[V8] another heater core veteran

[dsaad at icehouse.net]

I have joined the club!
I thought I had a heater core leak and so finally decided to R&R it. I am not
really sure if it was bad - maybe only the hose connection was loose but a new
part was only $75 so I changed it out anyway. I also found that the blower was
near death as well. The brushes were worn to the end of their travel. The motor
bearings looked OK and I probably could have just replaced the brushes but a new
Bosch blower was also $75 so I just got a new one. Overall not a hard job, but
it took me most of a weekend. I had to pull the hood, and the replacement core
was slightly defective in that the hose connections would not pass through the
opening in the housing. I had to heat them up and turn them a bit. The new core
is all brass btw. The old part - true to Audi form, was a piece of art. The new
part is downright ugly but it will probably outlast the car.
The manual was suprisingly un-helpful for this job but it was pretty obvious
what had to happen.
I used spray foam to seal the new core to the right air box half (the manual
recomended silicone), and foam tape for the left.
I also used new foam tape for the air box to firewall seal.
The only problem I had was a left over "E" clip with a felt and metal washer. I
remember taking it off - but could not find a place to put it back on.
Everything seems to work OK however.

After doing this job, I am a little puzzled about reading previous posts where
people recomend breaking and cutting parts. I never came across a need for that.

Dave