gold4dsc

started fixing the heater core today. first I took out the center console and the glove box. from there u can see the evaporater and the blower motor. then I disassembled the evaporater/blower box . when taking out the blower motor there was a lot of leaves and other crap in therecleaned that out. then took the evaporater out by disconnecting the screw from the engine compartment. then took the box rest of the box out to reveal the heater core. on the heater core I released the heater band. and disconnected the plastic tubes going into the engine compartment. once these were disconnected you can then pull out the old heater core........ got to dark to reconnect everything but so far nothing broken and took about 2hrs to get to this point. I'll post more when its done.


I didn't have to take the whole dash out to get to the part. so hopefully I won't have to worry about the rattles. it is a tight space to work in but im skinny enough to fit under there. ended up pulling the heater core out the junk yard and got it for 16 bucks then car I got it out of the part look still clean in the box it came out of but hopefully it will last long enough ... but u know the saying u get what u paid for and by doing this my self so far I saved 984 dollars. I found the part for 150 but it has to be ordered and take about a week to get here. so that's the update

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

Nice job. No pics?

fflint_18

Sounds like you are doin a great job.

Did you have to disconnect the Evap? If so then make sure you cover the ends of everything with plastic and tape. You have to try to keep as much moisture out of the A/C system as possible. Then get it recharged as soon as possible. If you have access to a vacuum pump it is better to pull a vacuum for some hours on the system. You can check for leaks this way and can also make the moisture boil off and help dry things out.

godlyone

so what was the reason for doing this?

gold4dsc

I posted earlier in another thread weird thing happend on trip. where the heater core blew so i had to replace it after calling around for rice i decided to use my knowlege of cars and do it my self. so that why im doing this

gold4dsc

i will take pics putting it back together tomorrow camera died but i label each screw and put them in a bag so i know where they go

yea i had to disconnect the evap to get to the heater core. the evap box sit in the opening of the heater core housing and it has to be removed to pull the core out

gold4dsc

maybe i can find a shop in the morning to hook a vaccum up to the parts b4 i reinstall them

5thgenmaxima

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like things are coming along nicely. Good to see you got it out in a day and have all bolts labeled.. It's also nice that you didn't have to completely pull the dash. You saved a headache with that one.. Defiently saved yourself some cash on this one.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

You don't evac the system before you put it back together, you do so afterwards. You have to in order to fill the system with refrigerant.

Revs2Hard

iTrader: (7)

This is awesome to know just in case mine blows. AWESOME JOB!!!

gold4dsc

FINALLY DONE................ ok its is done everything is back in the the heat is working with no leaks this was well worth doing on my own instead of paying the shop 800 to 1200 dollars to fix. my repair cost me total of 30 bucks 16 for the part and 24 for coolant

gold4dsc

quick write up go here for pics ( they didn't show in the cut n paste)

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3196540/3

Fixing the heater core:

disconnect the battery....and wait atleast 3 mins for airbags to discharge..............

first take off the glove box and you will see this.







once the glove box is out disconnect the evap from inside the engine conpartment. discharge the a/c into empty tank. then take out the screw in middle of the evaps metal lines and pulling them out.

once these are dissconnected go back under the glove box and disconnect the screws to release the evap box. also in the process disconnect all the connectors to the wiring harnesses





once the box is out you can see the heater core



the heater core is in the back of the box, the white piece sticking from behind is the heater core strap this just pops out with a flat head.







unscrew the four screws on the 2 hose connectors connecting to the heater core



loosen the two hose clamps on the firewall inside the engine conpartment. exposing the yellow plastic hose connectors

pull out the connectors from under the glove box and pull out the heater core.

replace the heater core and put everything back together

gold4dsc

now that its done its really wasnt that hard to do by myself i just need to go get the a/c recharged tomorrow. this job just take patiences all it is , is unscrewing and putting back together. not hard at all but will say its a lil more fustrating with the dash still on alot of tight places to work around but still i would do it my self and save 1000 dollars

Torgus

iTrader: (10)

:

Yaya41

Hopefully, someone will be able to help me - temps dipping to 24 tonight (here in Austin Texas) and this Texas Gal is gonna be sad b/c my heater fan stopped blowing...any advise on what might be the problem? I check fuses & they're all ok.

gold4dsc

i know that if you go to that link futher up you can get to the blower as soon as u un screw the glove box bout four screws. and to take the blower off is another three. you can ethier order the part from autozone or get it from the junk yard for bout 20 bucks pop that in and if its just the blower that should fix the blowing problem or if u get a little heat u might wanna check the thermostat to see if its staying open. if it was your heater core u would have coolant in your passenger footwell trust me you would know if your heater core went out. both can fixed easy and quick

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

Entirely, or will it work on fan speed 4?

jasonmax

iTrader: (2)

is your A/C controller auto or manual?
usually I'll check the fuses first, they're in the fusebox under the hood.

gold4dsc

these are some pictures of the blower and the and what it looks like behind the glove box this is the blower and this is what it looks like behind the glove box your gonna take total of 7 screws. out and put them back and your done the blower is on the right next to the door its a circled off triangle with screws at each point it will take your an hour or less to change out when i took mines out it had a whole bunch of crap in it pine needles leaves n stuff in it once i took that out the fan is no quiet as it should be and not lawn mowerish like it was when i first got it.

gold4dsc

added the pics to the write up above

940002mtmaxse

iTrader: (1)

Great job, nice write-up with the pictures. Just curious if the cause of the core failure was identified?

Yaya41

entirely...just quit, kaput.

Yaya41

I checked the fuses and they are okay? thought to check the relays...but they're difficult to get to...for me at least...but sounds like consensus is that it would just be the blower. ahem??

gold4dsc

i would think its just the blower if its not blowing at all. my heater core went out but the fan still blew just blew cold air if u not getting no fan nor sound it has to be your blower

Yaya41

Update - after further reading in these posts - so helpful...what a great bunch all around. I was able to determine that my fan does blow. When I first got in after work yesterday, I turned it on and put the fan on on high and it blew (literally, big whooz) high for about a second or two and then appeared to stop...but actually, it WAS blowing just very minimally...warm air when I turned temp dial to 80 & cool air when I turned temp dial to 60. So, I think thermostat is okay...guessing here, but perhaps power module (blower motor resitor) to blower is bad not getting enough electicity to blow motor??? Is this lady on the right tract?

fflint_18

Blower motor resistors going bad are very common on these cars. But I thought when they failed they would still work on high. But I never had one go bad on a car with an Automatic Heater Control.

Yaya41

UPDATE - SUCCESS! Ya'll are awesome! (Texas thing...) So, called closest "junk yard" and ended up e-mailing w/a very helpful gentleman who, obviously, understood I was learning about diagnosing my problem (thought it was blower motor) b/c I told him how much time I've spent reading the posts on this site to learn what part I needed... I ended up paying $75 for a (motor & regulator) for my passenger side window (behind driver), no credit here, I had a friend put that in...but the auto guy gave me the resistor off the same car he took the window part. Just gave it to me. He also kept the used blower motor handy in case I called him Monday to say I needed it (would cost me $50). TODAY - I took the glove box out...seriously, due to posts I read here, and changeD the power module and tested my blower; my blower is fine...the prob WAS the power module (resistor)...and now, I have heat & AC again! So my window is working again, my blower is blowing again all for $75...and LARGE part b/c you all educated me enough that I was able to find the parts I needed and do some hands on! Thank you again!

gold4dsc

glad you was about to get things working right ..... it funny after u look on here 9/10 you can find out how to fix things ur self and save boat loads of money just takes time to do it but the job is easy to do. and im finding out junkyards have good prices that are affordable