My TE has done 300K. A minor coolant leak has started from the seals under the plastic connector elbows which attach to the left hand side of the heater core.
The elbows are attached to the core with phillips head screws.
If you take off the trim below the glove box you can see the connectors (and the leak)

Does anyone know if you can gain access to these screws by removing the various components behind the glove box? If this is possible I should be able to back off the screws and replace the seals which cost only a few dollars each.
If this is not possible I will have to remove the whole dashboard to do the job.
Can it be done from the glovebox only?

Anyone tried this?
Thanks,
Barnsey :facejump:

I think there was a DIY on here for doing the seals without taking the dash out, how do you know it's just the seals that are leaking? I've done one of these and was told that it's probably just the seals, when I pulled the core out it was leaking all over the place so I replaced the whole thing including seals, taking the dash out isn't hard just really time consuming.

When I took the varous covers off under the dash there were white dried coolant deposits encrusted on the carpet below the connectioans and encrustations around these connectors.
I can't be sure that it is just the seals, but if I can change them reasonably easily I will be able to see if that fixes it.
With the heater control on cold there is no leak or coolant smell inside the car. when I switch the control to hot I can smell the coolant. The leak is very small as the coolant level does not drop, however it will only get worse.
how do I find the DIY on this site?
regards,
Barnsey

When I took the varous covers off under the dash there were white dried coolant deposits encrusted on the carpet below the connectioans and encrustations around these connectors.
I can't be sure that it is just the seals, but if I can change them reasonably easily I will be able to see if that fixes it.
With the heater control on cold there is no leak or coolant smell inside the car. when I switch the control to hot I can smell the coolant. The leak is very small as the coolant level does not drop, however it will only get worse.
how do I find the DIY on this site?
regards,
Barnsey

Mine was like that too, heater on and I'd have the smell, heater off and the smell was gone, despite the smell being gone it was still leaking though.. I had the smell for ages, it wasn't until my temp gauge went through the roof and I noticed the coolant level had dropped drastically..

Do a search for heater core seals and you may find the DIY, can't offer much more help than that sorry..

If you download a copy of the manual it has pretty good instructions for removing the dash and getting to the core

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56815
It's a fairly big job but not at all hard, it just takes a while.. about 1 hour to remove the dash, 20 min or so to get the new core in (longer if you clean everything)
Then an hour or so to put the dash back in, you just need a Philips head and and a few different sized sockets 10-12mm from memory.
It seems daunting looking at the manual but it's really not that hard once you get started..

I did a search for the DIY but couldn't find it and from memory you could only replace one of the seals anyway.
Don't leave it leaking for too long or you'll possibly need a new ECU or at least spend ages soaking all the connectors in hot water to get all the dried glycol off the connectors and pulling the ECU apart to clean all the glycol out of it..

Can not be done dash in

Does leak when off as the heating system does not have a tap in it, it simply bypass air around the heater core when off

Needs to be fixed asap, if your ECU fries will cost you more

If you feel upto a drive to Vic can do for you, will be significantly cheaper than Mits will charge you

Thanks to you all,
I will take off the dash and do what's required.
Thanks again,
Barnsey