voodoochikin04

iTrader: (3)

Have been smelling coolant for about a year after getting heater core flushed. Figured the core had a leak but never seen signs. No leaks. Low coolant just recently. Took it in and no leaks found so i just dealt with it. Last weekend I got the amazing fogged windshield and strong strong coolant smell. This replacement was "FUN".... Started at 11:30am..finished at 8:45pm.. Wasted little over an hour with a couple well hidden fasteners and took a nice lunch break. Wasn't that bad really. Everything went back together great. Hands are a little tore up from the metal dash structure. All in all wasn't bad. Glad its done.

LLLosingit

iTrader: (4)

Worst one I changed was in a Lincoln Mark 7, About the same as your pictures but I cheated and pulled most of the dash off as an assembly. Book showed it was 11 hours of shop labor and I managed to do it in 6. Still wasn't any fun.

Motown Cad

OMG you are fearless!!! How did you figure out how to do all that???

voodoochikin04

iTrader: (3)

Just look at how things come apart. Bag and tag various areas fasteners.. And peel back the layers one at a time. Take pics for reassembly. Patience. Mechanical ability helps to I guess. Lol

What sucked was there wasn't much to read online about this. Couple bits here and there. A cf member posted a pic of it all torn apart, as they have done several (gm mechanic)... So I knew that all had to come out.

hefftone

I hate the smell of coolant. Its the smell of fail.

voodoochikin04

iTrader: (3)

Yea its sucked. Last weekend it got so strong.. Like a rag wrapped around my face soaked in coolant.

Becker

iTrader: (4)

good work, hopefully these pics remain available when someone needs them down the road..

never seen a V1 dash removed that far, well done.

bigti99a

iTrader: (16)

yea thats insane. well played. being as mine is not a daily i would have jumped in with both feet but i likely would have had a few extra screws left over.

voodoochikin04

iTrader: (3)

Haha. The V is my half daily. The task is shared with my Tahoe.

We organized and bagged the different areas of screw's. I think this job would be a ******* disaster nightmare by yourself. There is just so much to remove. Wiring that you have to route on both sides as you set the dash frame in place..

We had one small Phillips trim screw left over from the passenger side. Hunted and hunted for where it went but gave up.

bmylez

iTrader: (3)

Ugh, I bought an extended warranty on my car and thought about cashing it in once I cammed it, but if this were to happen to me...it would be money well spent, hah. I'm really not sure if I would go through the pain of this, even if I had to shell out some cash. I'd rather do another clutch swap than this.

voodoochikin04

iTrader: (3)

This was easier than my clutch swap. No laying under car!!

Larry

iTrader: (4)

I think I would have tried radiator sealant first. Good job though!

voodoochikin04

iTrader: (3)

No way.. It was soaking my passenger floor. The heater core has tiny passages. I feel like stop leak stuff would be a bad move and cause issues. This job really wasn't that bad.

Larry

iTrader: (4)

You did it the right way alright. I would have been afraid for myself that I wouldn't have gotten it back together right.

bmylez

iTrader: (3)

Do you have to disconnect any A/C lines? I had to change the heater core in a Mustang I owned (don't ask, it was a mistake) and had to unhook the A/C line, which wasn't a big deal because it had a huge leak and was empty anyway, but would suck in this car.

voodoochikin04

iTrader: (3)

We had read that it was suggested to discharge the ac and unhook the lines. BUT...we had enough movement to pull the passenger side of that whole HVAC box out enough to clear the heater core lines. And reinstall of the new heater core was super easy. If you're careful not to pull it more than you need, I'd say its fine. You could definitely kink or fracture the ac lines in you just muscle the unit into submission. I'll add a few more pics tomorrow. Its a hassle on my phone.

bmylez

iTrader: (3)

Do you need a steering wheel puller, or does it just make it easier? Every time I see someone have a really inconvenient/sucky problem, I immediately start worrying it will happen to me, haha.

jcollege

iTrader: (2)

That looks like a miserable pain in the ***. I did a heater core in a Jeep Grand Cherokee and it sucked, fear having to do another one no matter what the car.

voodoochikin04

iTrader: (3)

I didn't use a steering wheel puller because I've had my steering wheel off about 50 times recently. Earlier this summer my clock spring unit ripped apart and I had to replace that which contains the airbag cables and whole steering column harness. I didn't use a puller the first time, just even pulling pressure from either sideof the wheel aand it popped off....for me.

I ended up pulling the whole column which consist of removing a bolt from the steering shaft under the hood...then yanking the whole column out. You could achieve this without removing the steering wheel.

Kswish74

wow, this looks like it was adventure. I wouldn't be brave enough to do all this! Good job brother!