well selling a car without heat is a big loss.....so ive decided that i gotta fix the heater core myself and save myself 400 bucks.....
what i wanted to know....
anyone have any tips, comments, suggestions, warnings and anything else that they can give me....
just to remind u, im not very mechanical at all so help me please...plus what parts would i need to get in order to fix this?
i have a haynes manual to help me through this...thanks guys

 

this is a pretty good tech article https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/t...atercore.shtml

 

have someone else do it, my grandfather and i did it on my 85 trans am and it was a bitch. I would never do it again nor would he. If you do do it you will understand why i wouldnt do it again . O a tips , dont buy the piece of hose that looks like a question mark, it's impossible to get it in , just use a long piece of hose to go from the core to the radiator.i think i might have a pic.


that red hose is the one from the heater core, yes i will change it to a black one , but thats what you are going to have to do unless you want to take the distrubutor off .it;s a major pita, i commend ya if ya do it, o and the best tip, buy a genuine gm heater core, pay the extra money for the right thing.

 

The heater core replacement is the biggest PITA on these cars. After doing it I got so pissed off that I had thought about selling my car. Luckily I didn't. I hope i never have to replace the heater core again.

 

Actually . . . I followed that tech article by myself and it was not a PITA at all. Althought their is one bolt at the top of the heater core box that I had to snake my hand down from the top of the dash. I found that the easiest way to do this is to loosen the passangerside of the dash just enough to give your hand a little bit more free room. Also I think I pulled out my speaker and speaker bracket and it made it a little bit easier. I have really big hands so it shouldn't be too hard.

Good luck with everything . . . and if you need anymore help just let me know and I can see what I can do. All in all Chevy wanted to charge me $675 to do it. THe heater core was like $70 and I did it in 6 hours (The same time it would have taken Chevy to do it.) So It saved me about $600 on the project.

Sean

 

do a search on the boards. i posted a way to do this, using a flexible socket extension you can get from walmart (at least last year you could). i've done it on each of my last two cars, in 2 and 1 hours, respectively.

no need to spend $400 or 6 hours on it.

 

You are right about that. Going by that tech article, it is just extra work and totally unnecessary to remove the dash pad just to get at the one screw on top. It is easily reached using extentions.

 

wait im confused....are u guys saying that i dont need to remove the dash??

 

Nope, I did my core replacement and only removed the cover box. Just feel around and you'll find that one at the top. Once that's out, it's nice easy work.

 

wow really? that saves so much time and work.....so the point of taking apart the dash is getting to a screw? and all u need to get the the screw is to take off the pad and take out the speaker and use an extension?......i would really apprieciate it if u could tell me a little more of what u did...steps in other words.......thanks a lot

 

Well, I didn't even take off the dash pad. I actually did everything from the bottom. I just took the hoses off the Heater Core because I put new ones in during the motor swap, Like I said, that top bolt is the key, just feel around you'll find it. Then remove the bottom bolts holding the cover on. Then just work the cover loose, down, and out and you'll see the bracket holding the heater core in place. IIRC there is 4 or 5 bolts holding that on. It may feel stuck in there but with a little patience it will come loose, just be careful because it is probably at the least half full of antifreeze. And then you just reverse the steps putting it back in, except I didn't put that top, PITA, bolt back in. I had my dad push on the core while I put the hoses back on, about 2 hours later, I cleaning the hell out of my passenger side carpet. I didn't know my core busted until antifreeze started leaking out of the car. Hope this helps to make it easier for you

 

wow....thanks for the info....im so glad that i dont have to take out my dash.....what a relief.....so u didnt put in that top bolt....i suppose it really isnt necessary?

 

I left it off, There's at least 4 more bolts hoding it in so it doesn't rattle or anything.

 

ok, last question......did u do most the work from underneith or inside the engine bay....also what area did u get to the top bolt?

 

i did most of my work within the passenger side floorboard, i also left the top most bolt out, and havnt had any problems, it took me about an hour from start to finish. i didnt remove dash either.

Kevin

 

The only thing under the hood are the hoses. Everything else is inside the car right above the passenger side floorboard. As far as that top bolt is concerned, when you look at the cover box, I believe there are two bolts on bottom, one to the left, and one to the right just follow one on the right up to top, I'm 6'4 so I have long, skinny arms, so I just worked and pushed until I got there, found it and used a 1/8 ratchet and a small extension.

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This is a basic layout if you're looking directly at from the passenger seat, not sure about the side bolts, but they're all pretty easy to get to.

 

agreed, while i havent done one on an 3rd gen yet (havent needed to), an A-tech i worked with did one in 2 hours flat (its an 8 hour job)


people make them out to be much harder to replace than it actually is

 

hah, sorry one more.....when u say from the bottom.....do u mean underneith the car....or under the dash by where passengers feet sit?

 

sorry about that, it's under the dash, inside the car.

 

ok i checked it out today......i think this is the cover that hides the heater core.....i took out 3 screws on the bottom and one on the right.....i feel one on the left side all the way at the top.......i have a question about the case......my case is shaped like a square box and then goes in and then comes back out to a square box...is this whole thing one peice.....do i just need this one screw out and the thing will come off?....it is a real pain gettin my hand up there and it hurts too.....also...is this the pita screw that u left out?

side view
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that sounds like the one, I really don't know what to tell you about that one screw. It hurts like hell to get to, but considering the alternative and taking the dash apart, it was worth it. And yes that should be the last one to pull the whole case out. Good Luck

Jeremy

 

sweet thats the news i wanna hear......i found a little kid wrench that fits up there and i turned it a couple times but then it started to rain so i stopped....plus i have no parts......now i gotta find out what parts i need and how to do this......i hope its easy

 

If you have already finished, disregard this. I have done it both ways-- doing it from underneath ('92) and taking out the dash ('89). Taking out the dash was the much easier way to do it than from underneath. I would say it took the same amount of time, but there was a lot less cussing and bitchin by taking out the dash. It was really no that hard to do the dash- quite easy qne it gives you more room. I didn't completely take the dash out, I left all the wiring and everything attached and just pulled it back out of the way. The one thing to watch is the steering column. Be careful not to let it fall and bind the brake switch-- it will break. Hope this helps you and for others who have to do this very sh*tty job. :)

 

i have gotten the panel and all the screws but the pita one off....i got 2 turns on it and then it started raining so i was forced to stop, anyway i dont have the parts so it doesnt matter......that is what im asking again......do u happen to know a list of parts that i will need.......i know im gonna need new hoses cuz my mechanic did some bypass and he cut my hoses.......thanks

 

you will need some hose, i think they're 5/8" and 3/4", a hot water valve (if that's what you bypassed), and the core.

the valve is like $15, the core is like $30.

there's a thread i wrote a long time ago about hot water valves, and how to reconnect with minimal effort (my factory return hose that went all around the bottom of the engine bay leaks, so i just reconnected new hoses up top).

these should help you out some

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...ose+valve+core
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...ose+valve+core

 

and dont forget hose clamps either.... get the screw-type

 

i think im going insane over this damn thing....first i had trouble with the cover, now i cant get the damn heater core in!!!!!!!!!!!! help me

 

Bubba,

Don't lose you cool or it'll never go in. You have to make sure both nozzles will go in without any trouble. They will bend and give a little so you may have to. I know this sounds like you shouldn't have to, but I did the same thing. It's one of those direct replacement (With a little work) kind of things. Be patient and don't get frustrated. It'll all work out in the end.

 

Would it make sense, after Step One where you disconnect the heater hoses from the core, to blow the core out (if it's not clogged) with either fresh water hose or compressed air?? This way, if anything else spills while you're removing the core, it's fresh water or (hopefully) nothing???

Also, shouldn't you wipe out the housing with wet rags to get the stink of antifreeze out?

Dean

 

yes to both. alternatively, if you don't have water or air to blow through, take some pieces of rag or something and stuff them in the old core lines to plug them.

and if you get coolant on the housing, it will smell when you run the heater.

 

ok, i think the pipes need some bending.........but another thing i noticed while i was down there.....dont know when this happened........u know that cable down there to open and close that vent thing.....well the plastic peice with the wire broke off the house that swivels.....do u understand what im talking about.....if u need me to, i can take pictures.......is this little plastic peice replacable or do i have to buy something bigger......it really didnt look like it came off........ah

 

ah, thanks a lot for the help guys.....replacement was a success....ill agree it definatley was a pita....hah, now that i did this i can do anything right? finally heat and defrost after 3 months of none of it......actually it was kind of cold tonight and i used the heat....

last thing i gotta fix is the metal that is attached to the cable for the cold...........hot lever.......it broke while i was doing this install......i got the part off the lever but i dont understand how it comes off the vent part.......any help?