I read the Motorcraft / Ford part may not be the best bet for a heater core replacement. Since it isn't a piece of cake to put one of these in, and I am planning on keeping the truck for another 5 years+, I am wondering what brand you had good success with?

I am looking for people that have put several years and several 10s of thousands of miles on a particular brand. Also include where you bought your heater core, especially if you don't remember the brand.

THANKS!!!

George (no heat)

 

Well, it finally got cold and I had to bite the bullet and get this repair over with. What a major pain in the rear. A whole weekend was practically used up doing this. I used a core made by Four Seasons. I think it is made in Canada. It is holding up well so far. I also went with a couple of new heater hoses from the stealership to avoid having to get the snap ins to come off. The dash comes out completely. The modular setup is quite nice, but there is a trillion electrical connectors including the main bulkhead connector, that have to all come off. I wish the factory would plan for this repair and make it easier. E.g. on my 86 Ranger it was a matter of 15 minutes to replace the core, it slid out from under the dash.

See attached a few pictures of the whole mess. I used the factory manual CD to guide me. A must, unless you have done it before.

Good Luck to anyone that's about to do this.

George

http://www.geocities.com/aigel.geo/004_1.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/aigel.geo/003_0.jpg

 

HOLY CRA^!

I've not had to change one this new yet, but jeez...us! What a nighmare!
Just browsed through my factory CD and gulp, oh NO!
Yeah, four seasons is a good brand and the most common replacement.

 

hmmm, guess I'll wait until I have 2-3 days w/o the wife and kids around

 

Where can I get a copy of the factory manual CD???!!!!???
I need to replace my heater core ASAP...
please email me at: shmoo@mchsi.com

Thanks!!!!

 

A poster from another thread sent me a 27 page word doc that was a step by step to remove the dash and replace heater core. The dash doesnt have to come out completely but just pulled out from the passenger side enough to get behind it. So that will save you some time not unhooking "all" of the electrical leads. The local Ford dealer mech also loaned me his heater hose tool. I fought the hose thing for two days trying to access it. The little tool bar is a snap.
The heater core I used was 40.00 from the dealer, looks good to me.
Don

 

Don:

I take it you haven't done the procedure yet? I wonder if you really can come by just pulling the right side of the dash up. You want to make sure you do not bend the soldered on lines on the core when installing it. Also, for maximum efficiency, you need to install foam around the core, like the factory did. That all seems complicated with the dash still in front of the core. Same goes for the actual housing it sits in. Not easy to get the lid off, even with full access. It sure would help not to have to take off the bulkhead connectors on the firewall. The pictures I posted are the result of the factory procedure, which calls for the complete removal of the dash.

I bought a CD on ebay. I also had found a post about the procedure where someone had posted a link to the corresponding pages in the manual. The document was in a fax format and I had to download a piece of shareware to decipher the document.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, George

 

Yeah, Im 50% complete, the only hangup was getting the hose connections apart. Thats what I just got the tool from the dealer to do. I will replace the foam, the unit didnt come out too badly just by pulling out the passengerside until you can access the whole thing. It was the Ford mechanic that recommended it that way. I went to him trying to figure out what I was doing wrong, I couldnt get the large handled bulkhead electrical housing off the firewall, he said not to bother with it..
You still have to follow the dash removal procedure, you just dont have to disconnnect the majority of the electrical plugs on the driver side. Everything else is the same, LOTS OF SCREWS!!
Oh yeah, fyi, the radio antenna wire, disconnect at the antenna and tie it off with a long cord or wire so you can retrieve it later when you need to rethread it back up the the antenna.
Thanks for the feedback
Don

 

Don:

Great feedback on the drivers' side's ability to stay electrically connected. The bulkhead connector with the big handle is a real pain to get off. Also, I would not want to take it apart too often, I am certain the contacts wouldn't be the same after a while, leave alone the plastic snaps.

If I have to do it again (let's hope not!), I'll leave the electrical bulkhead stuff connected!

Cheers, George

 

Jobs all done, What would I do different, what worked well:
Shopping list from FORD dealer, ($15.00 for 2 sets of heater hose o-rings and snap clip, $40.00 for the heatercore, insulated tape to wrap new core with - freebee, gallon of anti freeze).
1. Tying off the antenna to a old shoelace was a great little trick that made the reassembly a snap, allowed pulling antenna cable back out of the hole real easy. I used elect tape too, didnt want "ANY" surprises later!
2. Try to get the heater hose tool from a mechanic willing to loan it out to you. I was pleasantly surprised at the helping hand the dealer mechs were. The tool took a few minutes to figure out. Took a second trip back to the Ford dealer for replacement o-rings and clips. save time buy these first cause you'll break the originals, if you dont, change em anyway, your in this deep!!
3. Leaving all the steering column elect plugs attached was fine and not unhooking the 3 big plugs under the hood would save some time too. I unhooked these before the mech advised me not to mess with them.
4. Try to follow in reverse the "dash removal instructions" so you dont have any "do overs" when you cant get a screw to line up properly.
5. I'm not much at housekeeping, I would get a large box for all the trim parts.
6. Leave screws in their holes, in just a few threads to keepem straight, (E brake and hood, grab handle, ground screws). Just a few less to figure out where they go when your putting it back together a week later like I had to. I wish I had bagged a few of the spares and labled them where they went. had 3 left over, no rattles.
7. I removed the big elect housing right over the heatr core houseing to aide in getting the cover reinstalled, 2 screws, no big deal.
WARNING-if you cant reach the spot to start a screw by hand, either a magnet screw tip or a piece of tape/sticky foam will do the trick when reaching those backdside screws on the heater cowling cover, this is not the time to tear the dash back out to get a &^%$ little screw that dropped off the screwdriver or out of the socket.
Tools I used, priceless -
Battery op drill w/ socket adapters/extensions,
5/16, 7mm, 8mm, 10mm for dash screws, 13mm for the steering col nuts,
Flashlight, a must for searching for black screw heads under the dash.
Screwdriver w/ changeable heads for sockets and screws.
A magnet tool for retrieving that socket you cant reach.
Short rubber hose to attach to radiator drain plug.
THE BIGGEY - Printed word doc, step by step instructions w/ pics, ask me, I'll email it to you.
GOOD LUCK,
Don
I'll do yours for 600.00, parts included
(not really)

 

Good pointers Don. Really, I wouldn't do this for $600 either. A grand, minimum!

George

 

Thanks George, I wouldnt mind doing it again. Im actually pretty proud of it... I know it was only possible with all the tech help and moral support provided here.
The long post was my way of saying thanks to the forum.

Don

 

new user have 97 f150 i need to replace heater core need information on how, and where can i get the info.any help

 

Please send me a direct email for your copy.
dfkelly42
(at hotmail.com)

 

mine went out about a year ago. It was fine with me since I like a cold ride in to work at 4:30AM to keep me awake, but since I commute with my wife (a south texan who is cold at 80 degrees) She "convinced" me to have it fixed. Well after reading the manual I decided that I would have it done at a shop. It cost me 850 dollars! I was under the impression that you had to discharge, then recharge the AC when you did it? is the Chiltons wrong? That was my biggest concern.