did the blower and core 86 5ktq

[mike mcclurg]

Stephane,

Nice writeup...it will be a nice addition to the
archives to help all the future repacements. A couple
of points, however.

1. There is a single connection where all the vacuum
lines can be disconnected at once.
2. Maybe just a personal preference, but I still think
it is much nicer to remove the hood.

Mike

--- "Livolsi, Stephane"
<Stephane.Livolsi at investorsgroup.com> wrote:
> So I got the new blower and heater core this weekend
> and tackled the job on
> Monday (that's what holidays are for, eh?)
>
> It turned into an adventure from hell, but mostly my
> own fault - I did too
> much 'while I'm in there'.  Decided to replace as
> many coolant lines as
> possible, which meant (in my case) removing the
> distributor to remove the
> coolant line elbow at the back of the engine.  Thus
> requiring finding TDC,
> requiring removing the timing belt cover and it
> kinda goes on and on.
> Started at 8:00 and put away the tools at 5:00.
> However, the actual blower
> and core job went pretty well.  That part of it was
> done by noon.  There's
> lots in the archives about this job, but I thought I
> would add my own tips
> and gotchas to maybe help someone else out.
>
> Tips:
> 1.  Remove the center console sides, the underdash
> panels, the glovebox and
> the ducts that blow the air to the front feet areas.
> 2.  Don't even try to unscrew the colored vac lines
> (green, yellow and red)
> from the underdash contol valves until after you
> have pulled the heater box
> partly out.  There is lots of slack in the lines to
> do this.
> 3. DO remove the windshield wiper assembly - it's
> only 3 bolts and gives you
> a lot more access to cut away the gasket holding the
> heater box to the body.
> 4.  When you are ready to remove the heater box, you
> have to pull it up on
> an angle to break the seal from the gasket.  Go to
> the drivers side of the
> car, put your hands on the passenger side and pull
> towards you as hard as
> you can.  Then go to the passenger side and do the
> same.  Repeat several
> times.  Alternate this with prying up on the box
> with a screwdriver wherever
> you find access.  A good spot is where the metal
> strap attaches to the body
> on the driver's side(right about where the heater
> core hoses attach)  But be
> careful or you will break the box.
> 5.  There is a cable running from the climate
> control motor (at the far
> right of the passenger side) through the heater box
> and attaches to the
> levers on the heater box.  There is also a clear
> vacuum tube going through
> the heater box at the same place through a grommet.
> I found that it was
> easier to undo the cable at the heater box and
> remove the grommet.  Then
> when reassembling, push the cable and vac tube
> through the hole in the
> heater box, then the grommet, then snap the grommet
> into place.  I just
> could not get the tube and cable through the grommet
> when it was already in
> place.  Take a look and you'll see what I mean.
> 6.  Putting the heater box back together was a pain,
> because you have to
> line up all the flaps (4 or 5 of them) before it
> would snap back together.
> What worked for me was to  use a sharp narrow pick
> to line up the flaps
> through the holes.  It takes a bit of patience, but
> has to be done.
> 7.  On reassembly, you have to watch that you get
> all of the ducts hooked
> up, of course. There is a rubber boot that connects
> the blower to the ducts
> that bring heated air to the back seats.  It is
> actually pretty easy to put
> on, just use the pull tabs on the sides.  I only
> mention it because it would
> be easy to overlook.
>
>
> Anyway, other than that it is pretty
> straightforward.  I have heard others
> talk about removing the hood, but it seems that you
> wouldn't gain a whole
> lot of advantage and from past experience I have
> found that lining up a hood
> on replacement is not simply "reverse of removal".
> Just my opinion of
> course.
>
> Good luck doing yours.
>
> By the way, I feel that me and all the previous
> owners of my car got their
> moneys worth out of the blower motor in there.  The
> armature was worn down
> to nothing.  Interestingly , the heater core was
> German, manufactured in 93.
> (remember my car is an 86)  So this has been done on
> my car before.
>
> Stephane
>
>


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