Vetteman61
Registered Member
I recently replaced my heater core on my '87 K5. I downloaded the article, but I ran into a few things that were different, and thought I'd share them to maybe give back a little to the community that's helped me with my K5 a whole bunch.
I didn't have to take my inner fender out at all. I just needed a universal to get the one screw on the very bottom, passenger side out. It actually wasn't difficult in the least, however, attempting to get my inner fender was very, very difficult. A couple of the clips broke off inside the fender, allowing the clip to spin with the bolt, and I still haven't gotten them out, but I moved on to the heater core and decided to deal with all that later.
My heater core became "stuck" and I couldn't find any more bolts holding it from the top, where it seemed to be holding. As it turned out, the clip inside the stud going through the firewall on the top (there are little teeth in there) were wedged against the threads. I'd attempted lightly hammering on the stud to see if this was the problem. As it turned out, I had to put the nut back on the stud and hammer fairly hard.
Once the heater core was out, i discovered a few things. On my 87, even after you have the box out, it can be difficult. To get the two parts of the box apart, you have to remove all the bolts, but ALSO hammer out the pin which one of the flaps operate on. This didn't seem obvious and took a while to figure out, because most heater boxes come apart differently, without this being necessary. When you take this pin out, MAKE SURE it's turned correctly, as it's shaped in a half circular shape, and will break the plastic (experience) if you try to take it out without the shapes being lined up perfectly. This goes ever more so for reinstalling it.
There were some wires coming out of the fire wall into the passenger compartment which seemed to be connected to my heater box, but they were not. They were holding my heater box close to the wall, so I couldn't tilt it down to discover that they weren't connected, but simply wrapped around the vacuum inlet on the box. It seems apparent now, but it was hard to figure this out without being able to see anything, and BARELY being able to run my fingers up in behind it to feel anything either.
Another suggestion, not from my experience, but from experience working at a parts house. When you buy a heater core, have it tested at a radiator shop. It's very cheap, often free, easy and VERY worth it. Heater cores are sometimes not good or leak out of the box. It's an easy way to save a LOAD of bothersome extra work.
Thanks,
Brandon
I didn't have to take my inner fender out at all. I just needed a universal to get the one screw on the very bottom, passenger side out. It actually wasn't difficult in the least, however, attempting to get my inner fender was very, very difficult. A couple of the clips broke off inside the fender, allowing the clip to spin with the bolt, and I still haven't gotten them out, but I moved on to the heater core and decided to deal with all that later.
My heater core became "stuck" and I couldn't find any more bolts holding it from the top, where it seemed to be holding. As it turned out, the clip inside the stud going through the firewall on the top (there are little teeth in there) were wedged against the threads. I'd attempted lightly hammering on the stud to see if this was the problem. As it turned out, I had to put the nut back on the stud and hammer fairly hard.
Once the heater core was out, i discovered a few things. On my 87, even after you have the box out, it can be difficult. To get the two parts of the box apart, you have to remove all the bolts, but ALSO hammer out the pin which one of the flaps operate on. This didn't seem obvious and took a while to figure out, because most heater boxes come apart differently, without this being necessary. When you take this pin out, MAKE SURE it's turned correctly, as it's shaped in a half circular shape, and will break the plastic (experience) if you try to take it out without the shapes being lined up perfectly. This goes ever more so for reinstalling it.
There were some wires coming out of the fire wall into the passenger compartment which seemed to be connected to my heater box, but they were not. They were holding my heater box close to the wall, so I couldn't tilt it down to discover that they weren't connected, but simply wrapped around the vacuum inlet on the box. It seems apparent now, but it was hard to figure this out without being able to see anything, and BARELY being able to run my fingers up in behind it to feel anything either.
Another suggestion, not from my experience, but from experience working at a parts house. When you buy a heater core, have it tested at a radiator shop. It's very cheap, often free, easy and VERY worth it. Heater cores are sometimes not good or leak out of the box. It's an easy way to save a LOAD of bothersome extra work.
Thanks,
Brandon
