ok everyone i just purchased my first rx8, the gentle man i purchased the car from stated that he had just replaced the heater core and had it currently bypassed because a hose blew at the same time ( my fault for not checking or asking for reciepts) any way i just put a new hose on and fired up the heater for the first time and now my pass floorbaord is soaked in a matter of minutes. in my experience this tells me i got dooped and the heater core is out and leaking is there any where i can look to confirm it the core leaking and any how to to get to in this car, also the air never got hot...

 

You could use an air compressor set at around 15psi to pressurize the heater core,you would have to block one of the heater entry/exit pipes and introduce air to the other pipe,either use an inline pressure gauge or listen for a leak.

 

OP,

Look up on the inside(center console side) of the passenger footwell. Shine a light up through and look up and toward the firewall you should be able to see if there is indeed coolant leaking down into the cabin.
(if there is coolant it is leaking)
If this is the case you should BYpass the heatercore now until you are able to get another and have time to tear your entire dashboard apart.

Also, you will need to remove the passenger seat and carpet in order to clean everything up properly, you do not want to leave coolant sit in there.

Once you have the heatercore bypassed make sure that you refill your coolant to the proper level with the proper coolant.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-...change-100164/
Since your already going to end up putting a bunch in, you may as well complete a decent flush while you are at it. I would also suggest checking the plugs and everything else just to be sure there wasnt anything else that was "hidden".

Hope that helps

Travis

 

ok thanks for the quick response pulled the glove box and carpet back. and i see a leak wich i assume is coming from the lower connection. not a 100% also on a side note the car filled with a anti freeze fog when i fired it up is this off the fan pushing leak around?
thank you very much

 

Possible yes, but it's a high pressure system. When mine popped it sent fog up through the vents, down from the bottom of the dash, just everywhere.

Bypass it, Refill/Flush your system. Get a new one and enjoy the long road it takes just to get it out of the dash.


Travis

Travis

 

once again thanks for the quick response and i can see where this is a not so fun project, now i looked for the part on autozone and i didnt pull up any suggestions on where to get it for at a decent price?

 

Good luck. I think of all the jobs on cars I hate the most this is likely it ....you have to take half the interior apart to get to the darned thing

 

Does bypassing pose any thread to engine of any sort ?

 

No.

 

so nothing wrong can happen and i dont have to spend money to get rid of the leak im getting on passenger side ? I dont care for heater since its always hot in Pakistan.

 

The heater core is there only to supply heat to the vehicle. The fan pulls heat from the heater core and heats the inside of the car. No coolant flowing to the heater core means no heat for the inside of the vehicle. No damage to the engine at all.

 

But, without having a working heater core, it's hard to dump excess heat if you feel you are A. stuck in traffic forever or B. seeing your car overheat.