L
Larry Langley
Guest
1/18/2005
Well, it finally happened after 33 years of life. The heater core sprung a leak.
Decided to remove and replace it myself and will keep you all posted as to the trials and tribulations.
1. Placed the car on jack stands.
2. Removed negative lead from battery.
3. Drained the radiator.
4. Removed the heater hoses from under the car and the engine.
Those were the easy steps - now for the hard ones.
5. Removed both seats.
6 Removed ebrake console.
7. Removed shifter console.
8. Loosened instrument cluster bezel.
9. Removed passenger sill plate.
10. Removed passenger lower dash panel and disconnected right speaker wire.
11. Removed passenger kick panel and disconnected vacuum hose from vent door actuator.
12. Removed passenger carpet. (Otherwise you will spill more coolant on it).
13. Pushed instrument cluster and radio to left of center for access to ductwork while being extremely careful not to damage or kink oil pressure line.
14. Removed and tagged vacuum hoses from ducting actuators.
Things are really looking like a mess now
15. Removed defroster ducting.
16. Removed three screws attaching the center air distribution box to heater
box.
17. Removed the three inside screws holding the heater box to the firewall.
18. Removed one nut from the stud attached to the top left of the heater box protruding through the firewall. (The nut is the only external item to remove with the exception of the heater hoses).
The stud also has a wiring holder attached to it on the engine side and is easy to locate. It is just under and to the left of the windshield wiper door actuator viewed as if sitting in the car. It will be to the right and under the actuator viewed from the engine bay.
19. Push the center air distribution box slightly toward the drivers side in order to disengage it from the heater box.
20. Carefully and deliberately pull heater box toward you while rotating it about 45 degrees to the right. Rotation to the right is necessary in order for coolant entry/exit tubes of the heater core protruding outside of the firewall to clear the entrance of the firewall opening.
21. Now tag and disconnect the remaining vacuum hoses.
Things are really looking scary now!
22. Remove the Bowden cable from the heater box connecting mechanism only being careful not to bend it.
23. You should now be able to remove the heater box which contains the heater core from the car to your workbench.
24 Remove air distribution box and remaining ductwork from dash area for cleaning and resealing.
Of course at this point it appears as if the interior of the car has been worked over by a chop shop and looks rather intimidating. But, I am now ready to disassemble the heater box for removal of the heater core.
I ordered my new core from Corvette Central as well as new heater hoses and gasket set. The old gaskets and seals in the heater box and ductwork were very deteriorated. At this point I decided to remove the clock for rebuild and to replace the casette player with a CD player. May as well while I have this thing torn up. I will follow-up with the "rest of the story" as I progress. BTW, I am an accountant - not a mechanic! If I can do it, anybody can - just takes a few guts to tear into the thing.
1/24/2004
Received all my stuff from Corvette Central and performed the following this past weekend.
25. Disassembled the heater box and cleaned the old seals/gaskets. Cleaned all of the ductwork and center air distribution assembly as well. Used a single edge razor blade for scrapeing old gaskets/seals and acetone to clean the metal bezel holding the heater core. Soap and water w/brush for the rest.
26. Vacuum tested the two vacuum actuators (one on the heater box and one on the air distribution assembly). Be sure to vacuum test both sides of the actuators. I used a vacuum pump but the test could be done in true "bubba" style by mouth suction and eyeball if you want. Just need to verify that the actuators are not leaking. Both of mine were good.
27. Applied lithium grease to the metal parts of the actuator linkage that rub or rotate against other metal parts. (Same as the factory)
28. Fitted the new heator core to the heater core bezel. This took a little while to think through because the new one was not the precise fit as the old Harrison core. Couldn't find a source for a Harrison core so I settled for a CC replacement core. I worried about this for a while, but with some gentle nudging and slight and careful bending of the coolant entry and exit pipes, I got it to fit reasonably well.
29. Performed a 24 hour vacuum test on the new core before final assembly. Placed a vacuum on it of 20 in. hg. for 24 hours and detected no leakage. You could perform a pressure test if you wanted. Either way - test for leaks before reassembly! Wouldn't want to do this PITA job over again.
30. Opened the new heater box/-A/C ductwork gasket and seal package from CC. This package is a "generic" collection of seals and gaskets designed for the entire C-3 run. You have to think about what you are going to use out of the package. Once you determine which seals and gaskets to use, it is a very straightforward job to install them. There is a "generic" exploded picture of where the gaskets go, but you still have to use your judgement because of the variations to the system over the years. You will also get the A/C seals for the engine side with the rebuild kit so save those for that job when you get ready to do it.
31. Reinstalled heater core into the heater box and organized everything for reinstallation into the car.
32.Before I reinstall the rebuilt heater box/ductwork, I removed the passenger kick panel vent door actuator and vent door. performed a vacuum test to the actuator and cleaned/lubed the vent door to actuator linkage. Also vacuum cleaned the space behind the vent door location. There was an accumulation of dirt, leaves and crap inside it which could cause a body drainage problem. BTW, the vent door itself lifts out very easily once you disconnect the actuator assembly from it. Just be careful that you don't loose the retaining clip/speed nut holding the two together. The vent door just lifts up against a spring loaded top hinge. The bottom hinge will come out of its hinge hole and all you have to do is push the bottom hinge back into the vent passage and pull it out into the cabin by top hinge. The vent door gasket was in tatters so now I know why the cabin had hot air swirling through it the past five years. It just as well had not even been there. There is no vent on the drivers side of my car.
At this point, my confidence is high because I haven't run into any surprises and am making good progress for an amateur. Patience is the rule however. The most difficult thing I have encountered so far is twisting my body around to work on this thing.
Ordered the vent door rebuild kit (should have done this earlier but didn't think to do it). Red69 reminded me to do it. Thanks Red69!
I will write the reinstallation phase of this when I get ready for final reassembly and interior vacuum hose replacement. Probably within a few days. Anyway, thanks for the tips and words of encouragement - any and all comments/advice are welcome and I appreciate them.
Larry
Well, it finally happened after 33 years of life. The heater core sprung a leak.
Decided to remove and replace it myself and will keep you all posted as to the trials and tribulations.
1. Placed the car on jack stands.
2. Removed negative lead from battery.
3. Drained the radiator.
4. Removed the heater hoses from under the car and the engine.
Those were the easy steps - now for the hard ones.
5. Removed both seats.
6 Removed ebrake console.
7. Removed shifter console.
8. Loosened instrument cluster bezel.
9. Removed passenger sill plate.
10. Removed passenger lower dash panel and disconnected right speaker wire.
11. Removed passenger kick panel and disconnected vacuum hose from vent door actuator.
12. Removed passenger carpet. (Otherwise you will spill more coolant on it).
13. Pushed instrument cluster and radio to left of center for access to ductwork while being extremely careful not to damage or kink oil pressure line.
14. Removed and tagged vacuum hoses from ducting actuators.
Things are really looking like a mess now
15. Removed defroster ducting.
16. Removed three screws attaching the center air distribution box to heater
box.
17. Removed the three inside screws holding the heater box to the firewall.
18. Removed one nut from the stud attached to the top left of the heater box protruding through the firewall. (The nut is the only external item to remove with the exception of the heater hoses).
The stud also has a wiring holder attached to it on the engine side and is easy to locate. It is just under and to the left of the windshield wiper door actuator viewed as if sitting in the car. It will be to the right and under the actuator viewed from the engine bay.
19. Push the center air distribution box slightly toward the drivers side in order to disengage it from the heater box.
20. Carefully and deliberately pull heater box toward you while rotating it about 45 degrees to the right. Rotation to the right is necessary in order for coolant entry/exit tubes of the heater core protruding outside of the firewall to clear the entrance of the firewall opening.
21. Now tag and disconnect the remaining vacuum hoses.
Things are really looking scary now!
22. Remove the Bowden cable from the heater box connecting mechanism only being careful not to bend it.
23. You should now be able to remove the heater box which contains the heater core from the car to your workbench.
24 Remove air distribution box and remaining ductwork from dash area for cleaning and resealing.
Of course at this point it appears as if the interior of the car has been worked over by a chop shop and looks rather intimidating. But, I am now ready to disassemble the heater box for removal of the heater core.
I ordered my new core from Corvette Central as well as new heater hoses and gasket set. The old gaskets and seals in the heater box and ductwork were very deteriorated. At this point I decided to remove the clock for rebuild and to replace the casette player with a CD player. May as well while I have this thing torn up. I will follow-up with the "rest of the story" as I progress. BTW, I am an accountant - not a mechanic! If I can do it, anybody can - just takes a few guts to tear into the thing.
1/24/2004
Received all my stuff from Corvette Central and performed the following this past weekend.
25. Disassembled the heater box and cleaned the old seals/gaskets. Cleaned all of the ductwork and center air distribution assembly as well. Used a single edge razor blade for scrapeing old gaskets/seals and acetone to clean the metal bezel holding the heater core. Soap and water w/brush for the rest.
26. Vacuum tested the two vacuum actuators (one on the heater box and one on the air distribution assembly). Be sure to vacuum test both sides of the actuators. I used a vacuum pump but the test could be done in true "bubba" style by mouth suction and eyeball if you want. Just need to verify that the actuators are not leaking. Both of mine were good.
27. Applied lithium grease to the metal parts of the actuator linkage that rub or rotate against other metal parts. (Same as the factory)
28. Fitted the new heator core to the heater core bezel. This took a little while to think through because the new one was not the precise fit as the old Harrison core. Couldn't find a source for a Harrison core so I settled for a CC replacement core. I worried about this for a while, but with some gentle nudging and slight and careful bending of the coolant entry and exit pipes, I got it to fit reasonably well.
29. Performed a 24 hour vacuum test on the new core before final assembly. Placed a vacuum on it of 20 in. hg. for 24 hours and detected no leakage. You could perform a pressure test if you wanted. Either way - test for leaks before reassembly! Wouldn't want to do this PITA job over again.
30. Opened the new heater box/-A/C ductwork gasket and seal package from CC. This package is a "generic" collection of seals and gaskets designed for the entire C-3 run. You have to think about what you are going to use out of the package. Once you determine which seals and gaskets to use, it is a very straightforward job to install them. There is a "generic" exploded picture of where the gaskets go, but you still have to use your judgement because of the variations to the system over the years. You will also get the A/C seals for the engine side with the rebuild kit so save those for that job when you get ready to do it.
31. Reinstalled heater core into the heater box and organized everything for reinstallation into the car.
32.Before I reinstall the rebuilt heater box/ductwork, I removed the passenger kick panel vent door actuator and vent door. performed a vacuum test to the actuator and cleaned/lubed the vent door to actuator linkage. Also vacuum cleaned the space behind the vent door location. There was an accumulation of dirt, leaves and crap inside it which could cause a body drainage problem. BTW, the vent door itself lifts out very easily once you disconnect the actuator assembly from it. Just be careful that you don't loose the retaining clip/speed nut holding the two together. The vent door just lifts up against a spring loaded top hinge. The bottom hinge will come out of its hinge hole and all you have to do is push the bottom hinge back into the vent passage and pull it out into the cabin by top hinge. The vent door gasket was in tatters so now I know why the cabin had hot air swirling through it the past five years. It just as well had not even been there. There is no vent on the drivers side of my car.
At this point, my confidence is high because I haven't run into any surprises and am making good progress for an amateur. Patience is the rule however. The most difficult thing I have encountered so far is twisting my body around to work on this thing.
Ordered the vent door rebuild kit (should have done this earlier but didn't think to do it). Red69 reminded me to do it. Thanks Red69!
I will write the reinstallation phase of this when I get ready for final reassembly and interior vacuum hose replacement. Probably within a few days. Anyway, thanks for the tips and words of encouragement - any and all comments/advice are welcome and I appreciate them.
Larry
