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I have to do this soon to change my A/C evap core. My compressor self destructed this summer. Any pointers will be greatly appreciated thanks in advance.
YES.... only pointers that would have saved me time were the hidden fasteners that hold the magnesium/aluminum dash structure in place. (idk what its made of??) two of them are on a bracket to the clutch pedal box and two on the brake pedal box right next to it. In order to access these, you need to remove the E-brake box, which remains attached to the fat cable and lay it on the floor... then you can reach up inside with a socket wrench and 13mm socket to hit all four fasteners. It helped immensely to have a helper watching through the windshield guiding me onto the nuts and bolts. (2 are bolts and two are nuts on studs)<---sounds bad to type haha. Anyways, the dash structure has slotted open holes for those mounting points so you only need to loosen those fasteners to slide the dash structure off.
plan on having 2 days free to do it, just incase. The two of us that did this are very mechanically inclined and it still took about 4 hours to get it all apart. Bag and tag all areas for the screws, nuts and bolts separate from passenger and driver side. Basically I tackled the driver side and my friend took the passenger side.
THE BEST PART ABOUT HEATER CORE REPLACEMENTS.... knowing you have to do it all again because the awesome "quality" ac delco heater leaks around one of its swivel fittings... YES!!
THE BEST PART ABOUT HEATER CORE REPLACEMENTS.... knowing you have to do it all again because the awesome "quality" ac delco heater leaks around one of its swivel fittings... YES!!
THE BEST PART ABOUT HEATER CORE REPLACEMENTS.... knowing you have to do it all again because the awesome "quality" ac delco heater leaks around one of its swivel fittings... YES!
I'm dropping my trans for the second time since December right now and just the thought of having a task like this pop up out of nowhere makes me sick, haha.
I'm dropping my trans for the second time since December right now and just the thought of having a task like this pop up out of nowhere makes me sick, haha.
I felt the heater core was easier than pulling my trans and stuff.
I had 2 people help me last time but the second time around, it's not as bad as I remember. I got the two top bolts with ease on my own. Then again, any job is easier the second time.
In regards to HVAC stuff, though, I noticed my defrost doesn't direct the a/c through the top vents unless the footwell vents are selected as well most of the time. I think I need to replace one of the blend motors, bleh. Ever done one of those?
By theway
On my CTS the air blows only through the head level vents. No defrost and no legs. I found out that there are two actuators above the gas pedal. One is the Blend/Temperature valve and the othr is the mode valve. Seems like I need to replace the mode valve which is really hard to reach (unlike the blend valve). Will do it on the way while replacing the core heater soon.
It's been like 2years since I had to do that so my recollection isn't the strongest. I remember everything being pretty systematic as far as this bolt, that bolt everything seemed pretty obvious except two jerk off bolts above the pedal assembly that were not obvious and a pain to get to.
Best reason ever that I can see to completely flush your coolant every 2 years. Keep it clean and the acidity low and the chances you'll need this drop dramatically. Skip the Dexcool for an extra bonus.
I had to do the heater core in my 99 Blazer years ago. What a royal PITA. It's so dumb that the entire car is built around the heater core. I can't imagine the replacement leaking shortly after install. I'm pretty sure it would be easier to remove the valuable parts and set the car on fire at that point.
01-26-2015, 09:07 AM
