Stopping the steam from coming out of my cars air conditioning

June 14, 2008 7:55 AM

I have a 1999 Volvo S70. I was driving yesterday when foul smelling steam started coming out of the air conditioning vents and also from underneath the ashtray. My coolant level was very low (the reservoir was empty), and I added a whole gallon of coolant but it did not stay in the reservoir. Is my coolant pooling somewhere bad or do I just need to add more? Also is it possible to remove a fuse or something so my air conditioning won't turn on at all until I can take it in to get fixed? As it is now, steam starts coming out of the vents after about five minutes of driving.

Any help at all would be great. Or suggest a better place to ask my question. Thanks!!

posted by Charlie Lesoine to Technology (13 answers total)

This is the classic indication of a heater core leak. The heater core uses hot coolant from the engine to heat hte car, and is usually ocated on the passenger side behind the dashboard. You can loop the coolant hoses in the engine compartment to bypass the leak, but then you won't have any heat come winter.
posted by pjern at 8:01 AM on June 14, 2008

Your heater core is going bad.
posted by Liosliath at 8:02 AM on June 14, 2008

I don't think you should be driving around in the summer without coolant. It wouldn't take long to fry your engine. It sounds like you could have a leak in your cooling system or a broken water pump. Does the coolant end up in a puddle under your car?

Car Talk might be able to help you until you can get to a repair shop.
posted by Andy's Gross Wart at 8:05 AM on June 14, 2008

And it's not that hard to replace - just the lower dash has to come off. Don't let the shop tell you that the whole dash has to come off - I have a 91 Volvo 240, and the heater core went bad in it - and the entire car pretty much has to be disassembled to get to it. Not so with the S70 model.
posted by Liosliath at 8:06 AM on June 14, 2008

Oh, CarTalk, pah. :) Try Swedespeed, Volvospeed, or my favorite, BrickBoard.
posted by Liosliath at 8:09 AM on June 14, 2008

@ Lioslioath: from the site you linked "If you starting to smell a sickly sweet odor" yeah that was happening for a few months but I thought it was because I spilled a jack in the box maple syrup package in my glove box.
posted by Charlie Lesoine at 8:16 AM on June 14, 2008

Charlie - the steam certainly DOES smell like maple syrup. How funny that the JackIntheBox spill occurred - that was a red herring, for sure.
posted by Liosliath at 8:23 AM on June 14, 2008

A temporary work around for the summer is to bypass the heater core. This would also be a way to definitively determine that the leak is, or isn't, in the heater core.

There are two hoses that would go into the firewall of the car, nearish to the passenger side. They (in my experience) would be the same size and go in and out right next to each other. If you pulled them out and put a union between them (thus bypassing the heater core), the car would operate just fine. If the heater core was the issue, no more coolant leaks and funny smells. If not, the symptoms would remain and you'd know that the heater core wasn't the issue.
posted by gjc at 8:46 AM on June 14, 2008

Yeah see...I didnt actually spill the syrup, I just thought I did, because I had some packets in the car. I think I'm going to try to install a new heater core myself. Thanks for those links!!!
posted by Charlie Lesoine at 8:48 AM on June 14, 2008

Anyone Know where I can buy a volvo heater core in Los Angeles?
posted by Charlie Lesoine at 8:57 AM on June 14, 2008

Anyone Know where I can buy a volvo heater core in Los Angeles?

Any auto parts should be able to get one for you in one business day. Shop around by phone to find the going price. Make sure to bypass the heater core first as described above for a correct diagnosis. Replacing the heater core unnecessarily would be a drag. It's not rocket surgery, but it can be a lot of work.
posted by Daddy-O at 9:34 AM on June 14, 2008

Wait until you've had a professional diagnostic before you buy a new heater core. It could be something as simple (and cheap) as a broken coolant hose.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:21 AM on June 14, 2008

Yeah, the heater core shouldn't be hard to source, but you don't want to fix it yourself (and i say that as someone who has fixed just about everything himself) - anything under the dash can be an absolute *bitch*. The heater core and fan in my CRX require that I use ratchet straps to pry my dash apart far enough.
posted by notsnot at 12:10 PM on June 14, 2008