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I was wondering how many of you have tackled replacing the heater core in an L series Wagon with A/C?

Going by the Manual the entire dash needs to come out,is this correct?

Do you need to lose the A/C refrigerant?
Or is it possible to remove the heater core without removing the dash and/or disturbing the A/C? My heater core literally blew apart a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks for any advice..........

dash comes out. core is in the middle of the car so you shouldn't have to drop the A/C charge to get it out. dash isnt that bad to get out.

When i did mine i left the steering colum in, just hoisted the dash up out of the way to access the heater box. Tied the dash off to the visor. I also took the time to fully replace all the rubber/foam bits that make the seals for the flapps inside the box, but thats up to u. I would suggest getting either a new core or a reco one with brass/metal tanks, unlike the original plastic ones - Saves having to do it again later.

Thanks for the tips guys, appreciate the feedback. Relieved that it doesnt sound as bad as the book says, have done a couple on other makes and never look forward to it.Definitely wont be putting anything back in there with plastic tanks.Book does say take out steering column, but I couldnt see why.Probably tackle it about March /April when I start to need it again-Lol.

Busdriver wrote:Probably tackle it about March /April when I start to need it again-Lol.

Hahaha that's what I did, however it was a cold few weeks (hence doing it) I was working at night and had a desk lamp (60w) on the outside of the windscreen, pointing in. Came out the next morning to find a 30cm crack in my screen, must have been nice and hot, and then when i went inside the cold air cracked the screen.... was so pissed when i realised how stupid my idea was. Lit up the dash nice though

P.s yeah column out would prob make it easier but its not necessary if you don't want to take it out.

Also this is a good opportunity to see if you have any rust forming on the inside of the screen area, fix it now if u do. There are some rust converters that i hear work well, if you don't want to have it fixed professionally. Even with the dash all loose you should be able to drive if need be, as the dash will just fit back on its brackets, might have to plug in a few things though.

Oh and one other thing. The drivers side air vent that is not connected to the rest of the air system, ie just an outside vent. I could not for the life of me reconnect the wire to the lever again... Also pay close attension to the vacume lines for the vents, some of mine were off already and were a real pain to figure what went where.

Easy, done it a few times now so its more a pain in the arse...

There are 7 small bolts that hold the entire dash assembly in, 3 across the top, two down the bottom on left/right, and two in the centre under the ash tray.

You'll have to drop the fuse panel down, above that will be 3 or 4 large plugs that need to be disconnected. While under there disconnect the temp control cable and vacuum hoses (left side of driver's foot well) and the speedo cable(right up the top directly behind the speedo. I usually drop the steering column onto the drivers set to get the dash out - two or three bolts there and a couple of plugs depending on the model of L.

Plugs behind the glove box will need to be unplugged and a vacuum line or two to remove too - i usually take out the glove box, 4 screws at the hinges, only 2 on one side need to be taken out, the other side can stay there and the box will slide off with a bit of fiddling around.

Carefully lift the dash out, checking for anything you've missed - i'm sure i've missed some stuff.

The heater box will come out with 2 or 4 screws undone plus a bracket for the AC/vent into heater box...

Then a plastic arm will need to be levered off, another screw and it should slide out towards you...

Thats about it, the reverse applies for installation. Don't forget your speedo cable!

Have fun.

Bennie

That makes it sound almost too easy? How many beers/bourbons does the job rate?

I''ve done it at least 3 times.......and the speedo/instrument cluster doesn't need to go out. In fact I had driven it once for a week or so without the dash - waiting for the new heater.

Each time I was left with surplus screws though

fredsub wrote:Each time I was left with surplus screws though

I usually get that every time i do something major on the car

I figure it makes the car lighter therefore faster

Cheers

Bennie

Hey there El Freddo, just pulled my heater out using your most excellent directions and you could not have been more right! Thanks heaps and the same to everyone else that offered me there wisdom. Took about 1 1/2 hours so only a couple of stubbies. Got to do it now as I have developed a vaccum leak somewhere after I took out the Heater fan switch and repaired it and refitted it. Must have streched a vaccum hose too far while playing with the insrument cluster surround, what a PAI!
Anyway, now I need to get my plastic tank replaced on the heater core as it has split, or is they a better way that you guys know about?
BTW, not sure about the wisdom of putting heater hoses on the core where they cant be replaced straight forward, old holdens used to have a panel on the firewall that you could remove to extract the core, what do you think of making this change? Too much hassle?

No worries busdriver! Its good to recieve that sort of feedback, a good feeling knowing that something i've said is actually useful.

And thats a good idea with the heater core access point like the holdens - dunno why i didn't think about it. One main issue here is the cutting of the firewall... this would be the biggest hazard in terms of the authorities unless you're good at making it look like it was meant to be.

Or get an all brass tank, replace the heater hoses on the heater core (or get brass/copper pipes put on) and forget about it all for another 10 years...

Glad to be of some use.

Cheers

Bennie

Busdriver wrote:...Must have streched a vaccum hose too far while playing with the insrument cluster surround, what a PAI!

Thought about this for a while, what is PAI?

SUBYDAZZ wrote:...what is PAI?

PITA? Pain in the A$$

Sorry Dazz, left of the N, my bad typo!

Or PITA like Smokey says, same thing either way.

No good on cutting the firewall out either, I think the support brace that runs from that area to the top of the bell housing/rear of the engine will be in the way?

Ah, that makes sense now. Just wondered if it was some new acronym with which I was unfamiliar.

So I got the dash back in yesterday, not too bad to do at all!

Only one small drama, swapped the two plugs over on the bottom of the steering column by mistake and had no ignition when i turned the key on.
Should have seen my face when the starter motor started cranking over when the headlights where turned on though! Oops!:oops:

All the other connectors were either color coded or could only go one way, except for these two as it turned out.Guess I had a 50% chance of getting it right, Aint that the way it always works? Murphys law or something like that?

Now I seem to have misplaced the wiring plug that goes from the heater fan switch to the A/C switch, so I guess it is hiding away somewhere and I will probably have to take the heater fan switch out again to try and find it, and since that was how all this started in the first place it looks like here we go again!

I believe that is worth of a: D'oh!