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So I have an 03 civic LX and a while back posted a question about continuous dripping out AC drain tube and thought that I had a stuck AC clutch, but that is working properly. The PO had just been putting sink water into cooling system and I did about 20 drain an fills with distilled water and cleaned out a lot of crud, then put proper coolant in, but the leaking out AC drain hose got much worse (as if all the crud was helping gum out the leak) and I determined it is actually coolant flowing out the AC drain hose. Its a slow leak, but everytime I park the car for a few hours, I have a 2ft radius stain on the ground. I need to top off coolant every 2 days or ~ 50 miles once I notice the temp gauge climbing and my heater not working properly. I just started putting distilled water in cause I don't wanna waste coolant, but It is definitely just dripping out the AC drain tube. I never use the AC, so there is no reason for condensation to build up, especially here in SoCal.

I believe the AC condenser and heater core are near each other, but does anyone know if its possible I for a slow leak in the heater core to travel out the AC drain tube.

Im debating bypassing the heater core temporarily to see if the leaking stops.

Any advice or shared knowledge would be much appreciated!

 
Rep Power: 222

I would guess that it's the heater core. And yeah I would try bypassing it for a few days and see if the leak stops. Is your carpet wet as well?

 
Rep Power: 119

Oh that is a sucky thing to repair. Absolutely does sound like failed heater core.

Those two backwards bolts holding the center part dash on are such a pain to remove..

 
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The carpet for the passenger isn't wet. Sometimes I feel like the car smells like coolant a bit, but that is perhaps cause I just had the cap in my hand as I topped it off with water. Its as if all heater core leak is going out that drain tube. Ill bypass it and see if it fixes the leak.

 
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bypassed the heater core the leaking out the ac drain tube has stopped. Seems like heater core was the issue. Ill live without the heater for now, but probably replace eventually when I have a day to rip the dash apart.

 
Rep Power: 222

Glad you figured it out, hope you're somewhere warm