At 11:13 PM 5/14/2010, Milt Schullian wrote:
>thought I'd better check the rear heater. Folded the carpet back and
>removed the heavy duty floor mat around the heater. I noticed that
>the screws holding down the heater cover on the leftside had a white
>fuzzy rust on them. There was also a gooey, watery substance on the
>bare floor (not a lot). A wipe with a paper towel showed it to be
>blue/green. The hose clamp to the bottom of the heater had the same
>white fuzzy stuff. I figure this was a tiny leak over a long period of time.

If a teeny-tiny fingertip taste of the stuff is sweet, then it's
definitely coolant.

This may well be leftovers from a repair by the DPO.  To check, take
off the shroud (if it's the plastic one, cutting off the bar across
the bottom will let you remove it without dismantling the
universe).  Idle the vehicle until the fan comes on so there's full
pressure in the system, open the valve (rotate forward) then start
sniffing around the heater for hot-coolant smell, and looking for
droplets.  If you can smell it there's a leak somewhere.

A year ago I bought a good (excellent, really) used rear heater from
Craigslist for $70+shipping.  I told the guy to keep the armored
shroud to save on shipping.  He had good photos, I spoke to him on
the phone, and everything was in excellent shape.  I had another
offer of a good working fan (which was what I needed) with resistor
and terminal block for $50.  I chose the extra money and shipping for
the complete heater.  In my case it wasn't a leak issue, the fan had
seized and burnt up, so now I have a spare core and the new valve I'd
put on it to cure a leak.

Yours,
David