550 Evaporator Crack?

Hello and right away my wife, the famous Naughty Cowgirl, and I would like to give a serious, and humble, Thank You! to all the advisers on this list. Without you, well, owning Guido (my wife's 'sleek Italian boyfriend') would be, to understate it, a far more baffling experience.

Anyhow, we went through the glove box to replace the HVAC valve/solenoid (64280200-a part evidently made of gold and diamonds...). Since we were down there (I say 'we' because the Cowgirl is good with a wrench herself, plus her hands are smaller) we took out the airbag to redo the leather. Looking around down there (always dangerous in Guido) I noticed a hairline crack in the side of what I think is the evaporator. I noticed it because it was green with coolant. I couldn't find any accumulation anywhere and there is no glycol smell in the cabin, the A/C is cold enough to make dry ice (it only works on full) and the heater sorta heats. What I find really strange is the crack started where somebody drove a screw into the box it to hold the solenoid wires.

Now, the crack looks like a simple epoxy repair (maybe after drilling a second small hole at the other end of the crack for stress relief). But it occurs to us it's just too stupid to drill a machine screw into a box that holds a fluid. Sure, we've all seen dumb stuff in our wonderful cars, but, seriously, who would do that--drive a screw into what I think is the heater portion (not sure).

Anyhow, I've attached a picture with the crack circled. Would somebody advise us exactly what part is circled? And is there *suppose* to be coolant in there?

Thanks. BTW, a flexible shaft screwdriver makes (relatively) quick work of the infamous top screw on the top of the solenoid. Also, at least on our build, those are Pozidriv screws (and why wouldn't they be???).

Again, many thanks. You are all awesome.
The Newcooks in Chicago
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FBB: A test run to pressurize the system makes perfect sense as I can't recall the last time we ran the heater. We'll need to put the instrument cluster back in (we pulled it for trim work-straight forward with Soren's excellently granular instructions) to test run it. So I gather what is cracked in the picture is a hot air chamber for the heat exchanger. If it is indeed coolant on the others side of the crack what actual part might have failed? I can't find a schematic of what the box looks like inside. Also, am I correct that once the cooling system is up to temperature and I turn on the heater that, in addition to a spray out the crack, the cabin will mist with coolant as well? I typically don't transport my enemies so vaporized toxins in the cabin are of no use to me.

 

FBB: This morning I drilled a small 1/16" hole at the low point to drain out whatever is in there and nothing came out. Kinda funny because I rigged a drain-away to keep whatever fluid was in there contained. However, nothing came out. This doesn't make sense to me as the crack with what *looks* like seepage is above the drain hole. I slid a pipe cleaner into the hole and twirled it around and it came back with a small amount of green fluid on it. It's such a small amount I can't tell if it's coolant or algae saturated condensate but it's definitely green, LOL. As far as pressure testing a while back The Cowgirl printed out the useful post about the coolant cap bung and put it into the winter file (we all have those, right?). The plan as of right now is to put the dash back in, leave the new drain hole and crack UNsealed, and light the engine (the weekend neighbors always love that). We'll keep the drain-away in place and see what happens when the temps come up and we turn on the heater--hopefully we won't get a gallon of hot coolant gysering out into the passenger foot well. Note: That picture is taken as if the camera were inside the glove box (obviously removed for the great solenoid adventure) looking directly at the heater box. I can certainly see how removing the heater core would be an involving experience--I agree with the notion the car was put together*around it*.

 

In putting the 550's dash back in for the heater pressure test I came across this random plug under the instrument cluster. Anybody know what it is? My guess would be to connect an external diagnostic device. Or, I'm just lamer than usual and accidently unplugged it not noticing I did so. It doesn't connect to the instruments. That I much I figured out.
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FatBillyBob, was, as usual, correct. My wife did a proper drive cycle and then a spirited Pretty Fall Day Run with the heater blasting--thank God she's comfortable in just a tank top. No coolant came out of the heater box test bore so it was likely A/C condensate. Also the new valve/solenoid (64280200) returned all the HVAC controls, flaps, etc. to factory functionality. It's so much better being able to control the Ferrari's cabin temperature just like in a boring car.

Hats off to FBB....You Da Man!