I just removed my heater core to replace it today..I was scared to dive into it but..after i removed the dashpad and had a helper hold a mirror and a light...the infamous top screw in the heater box was really not all that hard to get to with a 7mm socket on a long 1/4" drive extension and a 1/4" ratchet...dont let some shop charge you 6 hours of labor to remove the dash when it doesnt have to be removed...really try it your self if you need to replace yours ...just wanted to share my exceitement with you all....

 

WHOA what? it took me like,a day to swap my core what are you talking about? i had my dash completely out, console, dash everything.

 

Good job, feels good to do it yourself huh?

It took me the whole of 50 minutes to change mine out. Removed the lower "cover" and the "glove bag". Its not as bad as some make it sound.

(Typo)

 

yeah the shop manual calls for about 6 hours labor to do it...I cant afford to pay $500 to replace a $12 part...thats crazy...

 

cool this is right up my ally

can you please give more details as I have never dived this deep into a 3rd gen before and I need to change a heater core in the ta


thanks

rick

 

If you search for "heater core" you will find a few HOWTOs that use the "Fast" method. Keep in mind its not necessarily easier.

 

sorry i missed your reply,all i did was remove the core and replace my housing...my sister works at a parts distributor and i was going to get her price on one..plus i am running some cooling system flush in the cooling system before i replace the core because the coolant was like a rusty red color and i didnt want to put a new core in that...found out my sis cant get cores so i will have to go the autozone way i guess...

 

yeah it was super easy, i replaced mine on a trip to FL. only took about an hour or 2 and the fact a new one was only $20 was the ****!

 

yeah man labor is what gets ya at a shop...glad im mechanically inclined in some areas

 

I replaced the one in my 84 in about 1/2 hour. They are very easy. Dont know about the Camaros though. Never done one of those.

 

I tried replacing mine earlier this year because the old one was leaking eekyookycoolantvapor and killing me slowly. The old one came out fast enough. I was scared to bend the pipes on the new one into place so after about 4 hours and still no new core, I connected the old lines together and returned the new unused core.

After this was all over, I heard that you're sometimes SUPPOSED to bend the pipes into place if they don't fit. You people who have had an easy replacement probably just got cores which were shaped properly in the first place. I have to tackle this task again in a month so I have some heat this winter. I live in south Florida but it still gets cold in February!

 

i just got thru installing my new one today.i didn't have to bend anything just had to line up the pipes with the holes then get out and look under hood to make sure they were lined up and pushed it in...it took about an hour by my self(this was after i removed my old one earlier this year...so the top screw is already goneIt works great but now i have to find a radiator leak...i think the previous owner used bars leak to stop the leak and with my extensive flushing i think i broke it loose...so i say oh darn i guess i,ll have to get an aluminum radiator to replace it

 

Good information being posted.