Anyone have a write up about a heater core bypass? I have a strong scent of coolant in my cab, and am also leaking it, so pretty much guessing the core has bit the dust. Local shop quoted $800 for labor. So I'm thinking I'll just buy the $100 new heater core and do it myself with the writeup from here. But in the mean time, I heard you can bypass the broken one until you replace it.
So if anyone has a write up, or instruction how, that'd help greatly.
Also, is bypassing the heater core gonna mess anything up in the long run if it takes me a while until I can get it swapped out?

 

Look for where the 2 heater hoses go through the firewall. Follow them toward the engine till you find suitable places to disconnect them and connect them together. It's not gonna mess anything up but (obviously) you won't have any heat.

 

I have replaced so many on my truck, 8 or 9, that I no longer use the quick disconnects. I have 5/8 hose over the pipes and I keep them extra long. I have the T fittings used for coolant flushes plumbed into the lines. When the core goes I disconnect the Ts and use 1 of them for a connector.

 

Ok, so disconnect the hoses from where they leave the engine, and connect then together?
Or disconnect them from the firewall and connect them together?

 

It doesn't matter WHERE you disconnect them - as long as you connect them together at the engine side. Connecting them together at the core side is not correct if you think about this for a bit.

 

Yea, that's what I was thinking, just double checking.
So do I just leave the hoses from the core side open, or not connected to anything? Or should I plug them up as well?

 

Leave them. You can flush them out when you replace the heater core. That is if you decide to reuse them.