mlg@akgua.UUCP (M.L. Graham [Mike]) (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 It sounds to me like you might have a leak in your heater core. The liquid coolant that leaks out will settle to the botom of the container around the core and find its way to the carpet; the steam will mix with the air stream (maybe you're also getting steam from the heater vents, but havent noticed it). On defrost, most of the airflow is up towards the window, so you would see more steam on the windshield. Likewise, if you turn the temp down you reduce (or eliminate) the coolant flow through the core and reduce (eliminate) the steam. Does the water on the carpet smell like antifreeze? Do you have to add coolant to the radiator frequently? I hope for your sake it's something else, since replacing the heater core is not the easiest thing to do. Good luck Mike Graham @AT&T Technologies Atlanta, Georgia (Norcross really, but who ever heard of Norcross.) {ihnp4}akgua!mlg PS. I tried to mail this direct to Joe, however the mail came back.