Errrgghhhhh

Discussion in 'Technical' started by JEDI-77, Jul 2, 2016.

  1. JEDI-77

    JEDI-77 Jedi Master

    Obviously I get no benefit from posting this here, but we all like sharing our pain in a therapeutic way.

    Driving home tonight, greeted with the sweet smell of coolant and wet carpet at my feet.

    Yep, you guessed right Batman, Heater Core time !! The third heater core replacement in my Zed ownership adventure (1st on this car).

    Thanks for listening.
     
  2. shineyzx

    shineyzx Member

    Practice makes perfect? You should have it down to a fine art? Do you do it by cutting the brass pipe or not?
     
  3. JEDI-77

    JEDI-77 Jedi Master

    Brass pipe...

    Dont know about practise makes perfect, but I know the process and sequence at least. Still a bitch of a job... Actually, this will be the fourth heater core job, as I had to replace the core on my Mazda a couple years ago..

    Cutting the brass pipes? Not sure what you mean? I've never had to cut any pipes to get the core out... Once the hoses in the engine bay are disconnected, and the heater box is free to come out, everything just pulls out....

     
  4. MikeZ32

    MikeZ32 das Über member

    dash in place or dash out?

    Never had the displeasure so curious to know. I've have had dash off for other purposes and it still looks hard, I would hate to do this with dash in.
     
  5. JEDI-77

    JEDI-77 Jedi Master

    Always dash out...

    Its daunting at first, but once you've done it. Its just a case of undoing bolts and clips and pulling stuff out. Have never tried the "dash in" method, and dont think I would want to being a manual.


     
  6. QLDZDR

    QLDZDR ID=David

    If this is going to become an informative thread about replacing the heater core (with pics) then is it too much to ask that the words "heater core" be part of the thread title?
     
  7. BigCol

    BigCol That's what she said...

    Bugger. :-(
     
  8. OZX_320

    OZX_320 Detachable Member

    heater bypass time

    1 less hose to worry about and /problem until nec winter
     
  9. Cheddle

    Cheddle New Member

    nightmare fuel :-(

    sad to hear it gave up :-(

    im interested to know the procedure in any case...
     
  10. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    Its not a simple job to do either. When i did mine during my build to replace a leaking heater tap i did it with the dash out and the plenum off to make the job as easy as possible.
     
  11. TWIN TERROR

    TWIN TERROR Well-Known Member

    It would be an interesting job to watch being performed just in case one us lucky zedders happens to have to do their own :D. Maybe worth a tech day ? . I have an earth terminal on my battery that unscrews when I put my car away. I wonder if me doing this is why I have never had to do a heater core. No stray current to cause corrosion. It maybe worth thinking about guys.
    Cheers
    Dave
     
  12. ADAMZX

    ADAMZX 2000spec Conversion

    I documented my heater core pull to replace the tap. Like i said i purposely had my dash removed and my plenum off to tackle not just the core but other jobs while the easy access was there. When i get around to posting my build thread the how to will be included for future zed owners to use.
     
  13. JEDI-77

    JEDI-77 Jedi Master

    I have pics of my first ever heater core job...

    but really, the tech articles on this forum and twinturbo.net cover the job just fine.

    Stray current could be a problem, but in reality, I think its just age related corrosion. The car is now 23 years old and while corrosion inhibitors do their best, they don't entirely stop some corrosion from occuring. For whatever reason, the Heater core in Zeds always seems to be a soft spot. It seems to be a case of not IF it happens but WHEN it will happen.


     
  14. Egg

    Egg ....

    I'm curious

    Do you use your heater a lot and have you used the same brand of coolant all these years?

    Don't think I've ever used my heater and hope this might make a difference.

    Terribly unlucky.
     
  15. JEDI-77

    JEDI-77 Jedi Master

    I think I just use my heater as normal. Car only gets driven on the weekends, if that. If its cold ( I live in Melb :)) heater is on :)

    Strange thing is, on the occasions that my heater core has failed, either by coincidence or some other factor, it has always failed after my cooling system has had some sort of "treatment"...

    I had the cooling system flushed and cleaned out end of last year. Now the core is leaking. The same thing happened on my old Zed. Not saying the flush is a bad idea, its obviously needed when replacing the coolant. But on two occasions, this has happened. And these were not lazy flushes. These were, thermostat out, radiator out, proper power flush to remove all the old coolant.

    I'll know more once the core is out. If its leaking from the core itself, then its obviously corrosion, old age etc etc. If its the plastic tap on the side of the core, then its just a plastic component or seal that has failed after years of use. On my old NA Zed, the first leak was the core. The second leak was the tap.

     
  16. CHILI

    CHILI Indestructable Target

    It's plain/simple Science, Mate.
    Electrolysis, dissimilar metals(Cast Iron, Brass, Copper & Alloy)and an Electrolyte(the Coolant in this case)are ALL that is required to promote this effect.:eek::br:
     
  17. JEDI-77

    JEDI-77 Jedi Master

    In that case...

    It seems something that really is unavoidable and with time will show the consequences.

     
  18. IB

    IB ?????

    We did Razortt's manual TT with the dash in a few weeks ago. Getting the clutch pedal out and in was extremely difficult.

    We did it twice because it was the heater tap that failed. We also found that the flanges weren't flat on the new core.

    To work out exactly what was wrong we used a couple of 19mm irrigation fittings (19mm to clip on hose connector and 19mm blank off plug) to test with the garden hose.
     

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