1987 Ford E-Series Van smoke coming from A/C & heat duc

ANDDOR

MEMBER
1987 FORD E-SERIES VAN
V8
2WD
AUTOMATIC
203,000 MILES

I saw whitish smoke coming from my a/c & heater duct work.

I looked under the hood and I could see that I had a coolant leak from the radiator and I thought with the coolant dripping onto a hot radiator, that was causing the smoke.

Initially I thought the a/c & heater blower fan was sucking the smoke into the passenger compartment.

After changing out the radiator the smoke is still coming out of the duct system.

Now I am thinking that the heater core may have a leak in it because thus far I have filled the coolant recovery canister twice and the coolant is gone, from the canister.

Could you respond to this please. Thanks for your input.

Friday, March 12th, 2010 AT 6:20 PM

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
34,331 POSTS

Since you have air conditioning, there will be a drip pan in the heater box for condensation. If the heater core is indeed leaking, the coolant should also be running into that pan and onto the ground. Look between the two front tires in the area where the passenger's feet would be.

Your mechanic will use a pressure tester to pressurize the cooling system, then he will look for the leak. If it can't be determined that way, dye can be added to the coolant. After driving for a few miles, the dye will show up as bright yellow stains under a black light.

Caradiodoc

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Friday, March 12th, 2010 AT 6:37 PM