Hello! I came across this website by accident and thought that it would be the perfect place to ask:

How difficult is it to replace the heater core in a '96 F-150? Mine has bit the dust, and it seems that it wouldn't be that bad. Any thoughts, suggestions, etc. would be very appreciated.

 

mark hoses, open glovebox, take stuff out, squeeze sides in to open further, remove plate with 7 screws, put towel on floor, remove core, don't go to autozone, go to napa for new core, reverse, add coolant, drink beer.

welcome to fte.

get manual soon.

 

Now THAT"S what I wanted to hear! I never go to Autozone anyway- and beer is always the last line of the instructions I follow . I had peered under the dash, and it looked that easy, but I didn't wanna kid myself. Thanks for the info! A manual is my next purchase (besides the core). I'm a convert, after owning two '78 Dodge W150's and a '97 Dakota Sport, so I'm a little short in the Ford manual department. I look forward to checking out the site and getting involved.

 

this is a real easy job.

good luck with your truck.

 

Their are some wires and vac. tubing that become bothersome, but in reality it is one of the easiest heater cores around to replace..........Keep that towel on the carpet in case you spill coolant or beer.

 

Welcome to FTE! I used to strictly own Dodge trucks myself. I still have an 03 1500 Ram. I am also a convert! You are going to find Ford Trucks at least twice as easy to fix! The parts so far are about half the price of Dodge Trucks!

 

Well, got the job done last night, and it went as smooth as advertised. The most annoying part was removing the goop and hose clamps from the heater hoses! Thanks all for the advice.

 

good job!

one of the easiest heater core jobs i have ever done.

 

I am having to replace my heater core and was reading on the '97, NOT the '96. All I can say is WHEW what a relief it isn't as hard as I first thought. And the new core from NAPA is only $30.....love it. Beer, $6.... Core $30...what's not to be happy about?

 

i'm feeling stupid about removing the heater core from my '96 f250. have read most of the posts saying this is an easy job, i also have read the shop manual which agrees in general with what has been said in the posts here. but here's my problem: i have the glove box out. i also have a black box piece of electronics removed. i have the 7 or so bolts on the plastic heater core box cover removed and the cover is free. but the cover is blocked from sliding up or down or towards the rear of the cab (out of the glove box openiing) by a bar that is part of the dash just under the glove box. the bar does not appear to come out separate from the entire dash assembly. what am i missing?

 

take a pic and post it.

does not sound like you are removing the right thing.

 

problem solved. after the 7 bolts are removed from the plastic cover, the trick to getting the cover out is to move it as far as possible towards the rear of the cab, then towards the RH side a bit and then down, and it comes right out. i hate to say it, but it took a total of four frustrated attempts (reading posts here and the shop manual before each attempt), spaced over a 3 week period, before the secret was revealed on the fifth attempt. once i had the cover out of the way, i was able to get the core out of its box by pushing on its pipes from the engine side of the firewall.. once out of the box, it was a bit of a struggle getting the core (mostly its pipes) clear of the box enough to lower the core below the dash and out. required a bit of pulling and bending of one of the mounting ears that holds the black box that sits between the glove box and heater box (the black box, of course, has to be removed before one can get to the heater box cover). installing the replacement core ($23 pep boys, plus $4 for some double back foam tape to hold the large rectangular gasket in place) also required bending the same mounting ear a bit, but otherwise the rest of the install was easy (probably should never use that word). the whole project is probably an hours worth of real work once the tricks are known.

 

glad you got it.

i never had that much trouble, even the first time.

when you are talking about the black box, do you mean the inside of the glove box?

you remove the glove box by pushing on the sides and then it hangs upside down, right?

i question buying the cheapest heater core.

you usually get what you pay for.