where's the heat? -Frying my Brain?

[Kneale Brownson]

Don't drive your car anymore until the core is replaced, Alexander.  A 
friend of mine's son experienced severe memory loss from toxic levels of 
coolant chemicals breathed in from commuting to college in a car with a 
leaky heater core.  They lived in California and he used the heat only 
occasionally, but he got sick and confused enough they thought he was doing 
drugs.  It took years for him to get back on track and  finish up his 
college degree.   If the heater valve in your sister's car is leaking, it 
probably is on the verge of breaking.  That can be an inconvenient sudden 
loss of coolant that could result in engine damage.  That valve is 
inexpensive and relatively easy to replace.


At 04:20 PM 12/23/2000 -0500, Alexander van Gerbig wrote:

>     Both my sister and I have been smelling coolant in our cars, 5k and 80
>respectively.  I know what leak she has, valve at the firewall.  Doesn't
>leak too much, but still she gets a whiff of sweetness every now and again.
>I get the sweet smell from a leaky heater core, pretty sure it's leaked for
>quite a long while.  I've always smelled it just a little when the heat was
>on, lately I smell it more and the coolant level is visibly dropping every
>two weeks or so.  I have a new heater core sitting right here.
>     My question is, does the nasty nasty chemical ethylene glycol become
>airborne and get blown all around the car?  I never really thought of it
>being any danger, but I know that coolant is poisonous.  Put two and two
>together dummy!  Have I been frying my brain for the past two months by
>using the heat with a leaky core?  That would explain a lot.  It takes very
>little coolant to kill an animal, not much more to kill an adult human.
>Ingesting it can cause some nasty stuff it seems.  Anyone with more info?
>
>Alexander van Gerbig -- '88 80
>
>The Audi  80 Pages-----------------
>http://surf.to/the80pages.com
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>North Ferrisburg, VT 05473
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