Hey guys,
Hopefully someone can help me here!

Yesterday I went for a drive late at night and my windscreen was fogged up, so had to blast the heater for 10 minutes or so. After about 10 minutes I noticed a weird smell and also the windscreen wasn't clearingthe fog. I started to get a little worried.The smell ssmelt like coolant, I then figured out that smoke was gushing into the outside of the windscreen hence why the "fog" wasn't clearing. I couldn't see a thing which was quite dangerous so went straight home without the heater on. J noticed the temp getting awfully close to H when I pulled into home. I popped the hood and couldn't find any smoke or steam anywhere. Its obviously coming from the heater somewhere in the engine but I'm not totally sure.

Please help!
Cheers,
Chris

You'll likely have issues with your heater core, most likely the o-rings between it and the heater pipes that go through the firewall or corrision of the heater core itself. It is necessary to have these replaced (dash-out job, I recommend replacing the o-rings, heater core and heater core pipes all in one go, to minimise future labour costs) or at least temporarily bypassed, so that further damage is minimised (coolant leakage onto passenger footwell carpet, coolant dripping onto ECU - located below heater core).

Thankyou for your reply. So how much am I looking at to get the core and o rings replaced? I was going to get a service next week, should I mention this problem when I take the car in?

It varies depending on who you get to do it. I paid $1067, which involved replacing the core, o-rings, pipes, thermostat, radiator & heater hoses, and coolant with genuine parts. I also got my AC regassed in that price, but thats not part of replacing/repairing the core issue.
Those who are well versed in replacing them, such as Madmagna, can do it significantly cheaper.

I had similar symptoms when my thermostat failed a few months ago.

Heater suddenly stopped working, strange smell, and temp gauge went up into the red zone.

Bunged a new thermostat in the next day, good as gold.

Only $25 to $30 from your local stealership, and a piece of cake to replace.

So I think you should also check your thermostat.

A blown engine due to overheating will end up costing you a lot more than fixing a heater core.

Ok I will check that out cheers Tree.

Just a question, I don't want to sound like an idiot here but if I don't turn my heater on will my car be ok? Or will it still smoke up?
Also, I'm going to turn her on with the heater and wait until it smokes and ill take s few pictures so you guys can see if you can detect the problem

Ok I will check that out cheers Tree.

Just a question, I don't want to sound like an idiot here but if I don't turn my heater on will my car be ok? Or will it still smoke up?
Also, I'm going to turn her on with the heater and wait until it smokes and ill take s few pictures so you guys can see if you can detect the problem

It will still be a problem without any heat since the engine coolant always runs through the core regardless. Have you noticed damp carpet in passenger footwell?

Hey guys, I just started the car up with the hood up and the heater on full and also on defrost. The engine become over heated (about 2-3 notches from H) in about 5 mins. I let it run for another few minutes waiting for the smoke I saw the other night but didn't see any smoke or steam coming from under the hood. When I turned it off I noticed some weird noises inside and out so I grabbed my phone asap and took these videos. It sounds like theres hot water trapped in the core or something? Strange. Any thoughts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk-YWGhve5Y

It sounds more like steam than smoke. Quick question - did you check the coolant level before starting the motor? If you don't have coolant, you won't have steam, and if you run it for long like that you won't have a running engine any more. It sounds kinda like water/steam escaping through a small hole to me, probably in the heater core or past the O rings, though it's very difficult to tell from a video. If the coolant's low, top it up and run the engine and let it warm up. Have a good check for leaks under the bonnet and stick your head up under the dash and have a listen/look/smell for any coolant or steam. If it overheats again, switch it off straight away or you'll have bigger problems than a leaking heater core.

I'm not sure what is going on. I am going to take it to the mechanics but a little worried when I tell them something is wrong with the heater core, they are going to screw me. Does anyone know of any honest mechanics in the Launceston area?

Well, in really bad shape now. Was just about to take it to the mechanics and it suddenly won't start. Tried a few times but it just shakes and the exhaust vibrates relentlessly. Damn it, what a pain in the ass. Had it parked for 4 days without a start on an upslope so something bad has happened :/

Edit. Engine does start, just. But muffler/exhaust is uncontrollable and shakes pretty bad, unable to drive.

Sorry to keep annoying you guys but I got a new top radiator hose installed a few weeks ago and I am pretty sure the cause of the car not starting was the water, I filled it up with fresh coolant and it is running pretty good now. But I am still having the problem with the heater. I just took it for a drive and it didn't over heat which is good but I tried the defrost to see what would happen and as soon as turned it on it fogged the windscreen up and I couldn't see, the car was actually ok but there is something going on with the defrost/heater. Has anybody had this same problem? It's a real pain in the backside because it's winter and I desperately need my defrost working living in Tassie.

Definitely sounds like a ruptured heater core or some other leak associated with the heater pipes (eg. O-rings), switching on the heater or demister is just sending steam up your windscreen. From what I can gather from this site it's a dashboard-out job to replace it, unfortunately. If it's any consolation my ride's at 265,000 on the original core...could go any day now (touch wood!).