Heater Core

Dr_Jones · Post by **Dr_Jones** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 6:21 pm

Hi all, I still have my problem of a leaking heater core to be replace. For the moment I have bypassed it so it's not leaking on the floor at least but I have no control of temperature other than cold! I was having a look at the complete FTO site and came across this link http://www.hostilesmoker.pwp.blueyonder ... wto08.html

Now can the heater core be removed this way without removing the whole dash. Does the air con gas have to be emptied etc? Just think that might be easier than the whole dash again.

Dan

Dr_Jones · Post by **Dr_Jones** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 7:25 am

Anyone?

Post by **dstocks** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 8:47 am

Sorry Dr Jones,

You seem to be in unexplored territory.....

Dr_Jones · Post by **Dr_Jones** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 8:49 am

It appears so, I'll do some more looking around I suppose.

bigpitty1 · Post by **bigpitty1** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 11:09 pm

No the air-con gas doesn't have to be vacuumed because the heater runs off the car cooling system not cooling as Air Con but the radiator and coolant and stuff - you get my point.
I'm not sure how it is like on the FTO but I think in some cars you have to remove the evaporator to get to the heater core, and in this case you do have to vacuume the A/C gas out, but Like I said I'm not sure what it like under the dash on the FTO.

Dr_Jones · Post by **Dr_Jones** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 6:45 am

I have done this job before myself but I took the whole dash out. I have read that it can be done I'm just not sure how yet.

Storm · Post by **Storm** » Wed Feb 01, 2006 2:32 am

Yes you need to suck out the aircon gas as you need to remove the cooling bit from inside the car. Hostiles site give you decent pics of this but if you go to here, http://www.ftooc.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=44505 you will get a write up on replacing the heater matrix without removing the whole dash. I've had to do it three times in as many weeks so I can now do it in under 3 hours.

Storm

FtoSam · Post by **FtoSam** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 2:49 pm

Can anyone direct me to a guide like the one on FTOOC?? I dont have a membership...

Need to do this work in next few days...

Post by **Bennoz** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:12 pm

Storm on the ftooc wrote:Replacing your heater matrix

You only need some simple tools for this job but you will need to depressurise the air con system as you remove the air con evaporator. This is best done professionally but I was okay because mines had no gas in it anyway!

Tools you need are:

Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Pliers, preferable long nosed ones
Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ 10 & 12mm sockets
Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Long extension and flexible joint for socket set
Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ 10 & 12mm ring spanners
Ã¢â‚¬Â¢ Cross headed screwdriver

Where to start is the first hurdle as it seems like a daunting job but you should manage it in about 3-4 hours.

First remove the centre armrest, undoing the two screws under the ashtray and the two inside the armrest. Put this away somewhere safe. Next remove the centre piece from around the gear stick and put it somewhere safe. This can be tricky so take your time so as not to break it.

You now need to remove the rest of the centre tunnel. This is done by removing three screws from either side and the two outer ones from under the clock binnacle. You will need to disconnect the electrics as you go obviously.

Now you need to remove your glove compartment. This is done by squeezing in the sides so it drops down then removing the two screws you can see. The grey rail it sits on can also be removed by undoing the bolts and screws you can see but there is another 10mm bolt at the bottom outer edge of the dashboard. On mine this allowed me to wiggle the support rail off.

Now you can remove your evaporator through this gap. To release the evaporator there are two 12mm nuts which need undone top and bottom and two electrical connections. The evaporator is still held in place from the outside at this point so you need to look under the bonnet. There are two 10mm bolts holding the hose connections in place as well as a rubber outlet pipe. The 10mm bolts are on a diamond shaped piece just behind the battery and the rubber pipe is about 300mm (a foot) down under the water pipes for the heater. This just pulls off.
Returning to the foot well you can now slide the evaporator out by pulling gently from the bottom and rotating it as you pull. Good, now put that all to one side

To remove the pipes from the heater matrix you need to look under the bonnet at where they enter and they are held on by clips. This is where the long nosed pliers come in handy as the clips are tucked away under brake pipes and space can be limited.

Return to the inside of the car and you can see where the heater matrix sits. You are now one screw and a couple of nuts away from your goal. The matrix sits in a white box held on with four 12mm nuts. The two in the passenger foot well are reasonably easy to get at and should be removed completely. The two on the driversÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ side are a bigger pain to reach, especially the upper one, but these should just be loosened as they do not need to be removed completely. Once this has been done the whole unit can be gently levered out from the passenger side bulkhead. NOT REMOVED but just brought out enough for the matrix pipes no longer to be sitting through the holes in the bulkhead. On the unit, between the two matrix pipes you will find a plastic hinged clip holding the matrix in place. This can be removed by loosening off the screw and lifting it out of its pivot hole. This hinge piece has had a lot of heat over the years so it will be brittle and may well break. If it does it is no big deal. Now you can slide/ wiggle the heater matrix out and replace it with that nice new one.

As they say in all the best books, fitting is the reverse on the above. As I said, it can be time consuming but if you go about it in an organised way then 3-4 hours should be sufficient.

FtoSam · Post by **FtoSam** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 3:24 pm

Sounds like i may have issues with space around the turbo... damn... may have to jack it up...

Storm · Post by **Storm** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 9:55 pm

Sam, I have done it about four or five times now and, for the sake of 5 or 6 bolts holding the dash on, I would always strip out the dash now. It give you much easier access, you dont need to vacum out the air con then get it recharged and you dont end up scrabbling about the floor like some mad contortionist with a spanner in their hand.

Dr_Jones · Post by **Dr_Jones** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:03 am

I had no major issues with the dash itself but mand I had trouble getting the core to fit even after that. Maybe I missed that but I say worst work on a car I've done.

khunjeng · Post by **khunjeng** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 10:43 am

what does it look like. Is it a big plastic box looking thing?

FtoSam · Post by **FtoSam** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 10:56 am

Righto...

After my Tune, Im pulling the car off the road to do this... Will also pull out seats and carpet, etc and re-run all my wiring...

Will write up a full DIY on everything from Removing seats, to center console to dash to heater core...

Any volunteers to help out?

khunjeng · Post by **khunjeng** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 11:00 am

actually the guide in this thread is pretty accurate already.

So I do have a spare heater core..nice one for me.

Dr_Jones · Post by **Dr_Jones** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 12:29 pm

Yeah the core itself is like a mini radiator that sits in the white plastic air box. The air box part is the bit I had trouble getting in. As I said probably missed something. Nothing a little broom leverage didn't fix.

khunjeng · Post by **khunjeng** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 12:54 pm

Dr_Jones wrote:Yeah the core itself is like a mini radiator that sits in the white plastic air box. The air box part is the bit I had trouble getting in. As I said probably missed something. Nothing a little broom leverage didn't fix.

lol I just cleaned up my garage...found that white box that FTO388 gave me some time ago.