[fionndruinne]

Well, I was tired of my heater not working, so I decided to replace my thermostat. Turns out there wasn't one in there at all! Apparently the 2.3l had a tendency to overheat in SoCal weather (and I suspect the previous owner ran high RPMs to keep up on the freeway, so that might have been part of it), so by way of a quick fix they took out the thermostat. No wonder it seemed like my engine ran super-cool, it did.

With the factory 195-degree thermostat, I definitely get better engine performance. Before, 2k RPMs put me at around 45 MPH; now once it's warmed up, 2k puts me at 55-60 MPH. So, on that front at least, it's a good thing.

But I still have an issue with my heater. Now I sometimes get clouds of steam from my vents. It seems to be nothing more than steam; smells a little like hot metal, but definitely isn't burning. I am guessing something like a crack or hole in a hose or pipe? How can I best find and fix this?

Also, and probably because of this, my defrost just isn't working like it should. It blows warm air, but it's humid and doesn't dry my windshield at all. Frustrating!

[b_chandler]

The heater core is probably leaking. It'll need to be replaced.

[fionndruinne]

Hmm. Price estimate?

[fionndruinne]

Sheesh... ouch. I just read up on heater core replacement; sounds like a pain and a half. Any other, easier possibilities I should try before tackling something like that?

[fionndruinne]

Well, maybe not! I've been running my heater a lot, and the problem seems to be drying up (pun intended). The defrost has actually started to work on my windshield, albeit not spectacularly, and as soon as the engine warms up, there are still a few puffs of steam from the vents, but after that the warm air is dry. So I'm guessing water is just leaking in somewhere, or condensation is building up.

[sleeper_inc]

Your heater core is dead/dieing. Replace it before you get coolant in you passenger compartment (dangerous because it can burn you and it can kill you if you get it in your mouth or blind you)