Sian

Hey,
Me and my partner have a 1992 Camaro RS and one day noticed a puddle in the passenger side foot well.
We needed a short term fix so decided to bypass the heater matrix by joining the two heater hoses that go into the heater matrix/core together by adding a piece of copper piping inbetween the hoses so that the hoses join back together and tightening the hoses around the pipe with jebilee clips.

Well, We live in England and its bloody cold so now we need heating in the car so we decided to buy a new heater matrix and fit it which we have done but now comes the trouble of undoing the joint pipes.

We undo the jewbilee clips fine but the hoses wont seperate, bare in mind that there is a copper pipe joining them inside.
We have tried pulling them apart but with no joy.

Can anyone give me any ideas how it might be best to get the hoses seperated?
My idea is that we could cut either side of the pipe inside the hoses which may make the hoses too short to reach the matrix so we could buy more heater hose, and join the extra hose on to the ends and attach them with jubilee clips so they can reach the heater matrix but that idea may make it more prone to leaking as there will be more joinings.

My boyfriend believes it may come apart with some prizing but i think we could damage the hoses which means we'd have to remove the two hoses which go from the matrix to the heater Valve and the matrix to the engine.

Can anyone give us any help?

After realising that the hoses wouldnt seperate, we had to put the clips back on to stop any leaking as the car still drives fine without the heater matrix working (its just cold!!) and so when we tested for leaks by turning on the engine, we found water running out of the heater bypass valve!!!! Its one issue after another so have had to buy another one from America for £35 because of the postage >_<

Any help would be great.
Thanks!

Sian

JamesC

iTrader: (5)

Welcome to TGO, Sian.

When I replaced the heater core, I used a pair of large channel lock pliers to break the hoses free from the core tubes, then pulled the lines free. Worked fine. I reused the lines on the new core.

JamesC

travis401

iTrader: (1)

common for heater hoses to get really stuck to the pipes. i have a tool i made from a pocket flat blade screw driver to remove them. i basically bent the screw driver into a u shape, slide it inbetween the hose and pipe, and work it around to get the hose loose. it helps if you try and twist the hose while doing it.

Sian

Thank you! I'll defo try it :-) x

eseibel67

You connected the rubber hoses to the copper pipe recently, so there's no reason that they shouldn't come apart easily by twisting them loose. Especially since the scrap copper pipe is expendable, just reef on the rubber hose and twist with a large set of pliers.

Sian

Ok so literally 10 minutes ago,.I managed to pull the hoses apart and got the pipe out.
Now I need to know which hose goes to which of the heater matrix pipes.
If your looking into the engine, one pipe goes straight down into the floor of the engine and one hose connects to the heater bypass valve.

Which one connects to which of the heater core pipes?

eseibel67

The smaller diameter 5/8" heater pipe (closer to the fender) will go to the bypass valve. The larger 3/4" pipe that's closer to the engine will connect to the rubber hose that's question-mark shaped.