C1: Heater leak, carpet soaked

[Michael Jones]

My Sunday morning cruise was abruptly interrupted by a small amount of smoke coming into the interior from my '57's engine compartment. I immediately pulled over and checked under the hood and found nothing amiss. When I got back in I noticed a coolent leak that originated from somewhere in the vicinity of the heater box. It leaked a good quart onto the carpet before I could get something to catch the flow with. I have several questions: Is there any way to clean the carpets to look new or almost new or will I have to replace them? Do I need to do something before the coolent “sets”? The car is in excellent condition, is a show winner and I’d like to keep it nice.

Secondly, is the heater as simple as it appears with just the two hoses passiing through the firewall on the passenger’s side? They then enter the heater box where I assume there is a heat exchanger that outputs coolent back through one of the hoses to the engine. If the leak is in the heater can a radiator shop repair it? I assume if replacement heaters are avaiable they’re expensive.

Thanks for the help:

Michael

[John H.]

Re: C1: Heater leak, carpet soaked

Michael -

I've never had to "rescue" coolant-soaked carpet, although others here have and will probably offer suggestions.

There are several potential coolant leak points inside the car; the hose connections at the valve external to the box, the valve itself, and the heater core itself. A radiator shop can probably repair the core if it's leaking, but the rest of the core is 40 years old, and who's to say it won't leak again somewhere else? Replacement cores are about $100 - if that's the leaker, I'd recommend getting a seal/gasket kit with it so there are no air leaks when it goes back together.

[Art B.]

Re: C1: Heater leak, carpet soaked

Michael:
My '61 leaked coolant onto the carpet when I first had it. It turned out to be the shut off valve operated by the dash control. I'm not sure the '57 valve is the same (my '57 is a heater delete), but you may want to check if that is where the leak is.