Heater Core Replacement

[911boost]

It is my honest belief that engineers sit around and toast each other on how difficult it is to swap out a heater core.

Car is a ‘92 Mustang with A/C, it took a solid 7 hours from start to finish. My daughter is happy to have her car back.

[Zeke]

Just as bad for a Boxster. Had it done and it lasted one year. This was the evaporator. Same idea.

[Arizona_928]

Seen some Of new cars on reddit.
R&R doors and the kitchen sink. Those techs have my sympathy.

[fastfredracing]

I turn them away now a days . I hate , hate , hate dash work . I used to do a ton of them .
Back in the 90's , the Ford Tarus was the hard one. I used to tear em up, and make bank.
Now, I cannot stand laying under a dash trying to turn those little 7 mm bolt heads.

[sixbanger]

I used to work in a radiator shop. We had one guy that all he did was replace heater cores. I remember some of the prayers he used to say to himself. It took all day to take out and put back in. Did hundreds of them.

[KNS]

I wish someone would bring back a contemporary air cooled car. It doesn’t have to have 300 HP Never have to think about coolant changes, water pump failures and certainly not replacing a heater core.

[fastfredracing]

Originally Posted by sixbanger

I used to work in a radiator shop. We had one guy that all he did was replace heater cores. I remember some of the prayers he used to say to himself. It took all day to take out and put back in. Did hundreds of them.

That is kind of how I got started in the biz. I rented my first commercial shop space from a radiator shop.
There was all the heater core, or difficult cooling system repair work there , that I could ever ask for . Head gaskets, water pumps, heater cores, etc... They were really only interested in selling ,and repairing radiators , and easy labor jobs.
Anything difficult , was sitting right there at my fingertips , ripe for the taking.
Now, at 50 years old, I have little desire to spend an 8 hour day all balled up under someones dashboard, finding every french fry, they ever lost,

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by KNS

I wish someone would bring back a contemporary air cooled car. It doesn’t have to have 300 HP Never have to think about coolant changes, water pump failures and certainly not replacing a heater core.

Yep, my 911 has never needed a new water pump, heater core, ABS, Power steering, or Tire pressure monitoring repair.

On my El Camino the heater core is a couple of hours for me, the worlds slowest mechanic. It is right there in the engine compartment and no crawling under the dad needed.

[LWJ]

Heater core repair. The stuff of my nightmares.

[fastfredracing]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Yep, my 911 has never needed a new water pump, heater core, ABS, Power steering, or Tire pressure monitoring repair.

On my El Camino the heater core is a couple of hours for me, the worlds slowest mechanic. It is right there in the engine compartment and no crawling under the dad needed.

But you have to pull the inner fender ..... I think, its been a while

[911boost]

The worst was the almost 30 year old plastic wiring harness connectors everywhere. I really really really did not want to break any of them and have weird electrical gremlins once I got it all back together.

But yeah, that job sucked. A coupe of my fingers are beat up.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

But you have to pull the inner fender ..... I think, its been a while

Nope, just remove the fan motor on top (three screws and two minutes.) Then the screws all around the perimeter of the air box that is in the engine compartment.

I bet the "book" rate is under an hour total. I allays make it harder, but moving the AC evaporator out as well, and cleaning in there real thoroughly. Then spending even more time getting everything sealed up real well.

The fender liner is not in the way at all.

[jcommin]

I had a 2003 Passat - same drill: remove the entire dash to get at the heater core.

while the engines last longer than ever, it is the sensors and electrical components that don't age well.

[chapo]

Two days on a gs300 Lexus, then a dealer guy tells me they used to just cut a hole in the fire wall to get to them!

[Racerbvd]

I need to get off my ars and replace the heater core in my Trans Am GTA

[JackDidley]

Heater cores are what nightmares are made of. I have a second gen S10. I built the 350SBC, the 4L60E and did the gears and locker in the rear end. When the heater core goes I may just sell it. I have seen where it is but have no idea how to get it out.

[Noah930]

Ha ha. Couple years ago I had a class C RV, built on an '84 Chevy Van chassis. Took me 6 hours to take it apart, and another 6 to reassemble. For what, a thirty or forty dollar part? All the hidden fasteners that you can't see, but won't allow you to disassemble so.ething unless they're undone. The brittle electrical connectors. The extra bits and bobs (and fasteners) that the RV manufacturer adds on. I wound up watching You Tube videos for advice whenever I'd get stuck. But the only videos I found were one made by some hillbilly (who deleted the exact part of the process where I was stuck) and another by a Mexican guy (in Spanish), because who else fixes heater cores on 30+ year-old vans?

A Fox body Mustang! A 5.0, by any chance? I beat the snot out of one at the racetrack back in the day. The heater core was the only thing I didn't do to that car.

[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...

[pwd72s]

"My dad has an awesome set of tools. He can fix anything!"