Help! I've had it! No more thousand dollar repair bills! I'm doin' it myself this time. I've looked at my Fulton manual and the job doesn't sound that bad. My question is, anyone replaced the heater core on their 3rd gen camaro? Mine's a 92 V8 with a/c. They a/c doesn't work. I'm going to bypass the heater core it until I'm confident enough to do it. Any problems that could trip me up? Thanks for any info!

Mechanics told me the dash needs to be removed? how hard can that be? Certainly not $700 hard. I've put in front speakers before.

I'm tired of shiftly mechanics. Anyone in Louisville, KY and have a trusty mechanic? Maybe I'll just buy my own freakin' garage. It might be cheaper.

*rant off*

Thanks!

-Greg

 

I replaced the one in my 87 camaro, was very easy. I think the later ones can be more difficult to replace, though. Bypassing the core won't hurt anything, just make sure your connections are good so you don't leak coolant on your y-pipe. I did the same thing as you, because I didn't have time. I just ran two 90 degree elbows into a hose and connected them like they replaced the core, but inside the engine bay. I'm sure there are easier ways.

 

It is not particularly difficult but very time consuming. Remember to pull the dash off of the cowl, you have to:
Remove the dash pad,
Drop the steering column,
Remove the computer,
loosen and rotate the console

Come up with a plan to store all of the screws in a way that you'll know where to put them when you are putting everything back together (ziploc bags or something). There will be alot of screws, bolts, etc.

I did mine last year following the instructions in the Haynes manual. The Haynes manual was correct for this.

Also, start in the morning to give yourself time out for swearing, bitching and cooling off after getting annoyed. Otherwise, you may find yourself putting it all back together in the dark (like I did).

Good luck.

 

I just did the heater core on my '92 RS about 2 months ago. It was a total pain. But not impossible. The dash pad has to come off and I was able to pull out the passenger side slightly without taking the whole thing off. I needed this to get the screw that is on top of the heater box. It is a tough one, but it can be done.

After that, some time on your back taking out the screw holding in the heater core and putting in the new one.

Be prepared for the old one to leak as your taking it out. Put down some towels or newpaper to protect your carpet.

You may need to bend the copper inlets slightly on the new one to make it fit the holes in the firewall. Hold it up to the old one as starting point and you should be pretty close.

Dont' make any other plans for the day and be patient and you will save yourself $600 - $700 dollars. It will be worth it.

Good Luck

Bill

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I don't feel half as bad about it now. I'm so tired of spending what little extra cash I have on car repairs. Hopefully a new job will get me a house and a g-a-r-a-g-e where I can start doing work myself. And maybe another car so I can turn this beauty into the "fun" car. Are there any special tools for dropping the steering column? My carpet is already f*cked. That's ok I guess because I want to redo the interior in all black anyway. Those questions won't come til next year though. Welp, guess I'll give it a try tomorrow. Adios e gracias!

-Greg

 

Dropping the steering column is easy. You simply need to remove 2 bolts from a bracket that straddles/cradles the steering assembly relatively far down the column. The will be about where your knees are when you are driving. Once you see these bolts, you'll see what I mean.

Watch that you don't catch any wires...

Good luck and happy swearing.

 

I've done it twice on my 92 RS without removing the dash.
The top bolt is hard to get to, but I agree, it's not hard enough to justify $700.Actually wasn't nearly as difficult as I'd heard it was.
-Rich-

 

careful not to break off any of the grounding ring terminals or otherwise damage the dash electrical harness.