Previous owner might have punctured a heater line, looking for advice.

The previous owner of my 2010 DCSB mounted part of the CB radio under the dash by screwing it into the center console. This weekend I was installing a ham radio in the truck and when I removed the screw holding the CB in place pink fluid came out, which I'm pretty sure is coolant. And I smell coolant when running the heater. Grumble.

The CB was screwed into the black plastic cover that is directly to the right of the accelerator pedal. This is the heater cover case that has two silver heater lines entering at the top. My guess is the screw went through the cover and punctured the heater line, or possible the core itself.

Here's the question, has anybody successfully removed the heater cover case (held on by 8 bolts) without disassembling the entire dash? I'd like to get a look at the problem before digging in too far since if it is a pinhole in the heater line I might be able to seal it without replacing the entire heater core.

Thanks, any input is much appreciated.

 

rippppp, find out who the po was from a carfax and send them a strongly worded letter

 

Hopefully there is a “better way” than the repair manuals call for.
Hopefully sone that has done it can jump in and help.

If not, here is a some directions I found.

https://www.justanswer.com/toyota/9xqy5-need-heater-core-replacement-instructions-2008.html

 

Yeah i just pulled my core out to weld some fittings to the tubes and i can attest that its a big job.... thought the steering column doesn't have to be fully removed and you don't have to do anything with the wipers except remove the arms...but the whole dash bar has to come out and its a bitch...

 

Lord that sucks bad!

I wish you the best OP, but it has to come out for a proper fix.

Too bad you don't live in Hawaii or Guam. You could just bypass the heater core.

 

Thanks for the input, it sounds like there's no easy option to access the heater pipe to see if it is the cause of the leak. I'm tempted to drill an inspection hole in the heater cover case, or to borrow a borescope and try to check it from above.

 

If you get a boroscope, drop the blower motor, and you'll be able to see both the heater core and A/C evaporator. Get a UV flashlight and you can inspect for A/C leaks at the same time.