djg@busch.UUCP (Joe Guilliams) (08/19/85)
I just purchased a 1974 Mercury Comet from my brother to get me to work and back. It runs great and has only 39,000 miles. The problem I have got is with the defroster/ac/heater. For some reason whenever you have the temp indicator on "heat" steam comes out of the uppper vents and fogs up the windows. When you turn on the defroster it gets worse - so bad you can't even see out of the window to drive. This morning I turned the temp indicator to "cool" and it seemed to slow down the steam coming out of the vents. What gives ??? Any help would be appreciated. Also, the passenger side floor board is wet quite a bit of the time. I can't tell if this directly related to the heater/defroster problem or not. Thanks in advance, Joe Guilliams ..!ihnp4!we53!busch!djg The Anheuser-Busch Companies; St. Louis, Mo. -- Joe Guilliams ..!ihnp4!we53!busch!djg The Anheuser-Busch Companies; St. Louis, Mo.
lane@cylixd.UUCP (Lane Anderson) (08/21/85)
In article <494@busch.UUCP> djg@busch.UUCP (Joe Guilliams) writes: > > >I just purchased a 1974 Mercury Comet from my brother to get me to work >and back. It runs great and has only 39,000 miles. The problem I have >got is with the defroster/ac/heater. >-- > Joe Guilliams > ..!ihnp4!we53!busch!djg > The Anheuser-Busch Companies; St. Louis, Mo. The problem is most likely a leak in your heater core. This would cause a small amount of coolant to collect in the housing and come out as a rather slimy steam whenever the heating system (or defroster) is turned on. If the housing is not perfectly sealed, some of the coolant would leak out onto the floor. This shouldn't be expensive but it will be a royal pain getting the heater housing out from behind the dash. Godd luck!
fadoc@brl-tgr.ARPA (Capt. Terry Dougherty ) (08/22/85)
> > > I just purchased a 1974 Mercury Comet from my brother to get me to work > and back. It runs great and has only 39,000 miles. The problem I have > got is with the defroster/ac/heater. For some reason whenever you have > the temp indicator on "heat" steam comes out of the uppper vents and fogs > up the windows. When you turn on the defroster it gets worse - so bad > you can't even see out of the window to drive. This morning I turned the > temp indicator to "cool" and it seemed to slow down the steam coming out > of the vents. What gives ??? Any help would be appreciated. Also, the > passenger side floor board is wet quite a bit of the time. I can't tell > if this directly related to the heater/defroster problem or not. > > Thanks in advance, > > Joe Guilliams > ..!ihnp4!we53!busch!djg > The Anheuser-Busch Companies; St. Louis, Mo. > -- > Joe Guilliams > ..!ihnp4!we53!busch!djg > The Anheuser-Busch Companies; St. Louis, Mo. I had the same type of problem in my 1950 Chevy. You have a leak in the heater coil. You will need dto pull it out and have it fixed or replaced. All that steam is hot water leaking from the coil as well as all over the floor boards. Good luck. Terry Dougherty
tmorris@convex.UUCP (08/22/85)
Hi guy ! What you have is a classic case of LEAKING HEATER CORE , a dread and difficult to cure disease. Your heater core is a miniature radiator located , as I near as I remember on mavericks and comets, under the dash on the passenger side . When the temperature is turned to hot , water fron the cooling system (approx. 180 degrees ) circulates thru this little guy to dump heat into the passenger compartment. As you select defrost or heat , a system of cables and doors directs the flow of heated air to the desired location. Your problem is that the built-up acids in the ole cooling systems have eaten the aluminum walls of this core for lunch ! Since it lives on the passenger side , that floor will get wet. When you fan-force air thru the core when 180 degree water is circulating thru the pipes , you get lots of steam. Check your radiator for lost coolant (it probably won't be much --- alittle goes a long way when making steam ). I have seen these get so bad that there was 2" of coolant on the passenger side floor ! I've fixed a couple by adding stop-leak to the cooling system , but don't recommend it as a permanent repair. Go ahead and replace the heater core , and put some new hoses on it while you're there. You mat get lucky and find a leaking hose instead , but if you do , hop in the car and drive to Vegas immediately ,for you are a lucky man indeed ! Ex-mech-now-a-tech .
rls@ihu1g.UUCP (r.l. schieve) (08/22/85)
> > > I just purchased a 1974 Mercury Comet from my brother to get me to work > and back. It runs great and has only 39,000 miles. The problem I have > got is with the defroster/ac/heater. For some reason whenever you have > the temp indicator on "heat" steam comes out of the uppper vents and fogs > up the windows. When you turn on the defroster it gets worse - so bad > you can't even see out of the window to drive. This morning I turned the > temp indicator to "cool" and it seemed to slow down the steam coming out > of the vents. What gives ??? Any help would be appreciated. Also, the > passenger side floor board is wet quite a bit of the time. I can't tell > if this directly related to the heater/defroster problem or not. > > Thanks in advance, > > Joe Guilliams > ..!ihnp4!we53!busch!djg > The Anheuser-Busch Companies; St. Louis, Mo. > -- Sorry for posting to the whole net but a direct response did not get there. I have another suggestion as to what your problem may be before you take apart your heater core. I don't know why I didn't think of it yesterday, but a common problem with cars that have air conditioning is that the water drain for the cooling core gets plugged. As I said yesterday the AC also does some dehumidifying. The water that it pulls out of the air is dumped out of the bottom of the fiberglass shroud that covers the cooling core at the firewall of the car. You may have noticed a puddle of water under a car with the AC running that has been sitting in one place for awhile. The drain itself is often a small rubber tube out the bottom of the fiberglass cover for the AC stuff at the firewall. If this gets plugged you may experience the same problems with your windshield fogging. See if the drain is open before you dig into your heater core. Good Luck Rick Schieve ...ihnp4!ihu1g!rls
dave@bmcg.UUCP (Dave Duncan) (08/23/85)
Try checking the heater core. It may have small pinholes in it. But having pinholes in the core saves space as you never get a core dump to clutter up your file space.
kitten@hao.UUCP (08/24/85)
> > > I just purchased a 1974 Mercury Comet from my brother to get me to work > and back. It runs great and has only 39,000 miles. The problem I have > got is with the defroster/ac/heater. For some reason whenever you have > the temp indicator on "heat" steam comes out of the uppper vents and fogs > up the windows. When you turn on the defroster it gets worse - so bad > you can't even see out of the window to drive. This morning I turned the > temp indicator to "cool" and it seemed to slow down the steam coming out > of the vents. What gives ??? Any help would be appreciated. Also, the > passenger side floor board is wet quite a bit of the time. I can't tell > if this directly related to the heater/defroster problem or not. > > Thanks in advance, > Joe Guilliams > ..!ihnp4!we53!busch!djg ** Being no expert, I would say you have a leak in your heater core and/or heater hoses. {ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | decvax!noao | harpo!seismo | ihnp4!noao} !hao!kitten CSNET: kitten@NCAR ARPA: kitten%ncar@CSNET-RELAY