Heater Core Replacement and White Plastic Clip Fix

[496truck]

So, it looks like I have to replace the heater core. Yay...

I found this thread with pics that was kinda useful... http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=283599&highlight=heater+core
But not useful enough. Looks like the heater core is coming out through the interior side of the firewall. What all am I going to remove to get at it? Right off the bat I can assume the glove box is coming out. What about the dash pad, that have to come out too?

Any good tips/tricks to get this done flat rate style?

Thanks in advance.

edit: found this one too, somewhat useful in it's own right...
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=277802&highlight=heater+core

 

[swettysblazer]

Glove box, the heater box behind the glove box, and I think thats it. I did mine when I first got the truck. If you've got any questions, my dad does this for a living. We own a radiator shop so if you need any help let me know

 

[496truck]

Cool, Thanks.

Prob not gonna do this till tomorrow. Don't need the truck today anyways.

 

[tRustyK5]

Try this, it's about as comprehensive a write-up as you're gonna find.

http://coloradok5.com/heatercore.shtml

Nobody looks at the home page anymore...

 

[496truck]

Try this, it's about as comprehensive a write-up as you're gonna find.

http://coloradok5.com/heatercore.shtml

Nobody looks at the home page anymore...

And here I was thinking I had read all of the home page articles.

I actually found that yesterday via a link on a thread I posted earlier. I read the whole thing yesterday morning. Tackled the job today, only took a couple hours. I even had time to stop for lunch and fab up a new part to replace the white plastic clip thing that breaks on the diverter door. No time to update now but I will have a pic to post tomorrow of my cool new metal diverter door clip...

 

[tRustyK5]

i'm sure plenty of people will be interested in your custom diverter door clip.

 

[496truck]

i'm sure plenty of people will be interested in your custom diverter door clip.

Well, they're gonna hafta wait. Left my phone at home today and it has the pics on it...

All in all it wasn't a hard job. I can think of much worse things to deal with. 3 nuts, 1 bolt, 4 screws, 3 vacuum lines, and a cable clip and the whole thing comes out so you can work on it. I didn't remove the inner fender, actually went to and the welded nuts started breaking off and the bolts would just spin.

Removed the glove box. The 2 nuts under the A/C box were not hard to get to at all with the inner fender in place. Deep 11mm socket, a swivel joint, and about 2' of extension was all it took to get to them. One more nut on the top in plain view, easy. One 10mm head bolt on the inside. 3 screws for the duct behind the glove box, 1 screw behind the ashtray. That one was kinda tricky cause you can't see it, there is a duct in the way. I'm not fishing that duct out so I just reached in there with an 8mm ratcheting box wrench, done.

Once it's out, pull all the perimeter screws, one flapper door rod, and one bracket at the top that holds another flapper door rod in place. Now you can access and replace the core, clean everything out, etc. One more thing, you do have to undo the infamous white plastic clip or the case will not separate. I used a small socket and some channel locks to push the pin up and out, easy.

My clip was broken. I fabbed one up using a piece of 5/16 steel tube, the kind you would use to make trans cooler lines. Cut off a couple inches of tube. Put maybe 1/4" of it in the vise and flattened it. Drilled a hole through the flat part for the mounting screw. Drilled another, smaller hole through the top for a cotter pin to attach to the actuator rod. Then took a cut off wheel and cut down the center of the tube for the actuator to slide through. Screwed the new door clip on to the door, slid the actuator rod through, and secured with a cotter pin. Sweet. Done.

And to think, I was gonna spend $2.50 to buy a new plastic clip. Now, I have this sick new steel one and it didn't cost me anything but a little time. That's $2.50 I can use to finance one more beer. And, I know, worthless without pics. I'll have a pic tomorrow of my fancy new clip.

 

[496truck]

Here are the pics of my cool new steel replacement for the white plastic clip that breaks in the heater diverter door. As described above it was uper easy to make. I don't see this thing breaking any time soon.

 

[tRustyK5]

Nice work! Thanks for the pic and description...I swear I see half a dozen or more threads every year about those busted clips.

 

[496truck]

I've seen people asking about them before too, heck I was asking about it last week. Dug up an old thread with some good info. Never ordered one. Then the heater core started leaking, yada, yada, yada, this thing is here, in my hands. What do I have laying around that can get this fixed and working, now. That's pretty much how it went.

Necessity is the mother of invention, or something like that...