heater core replacement help

[Dunckel]

so, my heater core is leaking. i searched and found a link that will give me some step by step help, so i think i am up to the task of doing it on my own. i was wondering if anyone has a link with pictures. also, i was wondering if anybody has ever ordered anything from partsamerica.com. toyota wants $350 for a new heater core, and partsamerica wants $146. sure it saves me some money, but is it worth it?

tips would be greatly appreciated. thanks

 

[boostadikt]

i bought my new heater core from checker for 56$.... it works fine
i did it about 2 months ago...... dont have any pics or anything tho.

 

[steven89]

could you post the link as i think mine is leaking.. i really dont see any other reason the previous owner would have bypassed it.

And ebay has em for around $60ish.. $80 new i think (on ebay)

 

[plaaya69]

Too bad you guys did not see this item on ebay a few weeks ago.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...E:L:RTQ:US:1&viewitem=&item=170090678491&rd=1

It ended at $0.99(w/NR and BIN was $75)with no bids and shipping was only $20. I was going to bid on it but I forgot to. I know the seller still has it but I dont know how much he wants because I emailed him.

 

[Dunckel]

here you go steven.
http://www.supras.com/06/techcenter/display.php?QID=59&wcal4ulogin=9326d398a78d2b9eea5414c12a8f69c8

 

[ValgeKotkas]

That's actually not hard at all.
Remove dash, take the hoses leading to the heatercore off (firewall, engine bay), remove some nuts or whatever they are called and then play with the core. It's kinda tricky to get it out, IIRC push it to the left and pull a little, gotta take it easy. Good luck

 

[boostadikt]

uhhhm... Easy? have you done it before? yes it sounds easy but wait till you are pulling EVERYTHING apart and lifting the dash out of the car, Then you will have to remove the metal braces and try to get the heater box out of a tight space.

its not easy.... Its not that its extremely hard either just very tricky and time consuming

 

[Supracentral]

With pics:

http://www.supracentral.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=42

 

[Dunckel]

With pics:

http://www.supracentral.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=42

two thoughts:
1) thank you for the illustrations
2) holy shit :aigo:

 

[jetjock]

As pointed out it's not difficult thanks to the car's modular construction but it is time consuming.

As for the core itself they usually fail from bad cooling system maintenance or use of the wrong coolant which attacks the solder in copper cores. You'd need to see how yours failed to be sure. If you're going to cheap out on the core better be attentive to the cooling system in the future. I suggest you go with an aluminum core. They cost more but you don't want to do this job twice.

 

[ValgeKotkas]

uhhhm... Easy? have you done it before? yes it sounds easy but wait till you are pulling EVERYTHING apart and lifting the dash out of the car, Then you will have to remove the metal braces and try to get the heater box out of a tight space.

its not easy.... Its not that its extremely hard either just very tricky and time consuming

Yes, twice. And I didn't say it's easy, I said to take it easy and not to rush:icon_bigg Like you said, time consuming.

 

[JesseH]

As pointed out it's not difficult thanks to the car's modular construction but it is time consuming.

As for the core itself they usually fail from bad cooling system maintenance or use of the wrong coolant which attacks the solder in copper cores. You'd need to see how yours failed to be sure. If you're going to cheap out on the core better be attentive to the cooling system in the future. I suggest you go with an aluminum core. They cost more but you don't want to do this job twice.

JJ's right its not hard....it just takes time. When you do it dont rush, take your time and put the different screws and nuts into baggies and label them so then you know where they go on reassembly. I did this when I changed mine and didnt have one bolt left over.

 

[mk3ftMFw]

what happens when the heater core goes bad? The windows inside my camry get this white film all over them (the inside) i scrub it off and its back. I also think i may have an exhaust leak and its somehow leaking into the car..

 

[CyFi6]

As pointed out it's not difficult thanks to the car's modular construction but it is time consuming.

As for the core itself they usually fail from bad cooling system maintenance or use of the wrong coolant which attacks the solder in copper cores. You'd need to see how yours failed to be sure. If you're going to cheap out on the core better be attentive to the cooling system in the future. I suggest you go with an aluminum core. They cost more but you don't want to do this job twice.

Sorry to bump this old thread, but is there an aluminium heater core available anywhere? Most auto parts store cores I see are brass/copper and are around $50. Not trying to cheap out, but no way I am spending $350 to replace my heater core with OEM, considering I rarely even use the heater.

 

[planemos]

Here in Canada I asked my Toyota guy about getting a new one and he said it would be a thousand bucks. I hope he was including the install/labour price.

 

[Supracentral]

Here in Canada I asked my Toyota guy about getting a new one and he [strike]said it would be a thousand bucks.[/strike] told me something ridiculous because he doesn't want to do the job.

Fixed that for ya...

 

[CyFi6]

Well I ended up purchasing an aftermarket unit from Napa, I think it is a Spectra brand unit. Not all that happy with the build quality. What really worries me is that one of the pipe ends appears to be slightly oblong. Considering there is just an o ring to seal this connection, I am afraid it would leak. How many people have used an aftermarket core with success? I considered having the pipes soldered on, but with my time constraints (can't have the Supra off the road more than a day or two) I don't what to deal with that. Might be looking at an OEM core after all . Where has everyone purchased their OEM heater cores from? Where is the best pricing available?

 

[jetjock]

I've done several aftermarket cores without any issues at all. My advice is don't use OEM coolant with them and always pressure test the system before putting the dash back in.

 

[te72]

My advice is don't use OEM coolant with them...

Is this something specific to the aftermarket heater cores? I've heard of the pink/red coolant causing problems when mixed with other coolants, but can't say I've come across hearing about it hurting the heater core.

 

[jetjock]

It's not the core as much as if high lead content solder was used in its construction. Testing has shown OEM coolant is very aggressive to it. At least the Toyota extended life stuff is. It's one of the reasons I recommend using G-05 unless the radiator/core is vacuum brazed or the lead content known.