Hi all.. I recently bought a 91 trooper 4ze1 after someone totaled my 88. Anyways, about a month and a half after I bought it the heater core started leaking like mad.. Coolant all over the floor. I did a lot of searching and found a used replacement at a junk yard and installed it my self.

Now, about one month later, all the sudden last night tons of coolant starts spurting out of the floor vents!

What's going on here.. is there something that can cause such serious leaking like that or did I just get lucky and find another bum heater core?

Anyone know where I can find another one in the seattle area? Purchasing a new one is like $300!

Thanks for any help.

The 1993-1997 6VD1 3.2 liter setup was also prone to heater core leakage. The factory unit is sold as a "box" and is over $300. There are parts providers on the WEB who have separate heater cores avail for the 6VD1's for $80-$100 approx. You must disassemble the box and get it all back together - linkage and all.

Not sure about the '91 4 cyl Trooper, but it would not surprise me to learn that this vehicle has the same setup as the 6VD1.

You'll likely hear from folks here that also have your same config.

Thanks for the replay..

hmm so no one can think of any reason for this happening twice in one month other than just bad luck?

hmm so no one can think of any reason for this happening twice in one month other than just bad luck?

Well...

I did a lot of searching and found a used replacement at a junk yard and installed it my self.


You bought a used heater core to replace a busted one? We are talking about 15yo vehicles. There is only so much life in some parts. Going cheap and replacing something like a heater core with a used part usually ends up costing more than just finding a new one. Now you are out your time, the cost of the used one, plus the time and cost to replace it again.

That, is why it happened again so soon. There is a remote chance that you have a head gasket leak that is pressurizing the system, but the radiator or cap would proably let go before the HC. I would place much more faith in the above explanation.

Good Luck,
Michael

I have had the same issue for sometime. Every time that I turned on the heater I would smell antifreeze. When the carpet started showing stains is when I put two and two together. I called Merlin at St Charles Isuzu and he said that the core was a bad design to begin with and that they don't make them anymore. What they do he said is sell an entire new "box" of a different design to include linkage and all of the controls. It was around $350.00 I want to say. For now I'll just wear my 900 down TNF Jacket to stay warm.