jframe Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 Anyone with a 1st Gen Riv and Vintage Air ever have a heater core start leaking? I have the Gen IV Magnum universal Vintage Air setup that a previous owner had installed in place of factory air, and I've noticed a small coolant leak at the firewall where the heater hoses go in. There is a fabricated plate surrounding the hoses with grommets in the holes for the hoses. The heater valve has a ground wire that attaches with a screw to this plate, and this seems to be where it's coming from. Small puddle of coolant under the car the other day, but none since, and I put enough miles on it yesterday to get it hot and run the heat. Funny thing is, the interior is absolutely dry; floorboards, carpet, and mat and all. I can see coolant stains on the frame where it ran down. I will try to get pictures tonight and put up, but I was just curious if anyone else with a similar setup had run into this kind of issue, because to the best of my knowledge, Vintage Air offers NO replacement part for the heater core, have to buy the complete evap/heater core box assembly, and replace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telriv Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 Maybe you can remove it & get it repaired??? Tom T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gungeey Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 I'm not familiar with vintage air aftermarket systems, my reason for posting is to suggest getting a coolant pressure tester. You pressurize the system while cold. It will help greatly in identifying the exact location of the leak. Mine was under 50 bucks but that was decades ago. Stant used to be a pretty good name. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenugent Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 If it's not leaking inside,it might be at the firewall hose hookups.Could be loose or crushed O ring.The instructions are not to over tighten O ring fittings.If it's not coming out of your drain hose its problobly at the firewall junction.T.N. ROA 12969 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogDriver Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 A photo of the leak would be helpful. Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted October 24, 2022 Author Share Posted October 24, 2022 2 hours ago, BulldogDriver said: A photo of the leak would be helpful. Ray I'm still at work; I'll try to get one tonight when I get home of the affected area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted October 24, 2022 Author Share Posted October 24, 2022 Here's the leaking spot. Seems to be coming around that ground screw for the heater valve. I removed that heater hose all the way to the engine; figured it won't hurt to replace it; the top one was just replaced Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogDriver Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Mark that photo looks to be on engine side of the firewall. There should be hard tubing going through the firewall to heater hose on the interior side that will then go to the heater core fittings in the evaporator. If you don’t have coolant leaking on the interior side than at worst the hard tubing going through the firewall could be your problem. You should be able to get a replacement from Vintage Air. This is how mine is done on my Gen 4 unit. The hoses are less than 6” between the evaporator and the and the firewall fittings if I remember correctly. Ray 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted October 25, 2022 Author Share Posted October 25, 2022 6 minutes ago, BulldogDriver said: Mark that photo looks to be on engine side of the firewall. There should be hard tubing going through the firewall to heater hose on the interior side that will then go to the heater core fittings in the evaporator. If you don’t have coolant leaking on the interior side than at worst the hard tubing going through the firewall could be your problem. You should be able to get a replacement from Vintage Air. This is how mine is done on my Gen 4 unit. The hoses are less than 6” between the evaporator and the and the firewall fittings if I remember correctly. Ray You are right it's the firewall side under the hood. The hoses and one A/C line go thru this plate that is secured to the firewall with four screws. Thinking I could remove the other hose now and the screws holding that plate and slide it over the a/c line and see what's going on. The floorboard and carpet are dry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Looks to me like the leak is at the hose clamp. I would check that connection at the firewall first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 It looks to me like the hose and the nipple are not the same size. Someone has tried to tighten too large of a hose on the nipple and the hose wouldn’t compress enough to make a seal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seafoam65 Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Agreed.....tighten the hose clamp and the leak will stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted October 26, 2022 Author Share Posted October 26, 2022 Thing is it has not leaked there since I bought the car in 2016. Replaced the hoses with 3/4, which was what was on it, and it started to leak as soon as it pressurized. Granted, I DID have to tighten the clamp, but it still APPEARS to be coming from around the screw where the electric heater valve has it's ground wire. I may try a 5/8 hose this week and see what happens. For now, I capped the fitting at the pump and water manifold so I can drive it. Live in North Alabama, and really haven't needed much heat anyway, so far. Biggest thing is, it makes a colossal mess to clean up; I used a pile of pig mat lol. Why can't this crap happen in spring, anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogDriver Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 Mark 5/8” hose is what should be used on the Vintage Air parts. I’m not sure how your hoses are routed, mine are between the cylinder head and intake. I used a hose that steps 3/4” to 5/8” with a 90* bend on the water pump side. Gates #18075 -60. Ray 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 If you have to tighten the clamp to get the hose to fit, it is going to leak, over and over again. The hose should fit tightly on the nipple, never mind the clamp. If it takes 5/8" to accomplish that, use 5/8". If the other end has a 3/4" nipple, I like @BulldogDriver's solution. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 Seems that you need something like below with 5/8 on one end and 3/4 on the other https://www.affordablestreetrods.com/molded-5-8-to-3-4-heater-hose-straight-099010.html: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted October 26, 2022 Author Share Posted October 26, 2022 Or use a Murray 84715 reduction fitting inline between the 5/8 hose and the 3/4 coming off the water pump. Still can't wrap my head around the fact that those 3/4 hoses have been on there for over 6 years, and never have leaked at the firewall before. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogDriver Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 Or use the hose that I suggested and you wouldn’t have induced another place to leak from. Hose was about $18. Ray 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 4 hours ago, jframe said: Still can't wrap my head around the fact that those 3/4 hoses have been on there for over 6 years, and never have leaked at the firewall before. Reminds me of the story about the farmer and his horse. He came out to the barn one morning and found the horse dead in his stall. He thought to himself, "funny, he's never done that before..." My conclusion is that six years of thermal cycling and exposure to the coolant has broken-down the rubber to the point where it has softened enough to make the clamp loose at the connection. The new rubber would compress under the clamp and seal, but the decayed rubber just becomes like a wet noodle... The solution is the molded hose or the adapter. That will allow use of the proper size hose and allow the clamp to do its job. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted October 26, 2022 Author Share Posted October 26, 2022 12 minutes ago, BulldogDriver said: Or use the hose that I suggested and you wouldn’t have induced another place to leak from. Hose was about $18. Ray Good point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jframe Posted October 27, 2022 Author Share Posted October 27, 2022 Think it's fixed. Emtee, bloo, and Rivnut we're right. Replaced it all with 5/8, and it doesn't seem to be leaking. BulldogDriver, I will prolly order that hose; I saved the part number, but for now I spliced the hose from the pump to the core with a plastic Dorman adapter just because O'Reilly had one, and I wanted to see if the hoses and clamps were really the problem. So far so good; filled the coolant, got it hot and running and cut the heat on. Can't see any leaks so far, but will keep my fingers crossed. Thanks for all the advice; you guys have always been a tremendous help. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1965rivgs Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 21 hours ago, jframe said: Or use a Murray 84715 reduction fitting inline between the 5/8 hose and the 3/4 coming off the water pump. Still can't wrap my head around the fact that those 3/4 hoses have been on there for over 6 years, and never have leaked at the firewall before. That leak has been happening for awhile....notice the discoloring and corrosion on the screw....really doesn't matter anyway, it's leaking now. Tom Mooney 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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