I am ordering parts within the next couple days and will be doing this same job within the next couple of weeks.

For those of you that have done this job.... besides the main heater core itself... what other parts do I need to order (besides some more antifreeze)? Any help would be appreciated.

I am also going to be putting in a new thermostat and my serpentine belt also will be replaced. Those should be fairly easy compared to the heater core job.

I have been doing as much research as I can and will be keeping an eye on this thread for helpful suggestions.

Thanks to everyone in advance.

 

About 7' of 5/8" heater hose.

 

DonFP, i have very little automotive mechanical experience but i was able to tackle the heater core project a couple weeks ago. if you have a/c, i would recommend replacing the a/c evap core and accumulator/dryer while you're at it. since i don't have gauges and a vacuum pump, i took my truck to my mechanic before the project so he could discharge the a/c system. i took it back to be recharged after the project.

i worked slowly over a 2 day period and the only mistake i made was forgetting to thread the thin vacuum line from the heater box back through the firewall before i bolted the heater box back to the truck. i had already started putting the dash back together before i realized my mistake. *sigh* i had to completely unbolt the heater box from the firewall, pull it back, thread the vacuum hose through the firewall and the re-bolt the box back to the truck. that mistake cost me about an hour of additional work.

i replaced the coolant and radiator about 3 months ago. i didn't drain the coolant from the radiator. i just through a pan under the truck and pulled the two hoses off the heater core connections. not too much coolant drained out so i just had to top off the coolant after the new heater core was in.

also, don't forget to burp the radiator once you're finished. if you forget (like i did) then you'll be pretty disappointed to test out the new heater core and not feel any heat.

good luck!

 

kbizzle....

Thanks for the advice, heads up, and encouragement. I should have added that I have had a thermostat on the "fritz" for the past year and am going to replace that as well as put on a new serpentine belt as I believe this is actually the original belt and my truck has 315,000 miles on it.... so it needs it big time.

On the A/C front. My air conditioner has not been used in probably over 3 years. It needed to be recharge about 3 years ago and I never got it done and therefore have not been using it since. I am not going to touch the A/C system unless I absolutely have to.

The question I have is... will it be better off for me to get a serpentine belt that goes the original routing (with A/C)... or goes the routing that does not include the A/C. I will not be using the A/C system again... so I suppose I could do it either way. Is there an advantage of bypassing the A/C... or going the original route?

I do have the new heater core and have the 195 thermostat (and 2 gaskets) ordered from Rock Auto. I did not order the belt because I did read somewhere where people had a hard time getting the belt to fit if they bypassed the A/C. Depends on the what I do... if I do go that route (bypassing the A/C)... it would be better to not order the belt because it would be much easier if I need to take it back if it does not fit properly. And I will just pick up some heater hose at a local parts place too.

I do need to drain the radiator too as this past summer when my heater core went bad... at a local shop they just bypassed the heater core when I found out how much it would cost to get it fixed. Of course... they let me know that I would not have heat until it was fixed. In the middle of summer... you don't care!! LOL But... now that temps are getting down to borderline freezing at night in southern lower michigan... I could definitely use the heat in the cab and I won't have to worry about water freezing in the radiator overnight. I would imagine there is some anti-freeze still mixed in with the water which should help... but definitely need to drain it and get the radiator fluid to suitable freezing levels for the upcoming winter.

So... parts are in route... weather does not look to be too cold over the next couple weeks (unlike you lucky people that got the snowstorm up the east coast!!!... NOT!!!). And I do get to use my neighbors garage so I do get to do it indoors too which is a bonus... and he is even going to help me!!!

So... thanks again to everyone... will be keeping an eye open as to what would be better... using the short belt (bypassing the A/C) or the long belt (normal routing including A/C) if I will not be using my A/C at all. I like the windows down anyway in the summer!!!