Coolant Leak on firewall

[jking18]

I was driving home earlier today and started to smell antifreeze so I pulled over and checked and it seemed to be fine. Then about a mile down the road the low coolant light came on so i pulled over again and shut the car off. When I looked around under the car I saw coolant leaking bad, it was pouring out about midway down the firewall on the Passenger Side. The source of the leak feels like the part of a spark plug wire that hooks to the coil pack. This really confuses me and I know it has to be something simple. Anybody know what the source of the is and how to fix it. Any help is appreciated. BTW I have a 2.8 Multiport. Sorry about the arrow, It was made in a hurry.

[DTMAce]

Heater line leak. Need to figure out which one though.. If I recall, the lower one connects to the backside of where the thermostat is located, the other is hooked up at the back of the water pump tower? Damn, can't remember from here and you have a different engine. I know that on the later engine the there is a bypass line that runs around and a line that goes under the upper intake and fuel rails.... If the older MPFI engines are similar that would cause a leak to run out in that area.

Sorry, picture wasn't there when I posted.

That picture is blurry, can't make out what it is you are pointing to, however the item on the firewall, looks to be one of the coolant lines. But there should be two there, close to each other.

Edit again.

That is a coolant line for the AC, not the heater core. You need to find the lines for the heater core, and follow them back to find the source.

[heavywoody]

That looks like the condensation drain tube coming out of the heater box underneath the heater core.

If that is a 90* rubber elbow, you have a bad heater core. Cheap part, can be a PITA to replace.

[jking18]

thanks ace and woody. will take it off and get new part.

[DTMAce]

Ugh. Not fun if that's the case. Yeah new ones are dirt cheap, but they are a pain in the ass (and the back) to install.

Alternate solution is to bypass the heater core, if you don't mind freezing when its cold out.

[jking18]

I think ill just replace it. Living in Michigan you may want the heat.

[Money pit Beretta]

You sure it's not the overflow? When my heater core went out it dumped out of a hole on the firewall.

[jking18]

girlfriend and i had the car started and put water through the radiator, we were able to see where the antifreeze and water came out at. which is shown in the photo. The small black 90 degree hose.

[Money pit Beretta]

Cool man just checking. Nice girlfriend you have there.

[jking18]

she is pretty cool. she grew up helping her dad work on vehicles.

[Money pit Beretta]

Two nice finds, don't take that the wrong way. Any luck finding the 90*?

[jking18]

I'll be working on it tomorrow, also while i was back there I discovered that I have a slight oil leak from the valve cover. Its a good thing that I already had fel-pro gaskets from when I planned on polishing the valve covers, so that gets done tomorrow too. BTW my girlfriend loves Berettas just as much as I do, but she wants a 2.3 GTZ HO.

[jking18]

OK. I have another question. Where do the hoses from the heater core go to? I cannot seem to find any hoses that are unhooked.

[DTMAce]

That's because the leak is on the heater core itself, not the hoses. Its leaking internally then running out the heater core drain.

[3X00-Modified]

Your two heater core lines are located here, this FEEDS the core


This is what the core looks like on the inside of the car, the two pipes exit the locations above.


When those pipes crack inside the car, or the core itself (stock one has plastic end tanks) crack then the coolant leaks into this tray, which you can see the elbow that its draining out of in your engine bay in this pic.


Follow this procedure to replace your core.
http://beretta.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3873