Re: leaking heater core

[Michael Spiers <mikes@specnet.com>]

> I am sorry but you do *not* have to take the dash out! There
> are a fwe screws to remove under the dash and the vacume
> lines to undo, but thart CAN be done with the dash in its
> place. Been there, done that, and drank a dew.! Went home
> warm and fogless 1986 5000cstq.

OK, lets get this straight.  The turbo dash is a totally different animal than
the non-turbo dash.  So turbo-jockeys need not apply.  If memory serves, the
original post was about an '89 100Q, which is a non-turbo.  Of course, the
'89's have a completely different dash than any '84 - '88 car, so this entire
debate may be worthless (although entertaining.)

My (her, whatever) '84 5kS (non-turbo) had two centre vents that would not have
been removeable with the dash in place.  There were a few screws that you could
not get to with the dash there.  Removing the dash on the '84 took me between a
half an hour & 45 minutes (it helps if you've dissected the thing so many times
you know exactly what to do.)  If this is the first time you've even considered
messing with any part of the dash, it would take considereably longer to figure
out what all you need to remove (damn near everything though.)  Centre console
first, then the two parcel shelves & footwell vents, followed by the steering
wheel, combination switch & gauge cluster.  All the electronic connectors you
mess with are different, no chance of reconnecting anything incorrectly.  A
good bit of the time is spent trying to figure out how to physically get the
dash out of the car, all the while having your friends look over your shoulder
& say "Mike, you're never gonna get that thing back together."  Removing the
hood was maybe two minutes work, it's only four bolts, one washer hose, & one
power wire for the hood light (which, incidentally, you'll have to snip the
first time, but I'd had my hood off before so a quick disconnect was already
there.)  Remove the two heater hoses at the motor & heater valve, you can't get
to the clamps in the heater box.  Just remember which hose goes where.  Also a
good idea to replace these hoses which you've got the whole thing apart anyhow.
 The majority of the work is getting that heater box out of the car.  Audi used
some kind of industrial strength glue/epoxy/whatever to hold that thing in
place, you've really got to haul on the thing to get it out.  Be carefull not
to break the plastic casing when you're doing it though...  Once you've got it
out, take it apart and have all the springs & flaps fall out.  Spend a little
time figuring out how they go back together.  (A helpfull hint, only remove the
"C" clips on one side of the case to avoid such a situation.)  Then find that
the heater core is epoxy-ed to the box, so then figure a way to get it out of
the box without cracking the ten year old plastic casing.  Crack it anyways, so
epoxy the cracked case & silicone the newly installed heater core in place &
set it up to dry.  By this time you've had about ten longnecks of Black & Tan,
so it's time to pass out in the back seat of the car.  "Installation is the
reverse of removal."

-- 
-Mike
mikes@specnet.com
mks107@psuvm.psu.edu
87 5000CS TQ
84 5000S (2,000 miles away and a mile high)
90 80 (sibling's mode of transportation I get lynched into working on)