So, I'm driving home from school late last night and I begin to smell maple,
pretty strongly I might add. I turned the heat down and looked over to
change lanes, and the passenger window was completely fogged, which is odd,
because 2 minutes previous it was clear.
and the smell gets stronger.
So, wondering what's up I turned on the map lights and sure enough, there's
coolant running down my floormat. Temp guage is okay and the low coolant
light isn't on, so i prodded on the last 2 miles home. When I got there and
shut the truck off, I noticed that there was steam billowing from under the
hood. It looks like I lost the heater core as well as some of the hoses...
I can see one of the fittings for the heater core protruding from the
firewall and there's coolant dripping out of it. A quick check of the other
hoses and they're all hot and feel filled with fluid, however the overflow
tank is empty. Boy am I sure glad I filled that up last week.
So, I preuse through the FSM to see just what's entailed to remove the
heater core and replace it. Mistake #1. The entire dash has to come out so
you can remove the "climate control box" or something, but to remove that
you've got to disconnect the A/C and then undo a bazillion bolts. Now I
know that not everything has to be done the way that it's written in the
FSM, but it gave me a good idea of what's involved and helped me to figure
out that I don't have the time to do it. So, it looks like it's off to the
dealership. I'll let you all know what the bill is when it's done. I'm a
little afraid though.
-- - Josh Lowered 2000 Dakota CC 3.9L www.geocities.com/lenny187/dakota.html www.omg-stfu.com
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