Hello everyone! New to the forums!

I have a 1998 V70 XC. I already know the heater core is bad. But there is a massive puddle of coolant on the rear passenger carpet. the passenger front is damp, but not anywhere near as bad as the back. I'm just curious if this is another issue entirely, or if it is just a byproduct of the bad heater core.

Any info would help, thanks all.

 

If your V70 XC is like my 850 wagon, there's just the heater core in the center console fed by two hoses. typical problem is the O rings that seal the hoses to the heater core or the core itself. these cars have constant circulation so you can get a pretty big puddle in the foot wells which can find their way to the back along the floor board. You should be able to open up the side of the console to get a view of the heater core. There's some good posts (and possibly a Youtube vid) on the 850 repair - I suspect yours is the same. Just remember the core has a good pint or so of coolant in it so even if you clamp the lines or drain the radiator you'll need to either blow out the core with air to push the coolant out or use a trash bag to collect the coolant when you disconnect the first hose. You can try to clean up the carpets in the car using a wet/dry shop vac as well rinsing with small amounts of water (ie vacuum up the puddle, pour a cup or so of water on the still wet carpet and vacuum up again then leave the windows open to allow the car to dry out.