Hello, man I am p off'd! I smell radiator fluid in my car yesterday and then checked under the hood and found no leaks. Today I get in car and it smells strong now, I noticed a wet spot on passenger floor mat, went over and found a puddle of anti freeze under floor mat!!! What the hell is this, did anybody else ever have this happen. I try to keep car mint 42k miles and these hings keep happening to me from one to another, what is this anybody? Andy

 

Heater core gone. Located under dashboard. Couple people on board have said it takes a little over hour. Never replaced in third, but another car I did took all day.

 

Just noticed where your from, you can just bypass. Goes in top, goes out bottom, just use rubber hose.

 

Thank you! I will take it to the shop Monday morning to replace. Andy
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Where in dash then, I do not use heater (Florida), please help!!! ANdy

 

You must have a heater core leak. Your car is 16 years old; now and then some of the aging parts will die and need to be replaced..

I have an 82 Z 28, original owner, and I just found a receipt last week for a heater core replacment in the early 90s, when the car was 10 - 12 years old.


Its no fun to keep having parts break but they were not designed too last forever.

Dave

 

I was going to say the same thing since i'm just outside FtLauderdale. Bypassing the heater core is easy to do.
Drain your coolant.
There are two small hoses going into the firewall on the pass side.
Disconnect the two hoses and connect them together with a coupling.
You will only need two hose clamps and the coupler.

 

Thanks, yeah I know and REALLY LOVE these cars, but I bought it 4 years ago for 11k with 8900 miles. It has been one thing after another, I can list a ton of stuff, car was stored by original owner and I take care of it as if it were 100k plus type of car. This is why I laugh at the Firehawk people wantinh top dollar becasue the new owners are going to have to replace a ton of stuff to drive it daily. I have my photos on F Quick and my name is 1991Formula350 there too, funny because I sold that one, I should change my name to 1991Formula305 now. Andy
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Firstfirebird, Thanks, do you know any south florida F body car hand outs, we are a rare breed down here! I am in Miami Lakes! ANdy

 

Wacha mean hand outs?
I'm actually in Coral Springs

 

I type without looking at screen, sorry. I mean a monthly hang out oor third gen meeting. Remeber the Tower shops by I595 and University 10 years ago, the good days before the import jerks.

I looked at engine bay, The hose is about 1" right, do I need to go under car to do or am I looking at wrong ones, Thanks! Andy

 

I'm on vacation so I can't just go look, but it's the two hoses that are attached to the firewall (yes about 1" or so outside measurements).

 

I took it to Goodyear shop today to bypass since I have brakes leaking again, another 588.00 bill. Man this is getting old, will try to detail and maybe sell, my wife said enough is enough with repair. I am afraid to drive anymore, I woill post on correct section on replacements to see if anyone else beats me. Andy

 

Beats you?! Are you going to sell the 350 or 305, and what kind of shape are they in? I'm here in Broward (Coral Springs).

 

Sell if you must but once you get these cars right where everything is working boy are they a lot of fun.

 

Sorry, but that is some BS. Just purchase our $20.00 haynes or chilton (or both) manuals... read up and ask us, do it yourself.

I did it w/o taking out the dash, it took 2 hours by myself on a mildly warm day.... but until i got to that day, i took a $1.50 piece of fitting & connected my 2 hoses (inside the engine bay) to each other, very easy... and I learned something.

Spend a couple of hours getting to know your car, or spend a weeks worth of pay and complain... your choice.

 

Dave

 

Heater core replacement isnt that hard to do. Tight quarters, sure. You could probably do the job right in a weekend. New replacement cores cost less than $50. The two hoses, if you purchase correctly formed style cost almost as much as the heater core. The lower clamp on the 90 deg formed hose is a little hard to get to. And you might also want to replace the heater control bypass valve.

 

Thanks for the help everyone! Yeah I should look up the stuff to repair, but time is an issue.
Please no cheap shots on wages, I can assure you I could buy a new car upwards of 60k if I choose, I complain because like I said this was a stored car, not a beat up high mileage car.
Firstfirebird, I will pm with info, thanks everyone! ANdy

 

I think alot of times we forget that these cars are 20+ years old. Even when you think everything has been replaced, something breaks. In the last 2 years I have put 3000 miles on the bird. It has 169000 on it. I paid 2500.00 for it and have proably spent another 5000.00 in it in repairs. (It runs great but I would trade for a second gen or lemans in a minute. LOL) I waiting for the price spike when the 09 comes out. If it has the same resurgence of the mustang, we will all be smiling.


"no cheap shot on wages" ???????????????????????

 

I HAVE REPLACED A # OF THESE IN 3RD GENS, MY LAST 1 TOOK 35 MIN! VERY EASY.

 

I HAVE REPLACED A # OF THESE IN 3RD GENS, MY LAST 1 TOOK 35 MIN! VERY EASY.

 

I just did mine, it took me a while to figure out as i had half the dash off, but if you remove the ECM you can get to the bolts easy. Next time, i should be done alot quicker, but hopefully there wont have to be another one placed in.

 

Correct me if this doesnt make sense but... I think the main problem with the southern cars dumping their heater cores is the fact that the heat isnt used. I only drive my firebird in the summer, so the heat is never used, and sure enough bam, had to do the heater core, i seen coolant on the floor too... Its my understanding that if the temperature control **** isnt in the "hot" position then coolant doesnt flow thru the heater core due to the bypass valve- coolant can become very stagnant over time which should help to explain the rot... So dont forget to run your heater every now n then to get the juices flowin.
Derek

 

Bofore you go buying stuff....just check the connections at the firewall............i had that happen to me.....and it was just a loose hose clamp.........

 

You'll find meet-up info on these sites:

http://sffba.net
http://fl-thirdgen.org (not on here so much)

be sure to say hi