Heater Core Replacement Instructions

A heater core heats up the compartment of your vehicle. It resembles a radiator. If you feel that your car cabin does not get heated up enough, improper functioning of the heater core is the most probable reason. You will then need to replace it with a new one. Replacing a heater core is quite cheap. On an average, it costs around $25-35. It is a simple job, and you can easily do it yourself. It just requires the appropriate tools, and a bit of mindfulness, and some patience.

Following are the steps and the very necessary heater core replacement instructions for replacing a heater core. These will give you a fair idea of heater core removal and installation.

Impaired Heater Core Removal Instructions

• Place the jack stands under the front of the car and lower the car so that it touches the jack stand. Block the rear tires. Put the car in gear or set the parking brake. This should be done to ensure that the car does not move while you work on it.
• Make sure that the car engine is completely cold. Find the four roof holes and unfasten the cab roof. Remove the pressure and radiator caps. Remove the exhaust hood.
• Take out the upper heater box cover fasteners. Remove all the plastic parts. There are two screws to keep the heater core fixed in place. Locate them and remove.
• Disconnect the negative battery terminal. This is to ensure additional safety. This must be done whenever you work on the electrical car components or while you work near the air bags.
• Drain the cooling system. The cooling system is a mixture of water and an anti-freeze. If the coolant is still good, reuse it. If it has become discolored, has debris, or is leaking, you must replace it.
• The heater core has two hoses. One is the inlet hose and the other is the outlet hose. The inlet hose is ¾ inches and the outlet hose is ⅝ inches in length. Any attempt to remove the heater core would be accomplished by detaching both the hoses. You can remove the hoses by loosening the hose clamps. Make use of worm drive clamps. They are the most suitable.
• Remove the access panel. It is a panel about 12 inches long and held in by six screws. You can take out the console if it obstructs the access panel removal.
• Substitute both the hoses if they are too worn out or damaged.
• Lay a rag or a newspaper to prevent staining from the coolant that may spill.
• Remove the brackets from each end of the heater core and detach the heater core.
• Empty the coolant from the heater core. Pets like cats and dogs get attracted to ethylene glycol and may consume it. It might prove dangerous to their health. It is always advisable to pour it in a container which can be sealed, to make it inaccessible to them.
• Remove the heater core pipes from the heater core. Make use of rags to handle any spilling of the coolant.
• Untie the bolts that bind the heater core housing to the vehicle. Take out the heater core housing. Extract the heater core from the housing.

New Heater Core Installation

• Pull out the old core and set up the new core in its place. Screw the core to the lower heater box. Don't tighten the screws too much, as this may lead to deformation of the heater box.
• Apply some olive oil or grease at the pipe ends. Reconnect the inlet and outlet hoses to the respective ends of the heater core.
• Put the upper heater box and exhaust hood back in place using factory fasteners. Refill the heater core reservoir with a coolant.
• Purge the heater system of all the air. Reconnect the battery and get rid of the old heater. You are finally done.

Now you are equipped with the heater core replacement instructions, and can do this job whenever need be. If your heater core shows improper functioning, you do not need to run to a mechanic right away. You can remove an impaired heater core and install a new one in its place, all by yourself.