well, i decided to torture myself and do my heater core. got the big ego cranking, figuring a couple of hours, maybe 3 at the most. wrong........as usual. 2 1/2 hours just to get the thing out. hope to finish up on wed night. i know this was an "economy car" but man they could have made this a lot easier to do. i was thinking it couldn't be any worse than my 88 lx but i was wrong, again. if anybody needs ac parts from under the dash let me know.
I have learned there is NEVER a simple job with a mustang II. Like the time my ex boyf was putting my short thow in... took him like 2 hours or something because the hole that had been cut for the manual wasn't big enough.. and the bolts were the shifter bolt on to the tranny were a little too far back, he had to crawl under the car to like knock em loose or something. My tranny sets kinda crooked or something too.. lol
I will bypass it and go without heat for months before I will ever change one again, GM has the heater core done right
i thought about going the bypass route but this time of year and in the spring the windows fog up quick. on a good note i have found the source of about 80% of my squeeks and rattles.
The worst part is that you can't change the heater hoses without removing the core. Most other cars have the hose connected at the firewall. Not the II. You have to take the core out to remove the hoses.
heater core The VERY first thing I did when I got my car was to take off the dash and replace the heater core even though it did already work without leaking at the time but I had to be sure. I had taken two days of work off to do the job and just barely got it done in time. man, i remember those days.
Amazing comments....remove two control cables, four bolts hold the casing to the firewall, one bolt under the dash for a support, remove the vent tube, defrost vent and floor vent and it falls out. I don't know what your doing that makes it such a job, but when I followed the shop manual, which included taking pictures, I had it out in two hours. Couple more hours cleaning, re-sealing and had it back in place in maybe two hours more. I took my time, pulled the dash top, glove box, and passenger bezel out. I didn't bleed or scream, so I'm confused??? Now I don't have AC and I'm sure that adds some problems, but considering I did blow the core while running at 6,000 rpm at the end of the strip which made a real mess and finished off my original carpet, I was pleasantly surprised how easy it really was. Dave
i had mine out in 2 1\2. the unit containing the ac and the heater core runs from the passenger side kick panel across the tranny tunnel to the gas pedal. then you need to deal with the ac ducts themselves. plus with the ac your not only messing with the heater core ends going thru the firewall you also have all the ac going thru the firewall in a totally different spot. oh don't forget the vacuum controls, the electrical connections, the control cables, rmoving the glove box, then there is a support for the dash that is in the way that runs from just behind the radio up to the base of the windshield. i also had two guages mounted under the glove box, so they had to be removed. i am sure there are people out there that could have done it quicker but i don't think i did to bad. i just think they could have done the design a little better. like making a door at the bottom of the unit so the only thing you had to do was remove the screws for the door and the hoses on the engine compartment. then it would literally fall out.
Mine went straight into the firewall and had to be disconnected at the heater core. I probably wouldn't have changed the heater core if I could have changed the hoses without taking it out.
Use Mercedes coolant Mercedes has a special antifreeze that is ph balanced (gold in color - fitting, since it costs a lot). I've been using it for years, and no more rust in the mix. Also, I was once young and naive enough to tackle a heater core replacement on a 1974 Datsun B-210 - started 7 pm on a weekday and had to have it by 6 am to go to work the next day. Had to remove the driver's seat and hood to gain access, then completed job with flashlight at 4 am. 1 hour nap and it was off to work we go with driver's seat flopping around due to lost trac nuts and hood leaning up against by mobile home's front door. I could no more fit under that tiny car's dash today than Godzilla. Yep, those were the days...
finished in a little under 5 1/2 hours. i am kinda glad i did it. all the squeaks and rattles are finally gone. now just need to find the rest in the back of the car. for those trying to save weight, the removal of ac exchanger,the ac ducts and misc pieces came in just shy of 14 lbs.
Now I will admit with the A/C unit it sux since the whole box has to be removed. But I can get mine out in under and hour the trick is to remove the bolts that hold up the steering column lay it in the seat then remove the 2 bolts on top of the dash and the 2 bolts on the side pull the dash away from the firewall and your A/C box is in your face pull and drop works like a charm 3 times and counting ps dont forget the brace bar that hold the dash at the radio location.. ps Evil I don't know why yours if diff hose clamps mounted on the out side in the engine bay one time I ended up breaking the solder joints replacing the hoses and ended up replacing the core also..
The fox body was even worse. The box looks very similar in design, but instead of screws holding the top half to the bottom, the box is essentially welded into one piece.
That glosses over evacuating the freon, dealing with the AC plumbing and the expansion valve. I've done both AC and non-AC boxes, I thought the non-AC box was a PITA .... little did I know how much harder the AC cars are.
