Coolant passenger floor

[Mike1919]

my 93 ranger has, what appears to be coolant leaking down the firewall and running onto the floor, my first, thought being the heater core, i replaced it but the old one showed no signs of leaking, but i threw a new one in anyways, two weeks later its back, it doesn't smell like coolant through the heater or on the floor, but it sure does look like coolant. Anything else it could be?

 

[RonD]

Green color sure looks like coolant.
How are the clamps on the heater hoses?
Old clamp or brittle/hard rubber end on one of the hoses could spray coolant into the firewall hole for the core connections, causing coolant to show up inside passenger footwell.


If you have Air Conditioning there will be a drain hose in the passenger footwell near the center transmission hump, it goes thru the floor board.
It is the drain hose for the AC evaporator, hose can get clogged causing evaporator tray to overflow, and you end up with wet passenger side footwell.
In winter AC is used when Defrost is selected, it dries the air being blown onto the windshield to evaporate the moisture faster.

 

[Mike1919]

Well it has those constant tension spring hose clamps, those are my next suspect, I would also think the hoses could be brittle, my next question, if the fittings were leaking, wouldn't it leak outside of the firewall?

 

[RonD]

Yes, you would think it would, but if we are looking for odd things after checking for "normal" causes, then it could happen.

Passenger footwell being wet is heater core, blocked AC evaporator drain, windshield leak, 3rd brake light leak, in that order.
You don't mention that it only gets wet when raining so windshield and brake light would be out.
If you don't have AC then that would be out.

Only thing left is heater core, you replaced that so..............if floor is still getting wet then check the hoses

 

[Mike1919]

I do have ac, I also have got a new windshield due to it leaking on top a while ago. Third brake light is aftermarket but you don't see water coming down from that side.

 

[Mike1919]

Ok it definitely smells like coolant no doubt. I talked t a guy at work and he thinks hoses could use replacing after 20+ years. I might as well go silicone which I can get today, but does anyone know how much length i need to do both hoses? 1993 with a 4.0. Thank you

 

[Mike1919]

Ok by the drive home it was leaking bad both inside and outside the firewall. I replaced the heater hoses and I think it fixed it. For future reference, both heater hoses add up to about 6 feet. It was easier for me to remove the alternator and idler pulley to replace both hoses. Also ditch the spring clamps, stick with screw style hose clamps. Took me about an hour and half including fetching the parts.

 

[RonD]

Thanks for the update

Good work

 

[rustywrench]

Ok by the drive home it was leaking bad both inside and outside the firewall. I replaced the heater hoses and I think it fixed it. For future reference, both heater hoses add up to about 6 feet. It was easier for me to remove the alternator and idler pulley to replace both hoses. Also ditch the spring clamps, stick with screw style hose clamps. Took me about an hour and half including fetching the parts.

Glad you fixed it. Just a word of experience.......Run it a couple of days and give the screw clamps another twist.......The silicone hose is famous for taking a "set" after a few heat cool cycles.......Seems to be worse than just regular rubber hose. The silicone hose will "cold leak" if you don't snug the clamps up again.