"Bob Shuman" <reshuman@removethis.alcatel-lucent.com> wrote in message
news:48ea2797@news.alcatel.com...
> Several months ago I replaced all of the rubber coolant/heater hoses on
my
> 1999 Town & Country Limited Minivan. Other than a few being a royal PITA,
I
> thought it went fairly uneventfully. A day later, I noticed a small drip
on
> my garage floor located just in front of the rear passenger side wheel. I
> suspect this is the rear heater core, and sure enough when I checked the
> hose was lightly damp, so I tightened the hose clamp a bit more, but the
> leak did not stop. The leak is fairly minor and I have been able to add
> about 8 oz of 50/50 mix every month to maintain the proper level on the
> coolant recovery tank.
>
> I now suspect that I could have possibly damaged the inlet tube fitting
> going into the core since I recall that I was surprised to see that the
> inlet tube actually pivoted in the horizontal plane when I replaced that
> short rubber connector hose.
>
> Has anyone replaced this hose or the rear heater core before and if so,
can
> you confirm that the inlet tubes to the rear heater core are supposed to
be
> soldered in place/stationary? Given the situation, will I need to replace
> the core and if so, how difficult is this job, or can I apply a
> simpler/cheaper fix (JB Weld, Epoxy, or have the inlet tube re-soldered)?
>

You should be able to see from the fluid trail if it's coming from
within the passenger compartment or just at the hose joint.

My recommendation is to disconnect the 2 hoses going to the rear
heater and couple them together, bypassing the core. If the leak goes
away then you know it's the core.

If the core is leaking your best bet is replacing it I think. You can get
a radiator shop to resolder the inlet tubes but their labor would cost what
a new core would. I wouldn't recommend JB Weld on a joint that is
in the passenger compartment, in order to properly apply it anyway your
going to have to take the interior panel off to get at the heater core and
by the time you get that far you might as well replace the core.

> Lastly, I've always used the standard green ethylene glycol (Prestone or
> Peak 2-year change interval) mix in this vehicle. Can I use Zerex G-5
> (5-year change interval) coolant in this vehicle like I do in my newer
> Chryslers? Doing so would allow me to avoid doing the time consuming
flush
> and fill during the remaining expected ownership of this vehicle.
>

Personally I think the 5 year change mix is snake oil and in another 10
years when we see a lot of used cars with rotted-out cooling systems
people will figure that one out. If your asking for advice on jury-rigging
you may as well know that a simple dump and replace of the mix in the
radiator will get about 1/2 of what is in there, and if you do that every
2 years you will likely keep the anti-corrosion additive package adequately
supplied. Lots and lots of people have gone for extended change intervals
with the traditional green stuff mainly due to lackadasical maintainence
and have suffered no ill effects.

Flushing - if done properly (ie: backflushing) - gets rid of sediment
that builds up. Just because you can make an anti-corrosion additive
package last twice as long doesen't mean that sediment isn't still
building up in the system at the same rate. There is always material
loss from the materials (ie: hoses) as well as some oxidization - the
cooling system isn't sealed - even though it may be happening at a
lower rate - that all contributes material that settles out of the system
into the nooks and crannies. I'm not convinced that the G-5 formulation
reduces the rate that this happens at. Getting the chemical package to
last longer is the easy part.

Ted