Poison Mist? Ack?

[londos]

Hey guys. New member here. Just picked up an 86 Trooper II (gas). Car runs great (from what I can tell) but the Heater blows a nice fine mist of ANTIFREEZE into the cabin?! Whats going on here? Any help from the pros?

Any advice is welcome!

[rodeo02]

You've got a leaking heater core. It's burried up under the dash. It will have to come out & be replaced.
G/luck
Joel

[londos]

thanks Joel. any idea where I can get one of those?

[rodeo02]

Any auto parts store, isuzu dealer, online, etc.. It looks like a little radiator. Copper tubing w/ aluminum fins. The can be difficult to remove and replace, and are typically expensive to have replaced. 10-15yrs is about how long they last.
G/luck
Joel

[tinytrixie]

I had one go out on one of my trucks in 105 degree weather, just cut one of the hoses, removed one from the water pump, then reconnected the cut hose to that outlet allowing the water to circulate back into the engine rather than on my floor. gave me time to find a core at a good price & could wait for cooler weather.

[89trooper]

Autozone probably has it for the best price. They might even have a procedure on their web site you can print out so you don't have to buy the Haynes or Chiltons manual to figure out how to replace it.

Tinytrixie is right, you can bypass it and the truck will run just fine. You just won't have any heat in the cab. That is ok if you are in Arizona like me for 10 months out of the year. But you are probably going to want to fix it before it gets too cold. Kinda hard to defrost your windshield with your BREATH!

Good thing is almost anyone can do the job themselves. Just takes some time, cussing, loss of skin on the knuckles, fight with the wife to get the job done. Oh, and a 6-pack of 'barley soda'.