How much does a bad Heater Core affect performance?

I know mine is going, and all it is to me seems to be a nuisance. Smelly and wet, lol.

 

Other than eventually running low on coolant, fogged up windows, potentially running hot from air in the cooling system, and smelling like you work in a candy store - no problems.

 

anti freezer is poison.You may get by bypassing the core for now depending where you live.

 

LOL at the candy store. Everyone smells something different but in general, the girls say gasoline, one bud says leather, another says definitely coolant. It's almost like a game now. But anyway ain't driving it today because the transmission is gettin worked on.

I've been driving with the windows down so I've been delaying this because It wasn't really doing anything performance wise, and I can sweat the small stuff. Like smelling like candy. LOL.

 

I had an antifreeze leak that I thought was the heater core. It ended up being the rear intake manifold seal. I would suggest you pressure test the system to determine exactly where the leak is. If it is in your heater core, you can by-pass it like mentioned. You might get a little cold but you could at least drive it until you can replace the core. Keep smelling that stuff and you may end up with other issues.

 

i just place a heater core in my truck when i was replacing the entire dash only to find out that it was a bad heater core cause i bought it used. i by passed the heater core and now i will definately will not have heater until i replace that which i do not see anytime soon. Good thing i live in south texas which the weather is pretty warm.

 

I'm about to embark on a road trip, so i'll probably have to make a few stops for coolant lol. I watch that temp gauge like a hawk when I drive distance. But when the time comes, I'm flushin the radiator to get that tap water residue out, swappin the water pump, thermostat, and heater core, so I'm not to picky as long as I keep that temp down.

 

Instead of trying to start taking apart your dash to replace the heater core, it might be better just to add some radiator stop leak. There are many good products out there that will seal the heater core. I had the same problem and was going to change the heater core, but got some advice from a mechanic to just add the stop leak. It will seal the pin holes in the core. Since then, I havn't seen any drop in anifreeze resevoir. Others might say that you should replace the core, but unfortunaly you might end up with more problems than you started out with (like a screwed up dash). Im a strong believer in not messing with things unless there is a definite problem.