Heater Core

[EvilU]

Sorry if this has been covered before.

I get a smell of Coolant from my car if i turn the heater on full cold for a couple of minutes then turn it on full hot. I assume this is a small leak on the core, when air it moving through it, the coolant evaporates as it forms meaning almost no smell, but when you turn off the air flow (full cold) it builds up on the core and evaporates all at once you put it on full hot?

So I have checked my list of online suppliers (MX-5 Centre, MX-5 Mania, etc) and the only one who seems to have a heater core is MX-5 Parts out of the uk and he wants 200 + pounds for it. So where should I go to order one. My local radiator shop looked at my like I was crazy when I ask him ("I don't know, never done one"). How amount the copper pipes, are they worth replacing while I am back there?

Regards,

Evil U

[Mr Morlock]

a thing to bear in mind is that the problem has to be diagnosed first- it might not be the core. Its a MX5 so Mazda would be a good start or try someone like Bursons who will check if it is stocked- there will be a local Bursons. Local businesses mean you have someone to speak to face to face. If you buy from UK forget about a usable warranty or change of mind or whatever. Try the MX5 factory( Ringwood) at least you will get a point in the right direction. Ballarat is a fair size place and surely there will be a radiator repair business who will be able to carry out the work and very likely know where to source the faulty component(s) Most people let the repair businesses source the components rather than providing them. Quite often repairers charge a customer a retail price on parts and make a margin on their trade buy price. In other words you may not save anything by buying the item yourself. Another option maybe secondhand?

[greenMachine]

BTDT.

Run, do not walk, to your local Mazda dealer, or preferred supplier, and buy a new one.

Run, don't walk, home, and fit it without delay.

Short term fix - remove heater hoses, and bypass heater core. You won't have a heater, but you won't have a cooked engine either. Don't ask me how I know this.

[greenMachine]

OK, a more considered post.

Have a look up under the dash - see any signs of water/coolant? Feel the carpets on each side, checking for dampness. How much water are you losing, that is what you are looking for in your carpet. Is the coolant rusty, you may be able to see staining on the carpet.

When mine went, we replaced the carpet as the staining/smell was too bad but YMMV.

This is not a trivial exercise, you want to be sure it is the radiator core that is leaking before you commit to replacing it. We pulled the dash out to get at the heater, but I believe that you can do it without that although I don't know the details - search here and on the big board. Since we were replacing the carpet it made sense to gut the interior, so I never looked at doing it any other way.

Watch your coolant level like a hawk, mine went from a slow leak to a gusher over a hundred kms or less. I am not kidding when I say the first step is to bypass the heater, and isolate the problem while you organise the fix.

Good luck.

[EvilU]

Cheers Guys.

Didn't even think of the local bursons.

Mr Morlock- thanks for your feed back. I wasn't realy considering ordering from the Uk. For one thing the price seemed a bit steep. I am going to take the side plate if the heater box tonight and make sure it is not just the connector between the pipes and the core..I saw a pic of one of those leaking on here somewhere. Either way I am keen to do the work myself because a) the radiator guy was talking around $800 for labour ... b) I want to start maintaining the car myself. an NA is a pritty simple thing, the old man is a retired mechanic so it is not like I don't have support, and there is so much info on these car available on the internet.

Thanks

EvilU

[Mr Morlock]

With your dad a mechanic, and you probably young , fit and keen by all means have a go and green machine is probably spot on in warning about not risking a cooked engine. Incidentally library networks are very good these days- you can probably get hold of a Haynes manual and copy / read what you need.

[EvilU]

Does anyone know if the MX-5 Heater core is a shared part? Say with a Laser/323 of the same era. Bursons rang around to all there suppliers and no one seems to stock them. The guy suggested genuine or second hand. Neither of which I am too keen on.

EvilU

[EvilU]

greenMachine:

Thats the thing. Dampness on the carpet that I can see, and the fluid levels don't seem to be dropping (if they are I can't see it in daily checks), but I am getting that strong smell of coolant from the heater when it hasn't been on for even a minute.

What else could it be?

EvilU

[Tezzax5]

Just curious if you have checked the hose/ pipework from the engine that passes through the firewall for any leakage?

[bruce]

Any dampness would start under the carpet in the underlay.
As suggested I would be checking all the connections and seeing if there is any staining on the connections.

[greenMachine]

Mine is a factory unit, can't remember if we checked for aftermarket but I reckon we must have. There are two to choose from, the later model aluminium (which was in the car) and the earlier copper/brass one. I went with the earlier model, and it was around $250-300 from memory.

Sounds like a small leakage of coolant collecting, then when you turn the heater on it heats up and evaporates, creating the smell. That seems pretty conclusive that it is the core leaking, but there is still a slim possibility that it is a loose connection or similar particularly if you have had work done in that area recently.

I assume that this weather means the heater is constantly on, so you may want to just monitor the situation closely (ie daily) for the next few days/weeks - if it gets worse the smell will intesify, and the coolant level will start to drop. However the danger is that nothing happens for a while, you get complacent and don't check things as frequently, and then one day you are out driving and ...

The odds are that this is only going to end one of two ways - new core and a cooked engine, or a scheduled (soonish) replacement of the heater core.

There is the 'quick and dirty' fix - throw a can of 'stop leak' or whatever in it ... I am not keen on that stuff myself, but whatever floats your boat

[EvilU]

Just got off the phone with Mazda Ballarat.

Their prices
Heater Core $ 775.45
Pipe 1 $ 73.17
Pipe 2 $ 66.98
Ex gst.

Think I may be going second hand after all.

EvilU

[greenMachine]

Just got off the phone with Mazda Ballarat.

Their prices
Heater Core $ 775.45
Pipe 1 $ 73.17
Pipe 2 $ 66.98
Ex gst.

Think I may be going second hand after all.

EvilU

That is nothing like I remember mine costing me. Either my memory is seriously failing me, or perhaps I just don't want to remember

I suggest that you give Dave or Russell at Carco in Canberra a ring, and see where they got mine, and how much it cost. 02 6253 1396.

If I was buying second-hand, I would not buy an aluminium one but go for the copper/brass.

Good luck!

[jerrah]

When my heater core went I got a 2nd hand one from MX5Plus. Richard seemed to have a few on hand. I used an NB Aluminium one and it's been fine. I had to swap in a NB heater box as well because the NB heater core wouldn't fit in the NA heater box. It was slightly bigger.

[greenMachine]

I need to update my earlier post re the heater core we installed in my NB.

It was an NA core (copper), it was aftermarket (not Mazda as I posted earlier), and it cost around $250.