2002 silhouette leaking

[ofblong]

I have a coolant leak on my van. It is on the passenger side leaking somewhere in the firewall. I have searched in the engine compartment and found no leaks anywhere but when I look at the shock bolt (not sure the correct term but it looks like it holds the swing arm and is circular) on the "rear" side of the passenger wheel well it is leaking down that. I removed the glove compartment and found the cabin fan where the hepa filters are but I dont see ANYTHING leaking anywhere in there. How much farther do I need to go to find the source of this leak?

Oh it only leaks when the heat is on and NOT when its running. I need to replace the fan switch as well cause only settings 1,4 and 5 work and the handle is broken lol. Either way its getting downto the 30's at night and I dont want to be stuck without heat because I was unable to go get new r134a coolant. Thanks for the help in advance.

[ofblong]

Ok the leak I was thinking was a leak is condensation drain from the heating unit. However it is leaking a TON of condensate out of that drain. I also saw a slight wetness on the manifold gasket that was replaced about a year and a half ago. I can only assume its still under the gm 3 yr 36k mile warranty from the date it was installed. However I just cant see that is leaking enough to cause the whole resevior to empty in a week and a half.

[rockwood84]

the a/c drain is probably what you are talking about. muddaubers love to fill these up. yeah if it is full of water it will drain a good while.but i don't see how it would leak on the steering knuckle . now your waterpump could leak down in this area if it is bad.find the waterpumpand run your fingers under the pulley up on the backside of the pulley. if you get coolant on your fingers then the waterpump is bad and leaking from the weep hole and needs to be replaced

[ofblong]

well we cant find any leaks. I had it pressure tested and no leaks were found but im still loosing coolant somewhere. The only place we can think of is the heater core because it fogs up the window when the van is sitting parked not running.

[rockwood84]

when you turn on the defrost does the fan put coolant on the windshield? the coolant on the inside of the windshield will be a slick smeary film and you should be able to smell coolant inside the van.this would mean that the heater core has a hole in it.

[ofblong]

Originally Posted by rockwood84

when you turn on the defrost does the fan put coolant on the windshield? the coolant on the inside of the windshield will be a slick smeary film and you should be able to smell coolant inside the van.this would mean that the heater core has a hole in it.

yes. I did find a wet spt on the core when I took it out. The problem now is how to bleed out the air without running the pump. I ask because both bleeder valves (one above the water pump and one below the heater core hoses) are below the level of the heater core. I turned on the rear air and front heater core and I must have "some" water flowing as it gets warm but not hot. Before i changed the core it would get hot just it leaked. Any other ideas short of opening the bleeders and turning the pumps on?

Oh just checked and the filler neck on the radiator is full to the brim.

[ofblong]

Now I am confused. When I have the blower set to feet or head I get hot air. But when I have it set to defrost (blows on the windshield) I only get cold air. I thought this air all ran off the same system. the only difference I can tell is when I use defrost it makes me use outside air instead of recirculating the air thats inside. Any thoughts besides changing out the Hepa filters?

[rockwood84]

are you sure you got all the vacumn lines and cables back on right? it should be bled using the bleeders turn the small center stud left until coolant comes out then tighten it back then bleed the other bleeder. then drive it a couple days then re-bleed it again.these systems are bad about holding air in them.are you running the heat on recirculate instead of fresh air? i turn mine on recirculate if it is cold outside to keep the cold fresh air from coming in until the temp gauge gets up 1/8th way up then turn over to fresh air. but the defrost should be the same temp as other settings [vent,floor or split level] recheck and see if something is loose or unhooked ....

[ofblong]

yes I have everything back on. I check ALL of my connections and found no leaks and everything is tight on the heater core. I only took 2 hoses off. 1 for inlet and 1 for outlet on the heater core. Some air came out when I opened the bleeder valves before I restarted the van for the first time but didnt seem like enough came out. The controls wont let me use anything BUT fresh air for the defrost. Thats the only setting that wont let me use inside air. But like stated when I use head or feat it gets really hot but switch over to defrost and it immediatly gets cold. I just dont understand why that is so. Even if I am using fresh air it should be instantly warm if the head/feet settings are hot.

I know some fluid got into the system because when I started the van up and put everything on high the fluid in the resevoir some of it got sucked out . When my wife gets back from the store im gonna check all the connections again. Driven about 60 miles since I changed the core on Sunday.

[ofblong]

Finally found the leak. It was leaking at the drivers side hose going into the bleeder valve. I tightened the hose clamp about two weeks after my last post. It was leaking on the underside of the hose. Anywho I have not had any coolant loss since then. however I have NO heat now on the front when I put it in defrost/feet/whatever. It gets warmer than the outside air im assuming because of the engine but It dont get HOT. If I have the rear air on by itself it gets HOT but I am assuming that has its own thermistat since I know it has its own heater core. Could there be something else otehr than the thermistat for the front thats bad?

Oh and I checked all the vacuum lines etc they are all correct.