Thread: Heater core replacment, short cut or the long way?

FWIW:
Take plenty of photos of where connectors go, use sealable sandwich bags for screws and tape them to the unit being removed, some 5"x 3" index cards with diagrams and which screws go where if they're different lengths to go into the sealable bag as necessary... sometimes it's hard to remember what went where ... don't rush it and you should be fine

The load space and top of loadspace cover can be very useful for parts storage keeping most of it contained in one place...

good luck

I found it all quite straight forward, I assume you have done it by now.

From memory the bolts for the passenger airbag gave me some issues, and I did some creative bending of the metal arms infront of the heater box. I drove mine for 3 weeks or so without a dash. I was mad back then.

Thanks for the photo jsp, wow that looks scary!
Have not done it yet, but will be onto it soon.
How long do you think it took to get it all apart?

I remember at the time i didn't have the latest rave and therefor my copy didnt mention a screw in the top of the ducting and so it took me about 3 hours more to work out it was there to get the heater unit out.

Given I have had my dash out half a dozen times I would say an hour each way to allow time to do it properly, how ever the first time took me a good 3 or 4 hours because I didn't have much of a clue what I as doing.

I got caught by that too, very frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If your willing to cut the heater duct yes it will work. The duct in mine was allready cut, so I tried it this way. Access (especially room to undo the posidrive screw that holds the pipes into the core) is tight. I couldn't get it undone so I took out the dash.

another option is to just undo the 8 bolts that hold the whole dash in, disconnect the plugs behind both kick pannels, unclip some of the clips that hold the electrical harness and disconnect the four heater ducts, disconnect the passenger side fan blower, air temp sensor and feed the harness under the heater unit a little, and undo two bolts behind the centre switch pannel, and take out the plate behind the aircon ecu, and the dash will come forward about a foot which allows a lot better access. It's also far enough forward to change the core too, and you won't need to cut the vents.

To pull the dash forward takes about 30 minutes.

For those of you who have done this job, what secures the heater core in position?
Does the heater core just sit in there or are there bolts to undo?
The shortcut method description seems to suggest it will just slide out of the cavity.
Thanks for the suggestion Benji, I had not heard of that way before, although I'd probably need photos to attempt that method.
It's one of those things, after you have done it once, next time it is much easier because you know what to expect and where everything is.

Hi Peter

I'm in Newport if you want a hand (I can spare an hour or two over the weekend).

I've changed the O rings and the removed the LHS blend motor - my dash has all the holes cut if you need a reference point and I have an extra long phillips screwdriver if you need it.

From memory, taking apart the front of the dash was relatively easy

Jonathan

There's a 5mm flange around the edge of the plastic end tank on the drivers side that has two phillips head screws through it into the heater unit. Undo these, and the core slides straight out the drivers side.