Heater Core Replacement

J

jrod92

Member

Jun 17, 2004

66

0

7

Sep 16, 2005

#1

• Sep 16, 2005

• #1

My heater core has gone bad on my 97 gt and i was wondering how hard it would be to replace it myself or would you recommend taking it to a shop?

 

9646gt

Member

Apr 7, 2005

595

3

18

Holloman AFB,NM

Sep 16, 2005

#2

• Sep 16, 2005

• #2

it's my understanding the entire dash has to come out and the ac drained...not to mention i think 96 and 97 have a tsb for this and need a restrictor to change flow in to the core...

 

mrvax

Stay thirsty my friends

Founding Member

Nov 29, 1999

5,225

3

79

SN Moderator: Orlando, Fl.

Sep 16, 2005

#3

• Sep 16, 2005

• #3

I wouldn't be surprised if the labor alone was $500. Whoever designed this stuff should be shot or forced to fix heater cores for free.

 

sgarlic

Founding Member

Apr 21, 2001

3,085

1

56

Sep 16, 2005

#4

• Sep 16, 2005

• #4

You'd think they could've designed it to be on the other side of the firewall somehow.

Ah well. Anyways, yes you'll have to remove the dashboard, although not completely. Gotta disconnect where the heater lines plug on to the heater core first.. then you basically remove the seats (mostly for more working room,) remove the center console, drop the steering column, disco. whatever wiring harnesses are between the firewall and dash, remove the bolts holding the dash to the firewall, pull the entire dash forward, prop it up on something.. crawl up under there somehow and remove the bolts holding the blower assembly to the firewall, remove that, remove the door, remove heater core..

 

D

dromeda

New Member

Apr 17, 2004

146

0

0

Sep 16, 2005

#5

• Sep 16, 2005

• #5

I've done this on a '90. Not fun. Took the whole dash out. But it is doable without taking it out, though it seems like you still have to remove the same amount of screws...

 

timeless2

Vi Veri Veni Versum Vicus Vici

Admin Dude

Nov 29, 1999

1,366

202

154

the Shadow Gallery

Sep 16, 2005

#6

• Sep 16, 2005

• #6

Holy crap, this sounds like a real PITA! Hope I don't have this problem, EVER.

 

T

TNWhite96GT

Founding Member

Sep 20, 2001

110

0

16

Memphis,TN

Oct 27, 2005

#7

• Oct 27, 2005

• #7

Yes this is a major major pain but has to be done. Don't pay someone $500 to do this. I just finished mine today. Its really about a 5-6 hour job when you consider all the crap that has to be removed. The ac lines going through the firewall require a $10 tool at Autozone to get apart, thats what held me up the longest because I didn't know about it. For some reason my Air Bag light is on and the whole system is acting up now and it won't stop beeping on me. Weird. Apparently the Air BAg system is not linked to the OBD2 cpu ( I was told ) so I can't reset it the conventional way...good luck. Its not too hard, just tediuos as helll.

 

sgarlic

Founding Member

Apr 21, 2001

3,085

1

56

Oct 27, 2005

#8

• Oct 27, 2005

• #8

You sure you didn't miss a wiring harness when you put it back together?

 

timeless2

Vi Veri Veni Versum Vicus Vici

Admin Dude

Nov 29, 1999

1,366

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154

the Shadow Gallery

Oct 27, 2005

#9

• Oct 27, 2005

• #9

TNWhite96GT said:

Its not too hard, just tediuos as helll.

Click to expand...

In my book, tedious = hard.

 

M

mustanggt3685

New Member

Oct 8, 2005

130

0

0

Illinois

Oct 27, 2005

#10

• Oct 27, 2005

• #10

Yeah, my buddy there submitted that for me awhile back. I ended up having someone do it. But the old man fitted the bill...like $540 I think it was. I have the same issue, the damn air bag light won't turn off...

 

T

TNWhite96GT

Founding Member

Sep 20, 2001

110

0

16

Memphis,TN

Oct 31, 2005

#11

• Oct 31, 2005

• #11

Someone has to have fixed this issue. How does the dealership fix this when they do it?>?? I was told that the (blue) module is ruined for some reason because I pulled out the two connectors that went into it. Sounds like BS to me but who knows. There has to be a way. I reconnected what I thought were all of the connectors. There was one connector behind the dash that I could not find the mate to, but Im 99.99% sure it is not an airbag. The way it was positioned it couldn't have been . I guess it would help to know how many there are. I know there is one under the cosole, and the 2 into the module, but other than that I don't know how many or where. Would be a good place to start. Even then though, if you ruin them by unplugging them, well thats ignorant, or smart depending on whether you are a dealer or consumer...