Help..... i have a 1997 STS with the northstar engine. I was driving home yesterday and all of a sudden i had smoke/fog coming through my interior defrost vents. i immediately pulled over thinking my engine was on fire, and then i saw thati had coolant pouring out from behind the front tire passenger side. this happened to me before on a different car and it was the heater core.

i drove it home 1/2 mile after adding coolant, and then i noticed that my front passenger floor was soaked with coolant.

I am pretty handy with tools and i have the desire to fix my own cor when i can, but only when i have a proper plan to get the job done.

I need someone to help me with the "HOW TO REPLACE THIS CORE"
I will follow instructions to the letter i just dont know "the tricks to make this an easy exchange"

CAN ANYONE HELP ME TODAY AS I NEED TO DRIVE THIS CAR TO WORK TOMORROW????????

please help me and thanks in advance for your time.

 

too much in too little time.

bypass the core at the firewall, engine side .. connect in & out heater core hoses together.

take out carpeting before it grows mold.




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i live in florida so that is a good idea to buy me some time to replace it correctly. you say that the heater core hoses are on the drivers side firewall, where? are they accessable from the top or bottom? what do they look like?

any help would be appreciated.

as far as the carpet i extracted the water with a carpet machine

 

one can usually find them on the passenger side, midway from the ground.
just look for two rubber hoses (1-1/4 to 1-1/2") that go into the firewall.


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i am still trying to find the heater core hoses. does anyone know where they come out of the block at?

 

I had the same problem with my 95 SLS,Steam from the vents then coolant on the floor.definately the heater core.
I replaced it myself and it was fairly easy.Pull the glove box,also remove a panel under the glove box.the heater core is right there.Just be careful all the cables are reconnected properly.

 

does the glovebox come straight out from the dash or is there a trick to taking it out?

 

Mine did the same thing, the steam was so bad a guy ran over thinking I was on fire.
When will Cadillac and others stop using plastic ???????????????