So driving home from work today I notice steam coming out of the two vents that blow warm air to defrost windows. I had been noticing the smell of coolant in the cab the last few days...but I just kind of attributed it to the 110+ degree heat weve been having out here. Well not anymore. I think my heatercore finally took a dumb. A little background...2001 Supercrew, 170,000 miles. I have the propane system on my truck, which does not work. Earlier this year, I had a coolant leak coming from one of the hoses that fed coolant through the propane system. Since I dont use it, I had that system bypassed for coolant flow. My question is, could that affect the heater core? Either done correctly or if something was messed up? My other question is, that since I live in AZ and never use my defroster, can I bypass the heatercore as well? Is my truck okay to drive for the next few days while I figure out what to do to fix this, or should I find myself a new means of transportation? Any help would be awesome...thanks!

 

Sounds like a heater core. It's a $400-500 job in labor alone... But yes it is ok to drive your truck like this. Just check the coolant daily...