Help!? Coolant Just Emptied Into My Passenger Footwell...?!

MichaelAngelo

Test Drive
2010 xterra...
Not in a million years would I ever imagine this....

3 weeks ago I did the coolant line burp and top-up for the "no heat at idle" issue and it had solved the issue, my truck was running cooler too! But then a week or so ago the issue returned, cold air on idle.

Then I noticed there was always some coolant by the front passenger wheel when the car was parked, just thought it was the overflow doing its job since I thought I topped up the system.

I drove a few km today and when I returned to my car there was a pool of coolant on the ground dripping from the same area... so I immediately headed for home with the truck running slightly hotter than usual...

By the time I got home I turned the car off and heard a dripping noise... coolant was literally pouring out from behind the glovebox onto my passenger floormat?!

What a disaster... (the mats are saturated)...

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(obviously there is zero hot air at idle now... LOL)

What the heck is going on, how do I fix it, and what could have possibly caused this.
 

jsexton

Need Bigger Tires
Location
Lewis Center, OH
Check the fitting on the firewall where the coolant flows into the heater core. That is a common part to crack and break. Maybe it did and is running inside the truck. If it’s not that, it’s probably the heater core itself.
 

MichaelAngelo

Test Drive
Thanks for the help guys!


One more question - is it possible the heater core itself isn't busted but the plastic fitting that goes through the firewall is the culprit? Any good way to check them without risking breaking them?
 

jsexton

Need Bigger Tires
Location
Lewis Center, OH
that's what I was talking about in my post. The plastic part is only in the engine bay. They connect to the metal tubes on the heater core with a rubber hose. you should be able to see/feel fluid just by touching them to see if they are leaking.

It's more likely to be your heater core, but you never know without checking.
 
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