Hi - I have a 1999 S70, and recently noticed a strong coolant smell when running the heater/air. I brought my car into a mechanic, and they think the heater coil is leaking. They could not tell 100% since they would have to get to the coil to see if it was leaking, but no other leaks seem to be happening in/around the engine. My question is can I simply reroute the heater coil hoses from the engine to the heater coil so they bypass the heater coil, and could I be hurting the engine by doing this? It seems relatively easy to connect a hose from the engine where the heater hose lines start (supply) and connect back to the engine where the heater hose ends (return). I would lose use of the heater, but I never use it anyway. Thanks for answering.

 

You can unplug both hoses from the firewall and put a hose between them and it will be fine and not hurt the engine.

 

Thanks for the reply - At least I will be able to reroute while I work on replacing the heater coil. Is replacing a heater coil a Do It Yourself project? I heard that the entire dash has to be removed in order to replace the heater coil. Thanks.

 

Yes it is a DIY job.
I the C70 section there is a post about replacing it.
The dash does not need to be removed to replace the heater core.

 

however, isnt it true that you have to remove the dash to replace the air conditioning condenser?

 

Yes that is true though.