Car getting heat soaked quick / heater core leak?

[78TurboMali]

I've been feeling my car has been getting heat soaked kind of quick and it don't perform as well as when it runs cool (obviously). And today I smelled a little coolant and opened the hood up and heard a leak. The leak looked likeit was coming from the bottom of the heater box and dripping on to the down pipe. Do I have a heater core leak? And is this causing my car to run hot? My past experiences with leaking heater cores have been them leaking on the pass. Side floor board. What do you guys think?

 

[GNICETRY]

If you heard the leak, then it should be pretty excessive. Check the heater hoses and heater valve. They run right into the heater core. They would be ALOT easier to replace then a heater core (assuming you could find a good OEM one). Matter of fact if your heater hoses and valve are stock the I would just replace them first anyway.
Any air in your system would cause your car to run hot and not at peak performance.

 

[Red C5]

I think I have one laying around. I'll check tomorrow.