Hi guys,
Haven't posted in a while.
Got a 1984 Dodge van conversion, complete with Atari on the 11" tv.

Getting ready to go up to the mountains but realized last minute I had to bypass the heater core this past summer. Dang.

This van has the old AC too.
What am i looking at time-wise to get a heater core out and new one back in it? And what brand can you recommend? Seems like most of the local auto parts stores carry the aluminum models. i don't want any trouble with fitment or frail build issue due to the fact i think this is gonna be a real shoehorn job to get her in place. As well I expect crumbling foam and rubber gasket issues. Any help is greatly appreciated. Time is of the essence!

Thanks

 

About 2 hours without A/C or 4 hours with A/C. It's a pretty straightforward when it comes to disassembly and reassembly. My two time saving tips are first flush the heater core of any debris then plug one opening and use a vacuum tester on the other to makes sure the core doesn't have any leaks before installing. Second, there's a shaft that runs from the top of the under-hood heater box assembly to an actuator behind the glove box (remove the glove box assembly). During disassembly tie a long string to this shaft and allow the string to pass through the fire wall. During reassembly use the string to guide the shaft back through the firewall. I didn't do this the first time and it cost me over an hour in time trying to get the shaft back through the firewall.

 

Thanks for the quick reply alloro. Are you saying to flush the new heater core and test? Pretty sure the old one is shot since the coolant smell went away after bypassing the core :-). What kind of vacuum tester do you recommend? And are there any tricks to using this. Does the heater core come out from the front? There is a giant plastic canister in front of the heater. perhaps this is part of the AC system. Is the shaft you speak of part of the cable and plenum actuator?

 

Argh! I remembered toady last summer that I bypassed the the heater core before I replaced the radiator cap. And I remember telling myself (when you get time) put that heater core back "inline" and see if the smell comes back. I did that today and I think the heater core may in fact be ok and the smell was coming from vapors from the engine compartment all along. lets hope so. However, I really don't want to be smelling anything from the engine compartment.

BTW: the heater plenum must have a bad seal. The heat comes through even though the heat button is OFF. There is always a draft and I now have to set the slider to compensate for the blend between hot an cold...

And at one point I had to reconnect all of the color coded tubes behind the AC switch. Hope I have them in correctly.

 

Yes, flush and test the new core. The reason for the flush is I've seen debris come out of new ones. This debris can reduce the coolant flow and reduce the heat output. Testing it for leaks can only save you the headache of doing the job twice, should there be one.

Yes the heater core comes out under the hood.

For testing with vacuum use a tool like this one. (Once you own one, it will come in handy more often than you realize.)

http://www.harborfreight.com/brake-b...kit-60770.html

 

Thanks Alloro. Note to self (flush heater core) I think flushing this old one that is installed would have been a good idea prior to hooking it back up.

After flushing the system and refilling with fresh coolant (50/50 mix with distilled water) I think the old core is ok. We are on a trip to the mountains now and we had some overheating on the way up however. Drag. Maybe need to check the thermostat as soon as we get down the mountain. Maybe time for a new radiator too. I remember now the van overheated on us last summer as well. When filling the radiator is seemed to take a while for the coolant to settle in. This looks like the original single (or dual) core. Only 1 row of open row holes inside.

Yes I always wanted one of those vacuum pumps. This is on my list. Thanks for the link! I while back, I rented a radiator pressure tester at the local auto parts store. Very cool way to test the radiator cap. 2 of my cars had bad caps!

 

Radiator core was 80% clogged!. Had it rebuilt at a local shop.