Driving over to the next town for a haircut, when a older BMW passed me going the other way. It was kind of loud and I began to smell hot antifreeze just as it went by. Thought nothing more of it and drove another 3/4 mile to the barber shop.
Just as I pulled into the barber shop, clouds of white steam were billowing out from the passenger side of my hood! WTF?!!!
I popped the hood and found coolant all over the passenger side. I panicked a bit at first. Fearing the worst... Blown head or blown head gasket? Radiator? Something tragic.
White as a ghost, I decided to go in to get my haircut anyway (it had been 6 weeks since last cut) and look at if after it cools down a little. When I came back out, the engine seemed most wet up high and towards the back. I started the engine to see if was gushing or spraying out; and from where.
I don't think I could have been so happy to see coolant spewing out at the heater hose! Not the head or anything tragic with the engine or cooling system...
The hose looked like it was attached, but coolant was gushing out at the joint. Turned out that the connector snapped right off where the hose attached.
Thank GOD! I knew right way it was the heater hose connector, which would be a cheap, relatively easy and fairly quick fix.
Had my son come over with screwdriver, hammer, pliers and what was left of the coolant I had in the basement. He brought me to NAPA to get this (I know GM original is best, but in a pinch...)
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/NOE82002551?ref=Mg==
I bought the metal X-shaped tool for quick releases, but that turned out to be useless. It was too tight in the back and could not get that tool where it needed to be. The tool also did not slide in deep enough to release the tabs on the connector anyway.
I busted the old connector off with needle nose pliers on the small connection to the rear heater and a screwdriver/hammer to bust the plastic on the big connection at the heater core. Trying to be gentle but use enough force to snap the plastic connectors seemed to take the longest. The new part snapped on quick and fit perfect. I did it all in the parking lot of the barber shop and was back in business.
Stopped at the store for some nice rib-eyes to celebrate a relatively easy fix!
P.S.: Be sure to put a towel or something over the hood latch when crawling in the engine bay... I went to dismount and my feet slipped off the bumper. I got my shorts snagged and caught the latch on the back of my leg (OK - my backside if truth be told).
For a second, I was hanging awkwardly like a scarecrow until my son gave the assist to lift off the hook! It was funny after, but not funny while I was stuck there. I learned the hard way! Protect yourself from the killer hood latch!!! LOL
