heater core

hi everyone, its been a while, but now i've got a problem. was driving home from work yesterday and smoke started coming through my vents. I got home and saw coolant dripping off my the passenger side mud flap. Today i phoned a shop and they want 150 for the core and 520 for labour, sound reasonable? my friends dad offerd to help if it wasent a pain in the ass to get to, and i read that theres some trap door of some sort to gain access to it....
I work out of town and need it running asap. all opinions and comments welcome

thanks
Adam

How much for labour an hour? I hope that was $520.00 in CA funds. $350.00 US would be reasonable. (not sure of todays crate.) Keep that rad topped off b 4 you drive her.

good luck.

ya, thats 520 canadian, is the core pretty hard to get too? like under the dash?

so i wont hurt anything driving it? i read that it could explode and splash coolant all over under my dash.....true? would be nice to have wheels till i get it fixed

stupid jimmy.........maybe its time to go get me a celica

Ok. You can bypass the core for now and reroute the coolant to go back into the block. Just disconnect the lines from the firewall an deither install a fitting w/ hose clamps, or a whole new line. Just be sure to get the core replaced b 4 winter. Or it'll be a bit chilly.


Can you see if there is any wetness on the interior near pass side?

Driving w/ no coolant will hurt it. GM designed it to be cooled by water, oil and air. If it pees all the coolant out park it. Air in the system along w/ Dexcool will speed up the oxidation of things.
The core is located behind some plastic pass side against the fire wall. Some plastic cutting wil have to be done. Get a repair manual from the parts store and it'll instruct you exactly what to do.

Might as well flush what you can out and install a new t stat and rad cap. There is a purge vent to get the air out of the cooling system when the job is done

I believe that a pretty much complete removal of the dash has to happen inorder to replace the heater core. If you run a search I think someone posted pictures of their dash dismantled in the process of a heater core replacement.

Good news for you is that the A/C system does not have to come apart like it did in my old '97 Ram.

ahh gawd how fun was that Kyle?

I didn't do it. I got a more than reasonable quote for a shop to do it. I think I ended up paying $225 TOTAL!!! And that was with a $75 heater core. Lets just say I didn't even think twice. I also didn't really have the time to be doing it either. It was the middle of winter and I couldn't make the heater work!!!

$225.00 was a great price for someone else to hassle w/ it. Even w/ the partial A/C removal you got a good price for the work.

yeah the dexcool stuff just kills the heatercore, i wish they didnt put in there, i need to get mine replaced, but i used the crap you stick in there that seals cracks but i will eventually have to replace it

Yes this dash has to be completely removed to do this repair. If yours is a 95-97 model year ONLY the dash has to come out. Then you take the heater-core cover off and remove the heater-core. If it is a 98-2004 the Dash, and the right front inner-fender have to be completely removed in order for the heater-core case to be removed to access the heater core. This repair pays us technicians 10.5 hours of labor in the 98-04. The 95-97 pays 5.8 hours. THERE ARE NO ACCESS PANELS TO QUICKLY REMOVE THIS IN EITHER STYLE SO DON'T LET SOME YAHOO CUT UP YOUR DASH!!!

quote:

ORIGINAL: 97blazer

yeah the dexcool stuff just kills the heatercore, i wish they didnt put in there, i need to get mine replaced, but i used the crap you stick in there that seals cracks but i will eventually have to replace it

Any fact to backup that claim? Dexcool is not to blame for leaking heater cores. But then again, this is not the place to discuss this. There is a topic with more than enough dexcool information in it for anyone already started.

yep, gonna be right around $800cdn, lucky me! good thing im rich

I do have a concern, if anyone cares. Once in a while when I pump the gas I hear a 'ting' although it dosent do it everytime, U-bolt, piston....i have no idea.....

well the new heater core is in, total bill came to $914.00, thats 8.8 hour labour and the core.
My dad and I know him so he only charged $750 cash.

little damage done, now once in a while i'll get static from my stereo

but atleast shes running now.........