Hi to all,

i know this has been asked quite a bit and explained but i just want to know based on my situation:

-->turned on heater the other day and got a coolant smell
-->coolant level in car is staying at the same amount
-->turned heater off again

this morning i checked all hoses in engine bay and from block to the firewall and they seem to be ok

however i removed the pass footwell bottom carpet (not my floormat) and noticed a tiny dribble to the right of the ecu cover box. however i looked up and couldnt see where the leaked came from. i ran my heater tonight for atleast 20mins on the way home and not a single drop of coolant in the pass footwell and car temperature stayed at a constant temperature.

my question is any suggestions? i know obviously people will say heater core, but surely it should be constantly leaking if its on its way out?

i am going to rip the from trim off the car tomorrow (excluding the dash) to see if i can see around the heater core.

should it be one of those things i dont worry about for now until the coolant starts to leak more in the footwell (keeping an eye on the temperatures incar)

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2002 WRX (GDA) BUGEYE, 204BHP at 290Nm, daily driven

--MODS--
--> Walbro 255LPH fuel pump
--> Grimmspeed 3 port EBCS
--> 3" turbo back exhaust
--> Catless up pipe

btw, as a side note, what would be the long term issues? ie will i end up just loosing all coolant from heater core inside my car? and the car overheating?

__________________
2002 WRX (GDA) BUGEYE, 204BHP at 290Nm, daily driven

--MODS--
--> Walbro 255LPH fuel pump
--> Grimmspeed 3 port EBCS
--> 3" turbo back exhaust
--> Catless up pipe

Pretty much that's all that'll happen plus the stink is really annoying, you'll need to get the console out to get to everything, they are a constant flow core so putting the heater on won't really make any difference, the controls just shift different flaps to shut off air or let it flow where you want it to.

You can easily bypass the heater core by joining the two hoses that go into the firewall but you'll want it back in winter.

Also there are no hoses or joins under the dash so the only place it could be coming from is the core, might be worth checking the hoses going into the firewall in case one has a leak at the clamp and it's dribbling into the car but unlikely, otherwise it's heater out, split the box and new core or radiator shop to see if they can fix it.

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Beaten up old 98 Gen 2 Liberty, 13.0, stock V3 STI running gear.
07 Transit motor home
69 VF & 70 VG Valiants needing full restoration
Yamaha Zooma 50cc rocket hopefully going with the Transit.

Are they replaceable yourself? Ie do I need to regas the aircon and all that? Or just drain the coolant?

using the Perth-WRX mobile app

__________________
2002 WRX (GDA) BUGEYE, 204BHP at 290Nm, daily driven

--MODS--
--> Walbro 255LPH fuel pump
--> Grimmspeed 3 port EBCS
--> 3" turbo back exhaust
--> Catless up pipe

Keep the two hoses as high as you can so you don't lose any fluid (maybe top them up with some distilled water so you don't get an air lock before you join them, once you do that you can take your time to get the heater box out, and like I said split/repair/renew/replace, not a really difficult job but time consuming so maybe take lots of pics so you remember which screw/bolt goes where, if you pay a workshop I doubt they would charge you much less than $600.

I've got a good core here but it's out of a GC so not sure if it would fit.

No need to re-gas aircon, there are 3 boxes in a row, from left, fan, aircon then heater, you just need to separate the heater box, just clips and screws from memory then split and re-fit core again.

You'll just need to watch for air locks when you put everything back together because the heater box can cause problems but plenty of threads on cars overheating and cures on here.

__________________
Beaten up old 98 Gen 2 Liberty, 13.0, stock V3 STI running gear.
07 Transit motor home
69 VF & 70 VG Valiants needing full restoration
Yamaha Zooma 50cc rocket hopefully going with the Transit.

So the car has been fixed but i am still getting a faint smell of coolant (sweet smell) anyone have any ideas why?

its not as strong as what it was, and the car is going back to ASG to get it checked again under warranty. (less than 2 months having it replaced)

should i have replaced the cabin filter and washed the carpet under the floor to make sure no excess coolant is still there??

cheers guys!

__________________
2002 WRX (GDA) BUGEYE, 204BHP at 290Nm, daily driven

--MODS--
--> Walbro 255LPH fuel pump
--> Grimmspeed 3 port EBCS
--> 3" turbo back exhaust
--> Catless up pipe