil all hoses under the hood (brat oil is cheaper).

Go over the whole body with AEROWAX - it makes the clearcoat shine, and if the paint is oxidised it will shine too.

Steel wool the bumpers and any exterior chrome.

GET THEM!

Once they take it - it ain't your BOMB.

 

Ah, a moral dilemma...
You can try stop leak, if it's a minor leak it may work.
But, a few things to consider...
If you don't fix it right, and tell the dealer, they'll knock off money on the trade in offer.
If you don't fix it right, and don't tell the dealer, if a proactive tech who inspects the truck finds stop leak in the cooling system, it'll raise questions about what's leaking, and they'll knock money off the offer.
Even if you don't tell the dealer, and they don't find the leak or stop leak, you're screwing the next guy over who buys it. And it sux trying to flush that goo out of a cooling system after the repair is done right.
Maybe you don't care, not trying to tell you what to do, your call. Just pointing out some considerations.
I would probably suck it up and fix it right. After all, something may happen and you might wind up keeping the truck longer than you planned. Plus if the stop leak doesn't work you're going to have to fix it anyways, plus flush that crap out of the system (more work) or try to convince the dealer that, yes, despite the presence of stop leak in the system you really did fix the problem.
Just my .02...

 

I would not ordinarily suggest these things - but since they got YOU...

I say get them back.

If you say nothing about anything unusual (maybe say the heater never worked - this way they wonder if their own guys bypassed it) the deal will be handled by a salesman.

Salesmen are not techs, comprende?

Come to think of it - if you find something the right size....
Never mind.

 

Go to an auto parts store and get a radiotor hose flush kit. It was .99 at Napa when I got one. Un-hook the heater hoses at the firewall and connect them back together with the flush adapter. On my 93 it took 20 mins total time to replace the heater core.. But greywolf is right......if they screwed you first then turn-about is fair play in my book.

 

I understand what you guys are saying, and what goes around comes around, but a smart dealer will catch half-a$$ repairs and use them to his bargaining advantage. A smart dealer will have his techs check out your trade before making an offer. They do know the tricks. At least that's the way things work around here. Go ahead and try to screw them if you like, but don't screw yourself more in the process, that's all I'm saying.
I'm not a big fan of dealers, new or used, either, and I chisel them where I can too, but not at my expense.

 

GAUCHO does not have PM yet, because he does not have enough posts.

I had other ideas, but they are on hold because I don't know him yet.

I still hate used machine fakers.....

But this is not the time.

 

The good thing I have the factory full rubber floor, so just a rug will do the job....

Thanks to everyone else that responded to the post very helpful ...but I do have one question ...if I by pass the heater core by cutting and clamping a piece of hose by the firewall in a U shape ,will my A/C still work? there will be no heat that's all right? any other side effects by doing the bypass ?? Thank you.

 

All it does is cut off hot coolant going to the heater core. Everything else still works.

*There is a devious way to do the same thing - get a pair of one inch long pieces of steel, wood, or whatever dowel that fit snugly inside the heater hoses, insert them at the heater core ends, put an extra pair of hose clamps over them to make sure they seal, and connect the hoses back up.

It would be a month of sundays before that was found!

You can go another level deeper - but I won't pass that on to someone who can't PM.

PS: Thermostats have a bypass channel independent of the heater core to ensure flow regardless of other systems.

Isn't this lovely? Here I am doing my best to ruin my reputation as a straight up guy...

I still hate used car "abortionists" though - and have been a victim of a few of them.
SO I SAY GO GET THEM!

And nobody tests a heater at the hottest time of the year.

 

Dowels in the heater hoses....I gotta concede, that's pretty devious.
BTW, if you're selling trucks near me, I think I'll go new!

 

Thank you sir ...and I don't feel sorry for people that make money out of ripping people off..so pay back is a bitch

 

Of course, the only problem is that it isn't the used car dealer who'll get screwed, it's the hapless next buyer...