How to Check if a Heater Core Is Bad

Video Transcript

"Ok, one way to check for leaks in your heater core or your cooling system is with this cooling system pressure checker. They're probably a little bit expensive for the individual to buy but most repair facilities will be glad to check these for you. And what you simply do is remove your radiator cap. Then, you flip this on. Some of these they require special adapters so this may not fit on here. This is not going to fit on here this old T-Bird, and then you pump this up. Before you pump it up though you want to look at the pressure on the cap and make sure you don't want to put too much pressure in it. If you put too much pressure in it you can rupture the heater core. Basically, what you're going to do is pump this up, and then you're going to watch the gauge and if you see it start to drop off then you know you have a leak someplace. It could be in the cooling system; it could be in the heater core. You want to look for coolant drips right around the heater core and make sure that that you don't have any leaks. But again, it should hold pressure. You should be able to walk away from the vehicle and it should even hold pressure in there and not have any issues. So, you can actually check the entire cooling system, the hoses, the heater core for leaks. You can also check the radiator pressure cap. These are all the adapters and fittings to use for radiator pressure checker so you'd probably need to have one of these kits. A lot of the import vehicles, the Japanese imports, you have this little tiny cap that has to fit on there so you need to have all the right adapters for these. So again, that's pretty expensive to buy one of these to have have have your own although it would be nice. But again, most shops will be willing to pressure check your cooling system. That's the best way to find out whether whether where whether you have a leak or not and where that leak is by using one of these pressure testers."