What is this leak on the driver side foot well?

[bjcockrell]

I noticed a wet area on the driver side foot well during a recent cleaning. Upon closer inspection it looks like there is some kind of fluid coming from between the foot wells. See attached picture. Any ideas on what it could be? It doesn't feel/smell like water.

[JRL]

High miles?
Possible bad heater core

[bjcockrell]

MY 2002 with 75,000 miles. Anything I should check to determine that it's a heater core? Loss of coolant maybe.
And what does a heater core cost if I am looking at replacing a heater core?

[JRL]

Couple of hours labor, not sure of the cost of the core itself, not too much.

Unless it IS water, then you may have a sunroof drain clogged.
I would have that checked first.
It could be so full of dirty crud that it looks and smells differently.

[Lincoln]

Coolant has a pretty distinctively sweet smell. Give it the ol' sniffer test...

[pdk]

isn't the heater core on the passenger side? Usually nothing above on driver side except for brake booster, but that seemed to far back for that.

[JRL]

Yes but it can and will show up on the driver's side floor

[Aviator]

That's the side that the coolant pipes connect to the core on. It could just be a case of leaking O rings. Usually, if the core is gone, your windscreen will keep fogging up no matter how hard you try to stop it. Are you getting a rubbery sweet smell in the cabin?

Dave.

[Jeremy]

isn't the heater core on the passenger side? Usually nothing above on driver side except for brake booster, but that seemed to far back for that.

Yes but it can and will show up on the driver's side floor

100% wrong heater core is located in the center of the car not the passenger side.

It's pretty easy to remove. Just take off the panel under the steering wheel and the left side panel (has vent in it). use garbage bag to catch any excess coolant that didn't drain out. Core is held in with a couple of screws and slides out.

Here is the text from VADIS (couldn't copy the pics):
Heat exchanger – left-hand drive
Remove:
-the heater hoses in the engine compartment. Use special pliers 1158957
-the seal and the plate.
Remove:
-the soundproofing panel. See Soundproofing panel, replacing
-the brake lamp switch. See Stop lamp switch, replacing
Remove:
-the tie strap for the pipes
-the screws for the heat exchanger
-the mounting brackets for the pipes.
-Position plenty of paper under the heat exchanger and around the pipes
Drain the coolant into a suitable container.
-detach the pipes and position them out of the way
-pull out the heat exchanger.

Jeremy

[JRL]

Heater core on a GEN 1 is on the right, on a P2 I haven't a clue, none have ever failed for me.
The bottom line is that on either car they can leak on BOTH floors