steam coming from air vents

wsphotos · 07-29-2009, 01:26 AM

2001 sportage, while ac is on, steam coming from vents, still have cold air, car not overheating (according to temp. gauge, reading normal), but has that antifreeze/overheating odor coming through the vents.

PLP · 07-29-2009, 09:37 AM

so you may have a leak in the heater core.
steam is sometimes normal condition (when you have hot and humid air, cold air coming from vents will condense water vapors - it will look like a steam, or a cloud

)
but since you smell the odor - check if you do not loose any coolant.

BTW, what year and mileage it is?
If it is a brand new one, sometimes you can smell it for couple of days.

welcome and add info to your profile (car, year, location...)

wsphotos · 07-30-2009, 11:37 PM

THANKS, IT`S THE HEATER CORE, WATER STARTING TO LEAK ON PASSENGER SIDE FLOOR BOARD. WAS GONNA TRY TO REPLACE IT MYSELF, AS DEALER WANTS CLOSE TO 1000.00 (LABOR), but after seeing all that has to be taken out to do it; i`m just gonna bypass the heater core, or try a sealant. SHOULD HAVE KEPT MY 89 CHEVY 4X4 TRUCK !!!!!

upyourkia · 08-01-2009, 10:37 PM

Heater core removal has been addressed before. Check out this link:http://www.kia-forums.com/kia-sporta...ht=heater+core
It describes a very simple shortcut to heater core removal with pictures.
If your handy it can save you major $$$.
I'm going to be doing it next weekend in my other sportage. Got the core from RockAuto. Got it to my door for less than $80.
Good luck and if you decide to do it keep us posted.
upyourkia