Gentlemen, I have come to the conclusion I need a new heater core and looked in the manual and saw first thing on the list to do:
Remove instrument panel. :bs:
I dont know about you, but that does not sound like a good time. :tg:
Who has already performed this job? Tell me about your nightmares, please. :toilet:
http://www.coolcats.net/tech/troubleshooting/heatercore.html
Follow these instructions to the T, and I guarantee it won't be nearly as bad. Let my experience/hardships be your gain.
Cool Eric, you're the best...I love your website too!
ha..suck it up guy...its a right of passage to owning one of these things....lol :banana: :D
its not all THAT bad...just take your time, maybe sone pics and dont get pissed. bring bandaids though..
I dont mind the work, but the only problem I have is I live at an apartment. Not much room to spread out and get to work.
I did all of the work with a space heater inside the car. If you follow the instruction(print them out, the you will LOVE eric) It isnt that bad of a job. The only thing that I hung up on, was I didnt realize that there was a bolt under the steering colum. Other then that, it would have only taken me 3 hours or so my first time.
That sounds good, until I can get down and dirty, I bypassed the core at the coolant lines on the back of the motor. Its a good thing the weather is in the 70's these days!
i wish crystal would post her step by step on what she did. pretty neat short cut she took,, oh well, maybe one day she'll do a write up.
uh oh...i spoke too soon.....pop trickle trickle trickle...
Well, I managed to put this off all summer, but now that the weather is cooled off, the kids are bitching I dont have any heat in the car.
Called Ford and they gave me this part number:
E9LY-184-76A
Supposed to be $59.00, but they dont stock it. Have to pre-pay. :(
Gonna get it this weekend and get busy!
Good luck with it. Job's really easier than it seems. I was shocked when it only took 3 hours. Hardest part was disconnecting the lines under the hood. That took longer than changing out the core.
I know exactly what you mean. I bypassed the heater core back in April and it took me like an hour and a half just to get the doggone hoses off! They were old and corroded to the pipes! Luckily, its already done! :D
Hey let us know if you need anything, It can be a nightmare if you do it wrong, but yeah its not that bad second time around.
As I think Shame said, "It's a right of passage". Other important things to remember..... No ETOH (alcohol)!!!! Wait 'til yer done!!!!
Patience grasshopper.....take a mental health break when needed !!!
The results are worth it !!!!
While yer in there, take the time to look at other potential problems. Does your speedo cable need a shot of lube?? Mine did. Got rid of that shaking/sticking cold weather thing. Wanna upgrade your dash speakers??? Nows the time!! Got any rattles or squeaks that you can't seem to pin down ?? Look around.... Oil up your vent controls if they need it. There's lots of stuff in there that never gets any attention so nows the time !!!
Well I pick the part up tonight. The Ford part number is:
E9LY18476A
$54.00
For anyone that is interested. I'll try and get it done this weekend.:yuck:
I did mine without dicharging the A/C, you actually DON'T have to get the A/C discharged... I just wish I could find the instructions I used...
you dont? wish I would of known that before :flip: but everything is good A/C is still cold. anyone use Redtek 12a in their A/C?
Well, the nightmare is over. It took about 2 and a half hours. CoolCats was instrumental in getting the job done with minimal heartache. I had both my Chiltons and Haynes manuals out and ready, but they were little to no help at all. The only problem I had was that the bolts that hold the A/C accumulator to the firewall are also the same bolts that the heater core box is attached to. There are technically 5 bolts that hold the heater core box in the car. I want to thank Eric and all the contributors to the technical article on CoolCats. I also want to thank Ford for giving me the correct part, because I would be so pissed if it was the wrong one after going through that! Someone mentioned it was a "right of passage" for owning one of these cars. Can I learn the secret handshake now? :giggle: :hick: