92 Golf heater core (A/C) leak
Rob Wilson
(California). I *know* I have a coolant leak, when I rub my fingers on
the carpet near the floor vent they come out smelling like coolant and
my windshield is constantly fogged, which are all symptoms of a heater
core leak. I also tend to get black smoke coming out of the air vents.
I have a couple of questions I'd appreciate if anyone could help me with:
1) I'm looking at the Bentley manual and it tells me that the A/C has to
be discharged to replace the heater core which requires special
procedures that should be performed by a qualified shop. Well, my A/C
doesn't work anyway so I think it's probably already discharged, if I
check the sight glass and it looks like it is can I pretty safely change
the heater core myself? How can I safely try to discharge the A/C just
in case it's not completely empty?
2) Is it more likely that there's some internal leak in the heater core
itself or a leak in a seal at the connection point? The manual says to
install a new soft seal where the heater core hose connects pass through
the body, is that the only potential seal leak? Anyone have a part
number or something equivalent for the soft seal for the hoses?
Thanks in advance,
Rob W.