Have any of you had the pleasure of installing a heater core in a front wheel drive vehicle, namely a '91 Ford Taurus? How about an evaporator coil in a '96 Eagle Vision? I HATE FRONT WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES!!! In my opinion they are like disposable lighters, use'em and throw'em away! Any engineer who designs a vehicle so that it takes a week of labor to replace a $23 part needs to be strung up by his....well you pick an appropriate part. I am in the process of installing a heater core in my daughters Taurus and it is soooo frustrating. I have worked on this thing for 4 hours and still do not have the dash out yet. Yes, you read correctly, the dash has to come out. I was going to spend the Christmas holidays installing an evaporator coil in my wifes Eagle Vision which also requires removal of the dash, when the heater core went out of the Taurus. I think now I will return the evaporator coil because I am not tackling another one of these! My wife will have to live without A/C or pay to have a shop do it (about $600, we already checked). My daughter is going to drive my '79 T-Bird while her Taurus sits in the garage till such time as I feel like working on it some more. I wouldn't trade my T-Bird (or my '89 F-150) for 10 Taurus's or Eagle Visions. I feel a little better now, I'd feel alot better if a I had a few brews so I could drown out my misery.
Merry Christmas Ya'll.
DannyP

 

I did a heater core on a 74 Blazer, The first thing the instructions say is remove inner fender well !

 

I feel for ya Danny...had to replace the heater core in my wife's '86 Taurus about 10 yrs ago, and yep had to take the entire dash out! What a royal pain in the keister!!___
I felt the same as you about the engineering aspect of things. One thing is for certain. I dont believe that that things are designed with the "homeowner" in mind!!

Gene

 

When the heater core leaked in the wife's 90 Taurus, I just cut the hoses and said "fergit aboudit. I've heard too many horror stories about that job. Fortunately, we live in a warm climate. Just wait till you try to change the power-steering hose on a Taurus. (hint} There is a company that now makes a short hose that shortcuts over the engine.

 

Look at the bright side, fer krissakes -

You have a garage to work in, I DON'T.

I once did a water pump in an 89 Taurus wagon in the memphis summatime, and a heater core in an old seventy-something Zephyr -

And it was horrendous.

But I did it, and learned the things I could have gone around to make it faster in the process.

LESSONS LEARNED: The first time ALWAYS sucks.

The second time is old-hat....

 

Afriend of mine just did one in his D**ge Neon, and the only things left in his car when he got it out were the 2 rear seats and the steering wheel.

 

OK, I have got the dash out and can see the heater core/evaporator coil housing at last. I am only working on it an hour or two at a time so I don't get frustrated and set fire to the thing.
My only major screwup so far is I cracked the large connector that plugs into the steering column. I suppose I'll have to go junkyarding for a replacement and do some soldering. Maybe in a month or so I'll have it back together. I guess I just have a deep rooted hatred for front wheel drives, just too much hardware packed into such a small area, kinda like 10 lbs of crap in a 5 lb bag. I guess this is probably as bad as it could get?
DannyP

 

I feel for you man. That's the thing I love about FORD TRUCKS! I just removed and installed a new heater core in my truck in about 30 minutes, add 5 to that to let the glue to set for the foam gsaket on the top of the core. I once tried to change the spark plugs on my mom's 1992 4.0 v-6 Aerostar Minvan. I spent 30 minutes on the first 2 and the inside 2, but there was absolutly no damned way to get the to middle two. My mom swears she's never heard me yell so loud and say the things I said that sad, sad day . I finally got the middle 2 plugs out when I went out and bought some Craftsmen ratchet wrenches (the ones with the ratchet inside the closed end) and a little spark plug socket. I got them out with a little bit of coaxing but them I had to get those 2 back in. That's an entirely different story. I've also done lots of work on my dad's 1978 E-150 with the 351 (now dead 351).........My dad jokes on me everytime I work on something because of the little rigs I pulled to get stuff out of those vans............sorry for being so long vans, minivans, and FWDs (never ever thought about working on one)

 

The next time I have to work on a Taurus, you can be sure that C-4 will be involved. That's for sure.

 

That's why I like the old cars...so much easier to work on! I remember putting a heater core in a Ford Fairmont years ago. Took the hoses off under the hood, take the glove compartment out, and with 2 screws removed the heater core slid out like a drawer. I guess they really don't make them like they used to.

 

Could be worse.

I had an 89 SHO that needed a new core. I shopped around and read my Chiltons and said "heck with it, I'll let the dealer do it". Big mistake. Knowing that it would require removing the steering wheel and dash, I figured it would be worth the $600 quoted. Am I stupid or what? Naturally the dealer found that he had to replace the AC core too since it was frozen solid and had to be cut out. This meant they had to evacuate the AC gas and refil with the old style R12, very expensive job.

Cost me about $1,200 when all was said and done. All be cause I was too lazy to do it myself. jeez. I am also irked that whenever the dealer gives me a quote it is almost always way too low. The SOB also had the nerve to quote me a couple hundred to replace a light bulb, "Because they would have to remove the dash". Duh. I didn't let him do that. $200 to change a 50 cent bulb while the dash was already out for the heater. I have not gone back to that dealer since. Too bad he made so much money off me all those other times when I was lazy.

And people wonder why I work on my own vehicles instead of letting the dealer do it.

Jim Henderson

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 26-Dec-01 AT 06:44 PM (EST)]Jim, I experienced the same thing today when I went to disconnect the evaporator coil, all the connections were frozen to the point that even a crow bar would not break them loose. I had to break out the DeWalt riciprocating saw and cut the lines. The AC did not work anyhow, the compressor is locked up and there is no gas in the system.
I do have the core out now and will start to put it back together tomorrow, maybe it won't take the month that I had budgeted for this job!! You should have heard my daughter gripe about having to drive my 79 T-Bird while I work on her piece of crap. The hood on the T-Bird is about half the length of her Taurus. I told her how much the job would cost if she took it to a garage, and that the T-Bird may be big but it would only take about 30 minutes to put a heater core in it if I had to, so if she wanted hers fixed she better shut up. Kids today are spoiled. Heck, I'd be willing to bet that most adults nowadays would not know how to start a carbureted engine or how to use a manual choke. Fuel injection has got everyone spoiled.
It's a great thing.....when it works. Like I said in my first post on this subject, when modern vehicles get some age on them, it's just about more economical to toss them like a empty Bic and get another one. Maybe one day I will join the modern era and embrace all the technology, nah, I'm too stubborn.
DannyP

 

>Have any of you had the pleasure of installing a heater core
>in a front wheel drive vehicle, namely a '91 Ford Taurus?

>Merry Christmas Ya'll.
>DannyP

Anyone have an idea of how hard (or easy?) it might be to replace the heating system in a 94 Mustang? I'm pretty good with basic tools, but I've never even attempted this. Should I just pony up the bucks and have this done professionally? Thoughts?

Kev

 

Carburetor, manual choke?!! Man, you are giving away your age. And whatever happened to the classic Chrysler stomp to prime the carburetor on cold mornings?

Yeah EFI is a wonderful thing and in general it is very reliable but when it goes, it goes bigtime($1,200 tuneups?, yeow). Still I do like modern engines a lot. No more 12,000 mile tuneups, rebuilding the carb routinely, adjusting and replacing the points, adjusting the valves, trying to get the dwell just right, adjusting the carb mixture. Ooops, showing my signs of old age. I do like the fact that since about 86, I have not had to do much more than change oil and filters routinely, and doing a sparkplug change every 50,000 miles. I have not had to do any fixes to the EFI yet. Only pain in the rear is that some of the engines have timing belts which can be a pain to replace. I'll stick with good old fashioned chains for timing. Guess in into chains eh?

I think it is actually easier to do routine maintenance on cars now, but when the big miles roll around it will take some elbow grease or the big green.
Jim Henderson

 

So no one here has ever done one in a Mustang huh? Too bad, you'd enjoy it.
Later,
Ben