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Driving with broken heater core

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barknee

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Sorry if this is a re-post, or in wrong forum....but I have to ask....
I have a 1991 K5, and last weekend have what I believe to be a broken heater core or busted hose......its dripping antifreeze under dash on floor......dont have time to fix it right away, but is there a quicker way to bypass the core and drive it still? I saw before that someone said to pull the two hoses and put together, since I wont be using heater....is this ok to do, or not a good idea???
Thanks!
 
that works fine untill you want heat or have the time to replaace the heater core. You sound like your on the right track there.

~Brian
 
The metal ones are better than the plastic, but I am running a plastic one right now. Just remember that the hoses are different sizes. The adapter to put them together is less than ten bucks. I think all the parts houses carry them.
 
Sweet. I'll try that! Thanks!
Hmmm, actually, wouldn't I have to pull the dash apart anyhow to get to the hoses? lol
I've never replaced a core, but hear it's a b^tch.
 
barknee said:
Sweet. I'll try that! Thanks!
Hmmm, actually, wouldn't I have to pull the dash apart anyhow to get to the hoses? lol
I've never replaced a core, but hear it's a b^tch.
Click to expand...

It's not bad... worse on AC trucks, and worse on CUCV's cuz the second battery is there, aargh.

Anyway, the connections to the hoses are in the engine compartment and NOT in the dash, so bypassing it is pretty easy.

-- A
 
You're gonna need a 3/4 x 5/8 barbed connector and a couple of hose clamps. I've been driving my 83 C10 with the heater core bypassed for almost 3 years now with no ill effects. :thumb:
 
Would this cause the engine to run hot if the heater core was messed up?

Replacing the heater core is about a 5-6 hr job. You have to pull the dash and what not. If you want an exact procedure I can print it off at work tomorrow while I'm not busy pulling my transmission.
 
iwaxmyjimmy said:
Would this cause the engine to run hot if the heater core was messed up?

Replacing the heater core is about a 5-6 hr job. You have to pull the dash and what not. If you want an exact procedure I can print it off at work tomorrow while I'm not busy pulling my transmission.
Click to expand...

WHAT?

I've done it in less than an hour, and all I had to remove was the glovebox.

Are we talking about 73-91's here?

-- A
 
dremu said:
WHAT?

I've done it in less than an hour, and all I had to remove was the glovebox.

Are we talking about 73-91's here?

-- A
Click to expand...

Thats what I was told. I've got a truck with AC also.
 
SO what you've been told,,,,and what you have actually done,,,are two different situations here then,,,,right?:confused:
 
Did mine in my '89 with AC took about 3 hours... Was my first time and I didn't want to mess any of the linkage up.... easier to get to bottom bolt if you remove the inner fender but I got to it with it still on... Not to bad at all. Just remember where the linkage was set. The biggest problem I had was getting the heater core out of the plastic box. :doah:
 
The guy that told me this, did it on his suburban and he said it took him 4 hrs. He also has the metal clip on the blower door, I believe is what he said, break and he had to fix that as well. I was stating the labor rate from a shop manual. I'll scan the pages tomorrow and show proof. I know on my truck you have to remove the whole unit which I know is under the dash. It doesn't look to me it will fit throught he glove box.
 
It really only takes a few hours, I also went ahead and removed the inner fender well to gain easier access to that one nut on the firewall holding the heater/ac box on. You remove the glovebox door to gain more access to items that are alittle harder to reach and see.
 
Three Hours! Five to Six Hours! The hell you say! I finally got mine back together tonight after about five weeks.:D Of course I did pull all of the duct and clean it, replace the stereo, pull the inner fender and clean & paint, pull the battery tray and clean & paint, etc. & etc. it would have taken about three hours but I didn't wnat to have totake it apart again for anything later and I had two of the bolts with clips break as well as the geater to A/C door thingamabob clip deally doodad break. I decided to make one since Paul got busy cleaning his garage instead of sending me an extra.:rolleyes: :haha: you're welcome KimCan.:wink1:

it really is not that bad a job. This was on a '91 crew cab w/air. PM if you want a step by step on the fixes and how to repair the broken parts.:wink1:
 
For the record, pulling the wheelwell is not absolutely nescesary if you have the right tools and a tad bit of patience..

a mirror, 1/4 drive swivel socket, extension, ratchet and 10 minutes of fiddling and it is doable..
 
ryoken said:
For the record, pulling the wheelwell is not absolutely nescesary if you have the right tools and a tad bit of patience..

a mirror, 1/4 drive swivel socket, extension, ratchet and 10 minutes of fiddling and it is doable..
Click to expand...

I think this has been established and addressed in a previous thread as well,,,

not necessary, but as you mention, needing the right tools and patience....

I just said to hell with it before i lost my patience with it :D :haha:

It's the 10 minutes of fiddling that gets to me:doah:
 
hehe, we said FIDDLE... :haha:

Nah, I hear ya... Yanking the wheelwell is cake, IF it's been done in the not too distant past and the fasteners are decent.... 20 yr old rusted stuff, nother story...

Oh wait, silly me, you boys have no rust! :doah: :wink1:
 
3 hours IIRC doing mine the first time but previous owner(grandpa) left that lower nut off :D . Man my grandfather is a great guy :laugh: . One hour figuring out how to not break and remove the core from the damn box.

Would take me 1-2 now. Not hard just time consuming. Costs like 30 bucks IIRC.
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys.....
I persuaded a buddy of mine over the weekend, to help me in replacing the core.....WHAT A ROYAL PAIN IN THE A$$! Of course, we drank a bunch of beer while doing it, so we took longer than expected, but got'r done in about 4 hrs total, if that, of actual "working time".
Seems to be working just fine.....yay!
I just dont understand why in the hell Chevy put so many damn screws up under the dash??! Or better yet, why they made it so freakin hard to get to, I mean, we had to take the entire assembly out under the dash, then another 10 screws to get to the core.........$25 part is all it cost, so I saved $300+ in labor, and had a bit of fun doing it!
The directions from this forum were perfect, so thanks to whoever posted them on here a while back!!!
Back in action!
 
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