QuestionI have a 96' Hyundai Excell, I was driving along when my windscreen started fogging up (inside) without the heater on. There was a faint smell of wet burning metal. It got worse over about 1-3kms. Then the temp gauge started going up, I immediately pulled over, turned the car off and called RACQ,(no choking, no smoking, no other signs there was a problem) they said the radiator is empty, it can't drive anywhere, and They towed it home.(it was full a week earlier)(never had any issues with water) in the morning I filled the radiator, started the car with the cap off, it started to foam, Guessing the head gasket. I went out there a day later, and the front drivers side floor is soaked, the passenger side wet but not drenched. What could u guess I may be looking at? Is it worth the cost to fix?
AnswerHi, Jodie. Your problem is most likely that you've developed a leak in your heater core. This is a radiator-like device behind your dashboard through which engine coolant circulates in order to provide heat for the interior of the car.
The part itself isn't typically terribly expensive, but you should expect the entire dash will need to be removed to replace it. So if you're having someone else do the repairs, this may well cost enough that you'll need to consider whether the repair expense is justifiable on the vehicle.
As a stop-gap measure to stop the leak, you can remove one of the heater hoses, and run the other one in a loop from one heater pipe on the engine to the other, bypassing the heater core. This will enable you to continue driving the car, but you'll have no heat.
