Help with Heater Core.

05NeonSE · Post by **05NeonSE** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:01 pm

So my moms wagon is toast. Well not really but the heater core is.

We got a quote for the repair and it came out to $900. Now i found the part which is $30 but it takes 5+ hours to get the job done.

Is there anyway to get a quick fix for say a month or so. The car overheats but not a lot as she only drives 10 miles to and from work.

Now i guess what caused this is the lack of coolant changes by the previous owner. At what intervals should that be changed?

Sorry for all the Q's but thats what 2gn is for right

oklamopar · Post by **oklamopar** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:20 pm

if you can drive without heat you can bypass the heater and refill with antifreese

Cbussilver01es · Post by **Cbussilver01es** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 1:23 am

I thought the heater core was the source of heating the interior of the car, I thought overheating was caused by water pump inefficiency or failure.

hmmm Idk about many other cars but I know that the coolant needs to be flushed and changed every 30,000 miles for our neons.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 6:07 pm

If it overheats then the radiator is prolly clogged. Why are you wanting to replace the heater core? is it leaking, or not putting out heat? If it is overheating and no heat from heater, then the first thing to check for is low coolant. If it is leaking then the cost to have it changed is pretty high in newer cars, as the dash usually needs removed and possibly the A/C needs evacuated/recharged, because the evaporator core is tied into the same space and needs to be removed with the heater core. Crappy design, but that's the price of smaller cars with foot room. So even if you did the work yourself, you would prolly need to get the gaskets for the A/C and replace those with the heater core, and legally you should have the A/C system evacuated before you start. Then put it all together, take it back and get the A/C recharged and hope the R-134A doesn't leak, or it is back to the removal process if you want to retain the A/C.... Yep a big PITA! That's why the $900.

05NeonSE · Post by **05NeonSE** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 3:02 am

Ok this thread is way dead but i just had to let you guys know what was up. The heater core was in fact really messed up. At least 4 or 5 rows were white and clogged. Took a total of 4 hours to get the dash out. And like 10 minutes to replace the actual part. We started a bit late so back to the installing process tomorrow. Since the car is 20 years old and im not sure if the previous owner(s) ever replaced any of this the a/c was really low. As in there was really no air to evacuate from the lines. Took about 3 seconds to let the air out. But yeah im really proud of myself for this, even though i barely did half the work:quotes:

BTW what's the R-134A?

Post by **Diablo0** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 11:55 am

R-134A is the refrigerant that our A/C system takes. It replaced what used to be R-12 which caused ozone depletion

05NeonSE · Post by **05NeonSE** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 12:13 am

Diablo0 wrote:R-134A is the refrigerant that our A/C system takes. It replaced what used to be R-12 which caused ozone depletion

oh ok i get it now. The work was done on a Merc Sable not my Neon. I dont suppose they use the same one right?

Wenuden · Post by **Wenuden** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 12:43 am

if the car is 20 years old, it most likely uses r12, which is retarded expensive now. Convert it over to r134-a and save some cash.

Oh yeah, and next time, please pay someone to evacuate the refrigerant, like Jason said, that stuff is brutal on the atmosphere. One of the aerosol chlorene molecules has the potential to destroy 100,000 o3 (ozone) molecules.

NickKo · Post by **NickKo** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 2:26 pm

Wenuden wrote: Oh yeah, and next time, please pay someone to evacuate the refrigerant, like Jason said, that stuff is brutal on the atmosphere. One of the aerosol chlorene molecules has the potential to destroy 100,000 o3 (ozone) molecules.

Not only that, it is WAY illegal too. (to discharge R12 into the atmosphere, without recovery equipment.)

If the EPA found out, you would be in a little trouble ....

-Nick

Post by **Diablo0** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:10 pm

It is very expensive and I'm not sure you can even buy it anymore. It's better to just convert it over to R-134a which isn't too hard since it's mainly just hte fittings that are different and you use more R-134a compared to R-12

Wenuden · Post by **Wenuden** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 5:15 pm

you can buy it if you have a CFC certification card from the EPA, at least for commercial use, dunno about automotive. We use it in some of our ac units at work, an 18# cylinder cost us over $500.....

05NeonSE · Post by **05NeonSE** » Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:20 am

Well like i said there was barely any in there. It was just a slight hiss that lasted no more than 2 or 3 seconds. I suppose no one in the lifetime of this car ever recharged the cooling system. Im going to be out of town this weekend but when i get back we're probably going to get one of those retrofit systems from Kragen/AutoZone that convert it to the R134. Thanks for the quick replies!