There is a strange vapor coming from the vents that is fogging up the inside of my windows. You can wipe it off, but it fogs right back over. I’m sure it’s something to do with the anti-freeze, because that’s what it smells like. The vapor appears as soon as the engine warms up and comes thru even with the heater off. It pours out when the heater is on. (It’s a '98 F-150.)
I’ve been told it probably needs a new heater core. I hear that’s an expensive repair. (My parents just bought it for me to try and help me out after a divorce, so I have no money in it whatsoever.) It’s a beautiful truck and run great otherwise.
It’s unsafe to drive like this, probably unhealthy, too, so I’ve got it parked and am driving my old clunker until it’s fixed.
Any ideas on this?
Detach the heater hoses where they go through the firewall. Get a hose coupler (just a couple dollars) and hook the hoses together. That way you bypass the heater hose. You’ll have no heat and no vapors. Save up to get the core replaced by next winter.
Refill your cooling system, it now is low. C.Smith has a good idea if you want to put off the cost, but by next winter you will want to replace the core anyway, so you might as well do it now. I’ll bet it has a sweet smell, just like the coolant in the radiator.
Also, you should actually price out this repair. The part isn’t all that expensive, it’s just that on some cars it’s freakin’ impossible to get to and is extremely labor intensive to change out. There are some vehicles, and your full-size pickup may be one of them, where changing it is actually pretty easy.
Depending on how the heater core is installed, it should cost between $350 and $600 to fix. You do need a heater core.