Coolant hose location.

[Alfa89]

I have a 1996 164 t spark 4cylinder. Yesterday I noticed my car running hot. Pulled over, coolant reservoir was empty, filled it, a few kms down the road same problem. Managed to get it home. I found the leak, a hose behind the engine that seems to be coming out of the firewall or near it. Does anyone know what I am talking about and if so, what's the best way to access it, it looks extremely difficult to get at. I'll try and get a picture. Any advice would be appreciated! I found the schematic for the cooling system on this site but not sure where it would be in refrence to that.

[Alfa89]

[Alfa89]

It looks like the coolant is coming out of a drainage hose behind the false firewall.... can anyone tell me the best way to remove it? It looks like a bigger of a job.

[AlfaWhiz]

Does it get wet on the inside of the car as well, in the passenger's footwell? Have a look at the carpet.

It may be cracked heater core or one of the hoses, but I never did that job myself. You can search for heater core replacement, there were topics here and on AlfaBB as well. Perhaps someone more experienced can add something too.

[Alfa89]

I'm starting to think now it is a heater core... Does anyone know how to bypass it for now until I have time to pull everything apart this weekend?

[Alfan]

I don't know how far you got with this, but on alfabb.com there is a lot of info on that for the 164.

[Engine]

Not sure if still needed.

There are two hoses of the same size that go throught the firewall. One is inlet to the heater core and one is outlet. You can disconnect them and use a small pipe to connect them to each other. That will bypass the heater core and the pipes in the firewall. Take care about the material of the pipe: the coolant gets hot and also you do not want something that rusts quickly. Copper may be best