Well... as i got into my car a few days back... i noticed a large puddle of anti-freeze in the passanger side floormat . I had NO idea how it got to being there...but after doing a little research and reading on the boards...i read somewhere that it might be a sign of the heater core breaking? Is this true?

 

ok....well i believe it is the heater core.... so i bypassed it with the coolant and now am wondering how the **** to get to it?? anybody??

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/t...atercore.shtml

Search the message board as well.

 

thanks for that....i forgot there was tech boards on the website aswell

 

Hey there, I just replaced the heater core in my camaro yesterday, what a PITA. I had the same problem with the puddle of antifreeze on the passenger floor, so I to bypassed the core before storing the car for winter. Well anyways, I tried following the directions from the tech board and they were absolutely useless. I don't know what car they were written for, but there is absolutely no way to see that top screw on the heater core box from looking at it from above the windsheild. The screw is actually tucked back underneath the cowl, right by the firewall. I ended up following the directions in my Haynes manual and it worked out just fine. It was a pain removing the center console and pulling back the dash, but i believe that it worked out a lot easier than just trying to do all the work by only removing the top and bottom dash pads. Good luck with your little endeavor, and reply back with how things worked out for you. Oh yeah, it took me about 4 1/2 hours to finish the job, but i wasted a bit of time trying to follow the tech article.

 

If when I slide the temp control over to “warm” (as opposed to "cold"), and, as a result, the windshield and window glass gets fogged up, plus I smell coolant, does that mean that my heater core is broken and needs to be replaced?

 

You are correct. My 84 z28 did that and it was the heater core. I knew because my dad is a Heavyline GM mechanic and he diagnosed it in seconds. Unfortunatley he diagnosed it and I had to fix it. I learned from it though. If you need info on how to do it let me know. It is not hard to replace it just takes a while. Oh yeah it takes alot of patience to!!!!!!

 

Thanks Samdog. I actually tried to replace the heater core myself, but I kept running into sticking points. What made me quit was getting to the point were I had to remove the heater hoses from the heater core. I got the hose clamps out of the way and I tried to pull the hoses off the core, but it was just too damn hard. It was as if the hoses seized onto the heater pipes.

On top of that, the Haynes Repair Manual says “Use care in removing the hoses so as not to damage the heater pipes.” If I’m going to replace the heater core, then what does it matter if I damage the inlet and outlet pipes? Aren’t they part of the old core?

 

yes the heater pipes are connected to the heater core that you are replacing, so it doesn't matter if you damage them a little bit as long as you can still get them throught their holes. As far as getting the hoses off the pipes, did you try twisting them a bunch. That's how i got mine off last fall to bypass the heater core before putting the car in storage. I think I might have taken an adjustable wrench to the hose and squeezed and twisted a little bit also, but I don't remember for sure. As long as you keep working on them they should come off without too much trouble.

 

The best way to get them off is to get a blade and slice them. Them you can either replace the hoses if there are worn out or cut the excess off that you cut and reuse them!

 

can someone give me instruction on how to bypass the heater core?

 

I just took a 5/8" hose from the water pump outlet to and circled it back to the heater core return fitting on the engine block. It is 3/4" fitting but I could get the 5/8" hose over it.

 

Well I did my heater core this weekend. I agree with the earlier post that some of the online information is useless. First of all there is NO need to remove the console or console stuff. After taking off the trim piece underneath the passenger side dash the 4 screws for the box are accessable as they will ever be. 3 are easy to reach and the 4th is on the top of the box in the middle where there is an indentation in the box. I used a 1/4" rachet with a 6" extension and used the indentation as a guide to remove the top screw. One of the toughest things for me was to get the inlet and outlet lined up correctly, for the new core, so I could get them pushed through the firewall. Be sure to compare the outlet alginment of the old heater core that you remove with the new one. My new heater core outlet was off in 2 directions.

Good luck,
phil