Now I need a new heater core, coolant smell coming out of the heater vent. I'll never buy GM again.

theodoreman

Like many others on this forum, I've been hearing water sloshing around in the dashboard for some time, now there is a coolant smell coming out of the heater vent. Took it in to the dealer, it will cost 1000 to replace the heater core. This, after many other thousands of dollars in other repairs. Looking for another car, it won't be GM.

isellhondas

Then, what will you buy? Heater core failures aren't limited to GM cars.

Funny, I never once saw a heater core being replaced on a Honda in our shop after spending over 13 years there.

I had a Chevy Impala spring a heater core leak once. I put in a can of Bar's Leak and it stopped the leak. Drove that car at least another year with no troubles.

Mr_Shiftright

The problem is that on many cars they bury the heater core so deep in the guts of the dashboard that the labor to extract it is what makes up the major part of the bill. You can buy a heater core from Rockauto for $48 bucks! And then you need a backhoe to get it out. A shame, really.

isellhondas

A friend owned a Peugeot 604 that developed a heater core leak.

The book called for 12 hours to R&R the miserable thing and I think the core itself was something like 250.00.

More Bar's leak and he dumped the car soon afterwards.

Hard to think that on an older car of little value that a leaking heater core could total thwe car!