heater core fail and Repair

[Jehu]

My first thought is while it may not fail dramatically it may seep some slightly.. Do you think you could have caused cracks to appear in the plastic when tightening the clamps? I don't think the pressure is tremendous in those pipes is it?

[RockJock]

That looks like a pretty clean fix. Please take tons of pics; I'm going to have to tackle mine this summer and I'll need to lean on you guys big time.....

Just finished the soldering trick on my LKM relays (several of the solders were cracked), we'll see what gives. I was whipping along a country road, with no shoulders, in the middle of the night when all of a sudden ...poof, everything went pitch black. Took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust and I managed to stop the car without going into the ditch. Waited a few minutes and restarted the car and the lights worked again. It usually happened during the day but not this time....nearly $hit my pants....

[russiankid]

Shouldn't fail, but the pipe was not meant to have a hose clamp on it so if the hose does decide to slip off you're screwed.

[tim eh?]

Shouldn't fail, but the pipe was not meant to have a hose clamp on it...

That's what I'm afraid of the most. Like Jehu says I could have worsened the cracks in the pipe. Oh well it was seeping already... hopefully there's no next time but if there is I know what parts to get. I used this gasket glue stuff also so maybe it will help. And I cut away past the cracked bits but I think I'll just have to cross my fingers.




So I guess I'll be driving around like this for a bit...


Really guys, it's not that bad. Once you get to this point (^) all that's left is to unplug the stereo, obc...


and climate control (2 plugs, 2 cables)...


the 2 potentiometer plugs on the cover...


and then the cover is held on by 10 little clips,...


and two brackets.


Then you slide the cover off...


and go find your leak!

[Paul in NZ]

That looks like a pretty clean fix. Please take tons of pics; I'm going to have to tackle mine this summer and I'll need to lean on you guys big time.....

Just finished the soldering trick on my LKM relays (several of the solders were cracked), we'll see what gives. I was whipping along a country road, with no shoulders, in the middle of the night when all of a sudden ...poof, everything went pitch black. Took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust and I managed to stop the car without going into the ditch. Waited a few minutes and restarted the car and the lights worked again. It usually happened during the day but not this time....nearly $hit my pants....

that happened to me....dont know how i knew cos the car was brand new to me..something told me "THE FOGS THE FOGS" and it worked,but still a second or two pitch black,holding the car on the same turning radius as i had started when the lights went out.!

[RockJock]

Great pictures! I see you had enough room to work without removing the seats…

How much extra work to remove/re-install the heater core? Would one have to bypass the heater core before undoing any of the connections to avoid spilling coolant all over the place? If so, what’s the best approach?

[tim eh?]

Great pictures! I see you had enough room to work without removing the seats…

How much extra work to remove/re-install the heater core? Would one have to bypass the heater core before undoing any of the connections to avoid spilling coolant all over the place? If so, what’s the best approach?

Yeah the seats don't get in the way at all, maybe they would for the heater core though. I'm not sure how the heater core comes out. Mine looks in good shape so I'm leaving it, although in the end I decided to order the pipe so I'll have a look when I go back there again .

I hardly spilled any coolant at all, not enough to kill the neighbours cat. I can't imagine the heater core holds that much but you probably have to tilt it so ... I dunno ... maybe just drain the coolant, I don't know how to bypass the core.

[uscharalph]

Yeah the seats don't get in the way at all, maybe they would for the heater core though. I'm not sure how the heater core comes out. Mine looks in good shape so I'm leaving it, although in the end I decided to order the pipe so I'll have a look when I go back there again .

I hardly spilled any coolant at all, not enough to kill the neighbours cat. I can't imagine the heater core holds that much but you probably have to tilt it so ... I dunno ... maybe just drain the coolant, I don't know how to bypass the core.

If I went thru all the trouble to get at the heater core. I'd replace everything. Get it done once and be done with it for good. If you're not replacing the heater core and just replacing the pipe, why do you have to drain it or bypass it?