Well, there must be something in the air. The heater core in my wife's Sable took a dump 3wks ago (currently bypassed...brrrr), and now the lovely antifreeze fragrance has made it's way into the cab of my '90 F150 (302).

I did a search, but didn't come up with anyone having said how big of a deal it is to replace the core in our trucks. The closest I got was someone back in 1999 saying, "easy job, btw" - lol.

Have any of you guys done it? How tough? Any steps, ideas, tips?

Thanks,

Wade

 

I think it is pretty easy in our trucks but i haven't had to do it yet (fingers crossed). You could do your wifes car first for practice! I drove a Sable all last winter and i had to put a heater core in it. Took me about 4 hours and i do this for a living. You just have to drop the steering column and take the entire dashboard out of the vehicle, yank out some heating ducts, take out about 20 screws and clips and it will be right there! On your truck, depending on the year and if you have A/C or not it will either be right in the engine compartment on the left side behind the blower motor. Or in the cab right behind the glove box. Either way probably wouldnt take more that 30 minutes to replace.

-Jon

 

You make it sound so easy - LOL! For my sake, I hope that their both easier than I'm anticipating!

Thanks Jon.

Anyone else?

Wade

 

I put a heater core in my 89, its easy as pie. take off the glove box and there is a panel behind it with like 8 screws. take out those screws and there is the heater core. take off the hose clamps and there you have it.

 

Thanks Dave!!! Since it's that easy, I think I'll go get a $18 core from Autozone and if it fails again in a couple of years, no biggie - lather, rinse, repeat. The Ford unit is $78 from the dealer, and $74 from Ford Parts Network.

Wade

 

yeah, the hadrest part is disconnecting the two hoses in the engine compartment. I think I compleated the whole job in 10 minutes.

 

And I must say, thankfully, it was a very easy job. Like mentioned above, the toughest part was getting the old hoses loose from under the hood.

Second to that was getting the new core in the box, and getting the box to seal up. I went with a no-name core from Advance auto (more on that in a bit), and it didn't fit in as snugly as the stocker that came out. I ended up using some RTV on the core housing to make sure it was sealed tight, and my warm air went where it was supposed to go, but, again, all in all, it was an easy job.


I have heard from folks on the Mustang boards (The Corral mostly) that the difference between a Ford core and a parts-store core is like night and day - Nothing could be more true!! The core I took out was pretty, tight, with straight, shiny fins, and an overall quality-looking unit....except for the fact that it was pissing coolant - LOL! The core I bought looked like it was made by blind chimps in Mexico! :o I tested it before I put it in, and it seemed to be leak-free, so I went with it. The two reasons I went with the inferior core were ease of installation, and, moreso, the cost.
A replacement Ford core was $78, and the parts-store core was $19..... you do the math. It was a simple enough job that I wouldn't mind having to replace it again if it doesn't last but a couple of years.

Anyhoo, just wanted to report back that I got it done, and it was really easy. If anyone else should have to do it, don't fear the core!!

Thanks fellas!

Wade