Heater Core Replacement

[QangMartoq]

Been away for a while, seems my Stang is now due for a heater core replacement. It's losing coolant somewhere, and my passenger side carpeting is damp. My mechanic agrees with me that it's the heater core, I just don't want to pay him the king's ranson for labor that he wants to charge me, lol.

I read through the Haynes manual and understand the basic procedure, but a few things have me worried. For instance, where it tells me to drop the steering column. I've never even seen this done before, and some friends tell me that they've known vehicles that have had this done, and they're never the same after it.

Do I have to drop the steering column?

Also, the Haynes referred to several underhood wiring areas, and I do not know where the wiring being referred to is. Can someone kindly go through their Haynes on heater core replacement, and post pictures of the areas of wiring that I'll need to worry about?

Lastly, is there anything in the Haynes that I can skip, or any tips to make this job easier?

A reminder, all this should be looked at from the perspective of an '87 Vert, with A/C.


Thanks....

 

[MustangLXT]

If you don't have to replace it (like if you live in South Florida, like me) don't. Just bypass it. From everything I've heard, the job will take you an entire day at the least. If you do need to do it, I'd say go by haynes. If you don't trust Haynes, get a Chilton's, those are sometimes easier to work with than Haynes. Good luck....that's all I really have to say.

 

[Bearded Forever]

I dropped my column, it was no big deal. Theres no way to screw that up.
I never had to mess with any wiring under the hood. While I did pull the heater box out some I only really needed to take the first 2 bolts of to open it. It's really not a complicated deal it's just a lot of bolts and screws and remembering where everything went.

 

[kiddiccarus]

F the haynes manual, search the tech and get the one from there. I used it and it was easy for me. I have other heating issues now