Help! I have a 2000 S-10 where I believe my heater core went, but I'm not 100% sure. Effectively, the fan still works but I have no heat, the right wheel well is covered in coolant just below the reservoir, and the reservoir is low, but the car still maintains temp. When I park it you can see the coolant dripping down and it obviously splashed all over on the right side of the frame while driving.

I flushed the heater core last night and that did not help. When I would turn the fan on I used to hear squeeking at about the same rate as the blower motor circulating - frequency would increase or decrease as the oscillation of the blower motor would be on high (4) versus low (1). This squeeking stopped about 1 week ago and the car started only blowing cold air (and I noticed the slight coolant smell and now it's worse). When I check my heater core hoses, the intake is warm and the out flow seems cooler.

So - how do I know if it is the heater core or something like the actuator or a something? Would the loss of coolant indicate it is just the heater core or is there another possibility?

The heater core seems a cheap and easy fix (like $77 and maybe 2 hours of my time), but my question is should I just replace that for starters?? Any suggestions?? Thanks so much

 

When you put the fan on defrost, does the windshield steam up with a strong smell of coolant in the vehicle? If so then that would be your #1 indicator that the heater core is bad. Also check the drain tube on the firewall below the heater hoses, see if coolant is leaking out.

If neither of these show evidence ofa leak, you should investigate a little further

 

OK, I didn;t drive my S-10 today and came home to try what was suggested - see if I turn the defrost on if I get the smell of coolant or anything from the drain on the firewall.

Sooo, I turn the truck on and let it get a little warm - in 3 mins I had warm air blowing and no coolant smell - I found this weird seeing as I went 5 days with no heat. Plus, both hoses to/from the heater core were equally warm at the firewall.

I also noticed the coolant splashed all over the right wheel well and that part of the frame likely came from the coolant reservoir drain - which is just a 1/2" hose emptying out near the bottom of the engine area open onto the ground.

So now I have heat and I think I know where the coolant came from -- still any thoughts? Could my heater core be working again or was it possibly something electrical/mechanical that suddenly started working again allowing the coolant to flow? I don't think it's the water pump because I always had a warm intake hose into the heater core.

Any thoughts?? Anyone??