Heater Core Replacement

[fastfredracing]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

I've replaced several heater cores over the years... It's always "difficult" but a good torque adjustable electric screw driver is invaluable.
That and a compartmentalised tray for the screws and clips. Keeping them grouped and in order helps a lot.

I own a 1992 400SE - W140 and fingers crossed I never have to change that one! (The heater cores are notorious for failing)

This is my VW Golf VR6 from a few years ago. Awful job...

Peter it appears as if you have installed the steering column on the wrong side

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Peter it appears as if you have installed the steering column on the wrong side

Ummm... Maybe I flipped the photo

Actually the heater core is a RHD only part so it's more expensive than the LHD version...

[911boost]

Yep a 5.0, fun little car.

I used zip lock bags and a sharpie to write down where each set of fasteners came from.

Glad to see others find it a hateful job as well...

[vash]

I had a mechanic tell me they hang a heatercore from a string and then build the car around it.

It’s is crazy how easy the core comes out after you get to it huh?

[Evans, Marv]

I had a Ford van I bought in '89 that eventually needed a heater core replaced. I was dreading it but lucked out. The heater core turned out to be located in the kick panel on the passenger side under the dash. Once that was removed, replacing it was easy. Another good thing at the time was the old core was cheaply made out of aluminum. The replacement from the parts store was a quality brass core.

[tabs]

I paid to have it done..and am still making payments.

[eastbay]

And it doesn't need to be this way. The full sized fords of the 70s were under the hood and only a couple of screws to remove and they were out!

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by tabs

I paid to have it done..and am still making payments.

They're an easy swap on a Silver Shadow!

http://au.rrforums.net/forum/messages/17001/33320.html?1539215360

[petrolhead611]

I had enough problem replacing a heater hose, never mind the heater core, on my Reliant Scimitar GT. Four and a half hours of torment,caused by inaccessibility of hose clips,worrying that I would actually finish the job in time to use the car for work the next day.

[Heel n Toe]

On several cars I've owned over the years, I simply used Barr's StopLeak when the heater core began leaking. I followed the directions to a T and it worked fine. At least one or two of them were semi-beaters.

Once when one of them began leaking again a coupla years later (I think it was my semi-beater '84 Ford LTD II), I just disconnected the heater hoses from the core, made a bypass loop, and used the car for several years without a heater. It was only a 4-5 mile trip to work. It was a piece of cake to wear enough of a coat to stay warm for that distance in the morning here in SC.

I opened the vents and cracked the windows if the windshield began to fog up.

When the A/C went out and I got an $800 estimate to fix it, same approach. It was cool enough on summer mornings to make that 4-5 miles and in the afternoons, it was all windows down... no problem. That thing has cloth seats, which helped... it was an ex-sheriff's investigator's car... 5.0 Litre.

That's water from a wash job... not a busted radiator.

[rpastir]

The evaporator in a 996 aint any fun either...ask me how I know.

[Noah930]

All those pics of dashboards entirely disassembled are giving me flashbacks.

[Scott Douglas]

I will admit to doing the heater core on an '85 Mustang GT convertible once. Did the radiator and had to put a long block in it too.

[JackDidley]

Just remembered a heater core story. A lot of snow on the ground and more coming down. I'm in my C3 Vette, headed for Chicago. 100 miles from home and 200 miles to go and the windshield fogs. I remembered a story someone told me. I stopped at the first convenience store and put a can of black pepper in the radiator. It stopped the leak. I did replace the core a couple years later, just in case. No idea how long it would have gone.