As you may recall, I took the Mini's heater out of the car for the summer due to it leaking coolant. With the weather getting colder, and the Midget getting increasingly difficult to shift, I went about trying to fix the situation.
I got the heater core out of the casing and didn't see any visual damage. Dad suggested running water through it from my garden hose to see if it leaked. It did a bit. A slight amount came from the plastic side to which the hoses clamp. I was able to unscrew the end piece and there were o-rings in place for each tube. Both seemed to be in good shape. It seemed like the whole plastic piece just kind of warped over the years causing a gap between the two pieces. You can kind of see where the gap is on the above picture. I think most cores are usually made entirely of metal.
My uncle recommended taking it to a radiator shop to get it leak tested. I did and he got the same results. Since it was on a plastic piece, all he could suggest was to put some epoxy glue to seal up the bond between the two plastic pieces. I opted to have him do this ($37) rather than buy a new core ($100+). Especially considering the rest of the unit was in perfect order.
I reinstalled it yesterday and ran the car a little bit today. The heater works and it hasn't leaked so far. I'll keep an eye on it in the weeks to come.
