TRL12087

for some time i had fog on my windshield coming out of my defroster, and recently i have had a pretty bad antifreeze leak coming from a tube coming out of the fire wall on the passenger side. yesterday my car began to smoke through the vents and began to over heat. is it the heater core? if so, how much work is involved in replacing it? also, my ac doesnt work, would it be better to change that when i do my heater core or does it not really matter?

mattdel

heater core is bad, yes, and its a good weekend job if you've never done one. the whole dash must be removed.

do yourself a favor, go out and test your antifreeze for voltage. if you have more than 0.5 V running through your antifreeze, you need to add more ground straps and flush your coolant a few times. electrolysis is the reason that they break down and die, has nothing to do with the brand name of the core.

side note: your a/c has nothing to do with the heater core. probably needs a recharge.

Maxwelhse

+1 on the heater core. Classic symptoms.

If you're near 45309 I can do both (I have A/C gear) and I could use the extra cash.

TRL12087

well thanks for the offer but im in mass. is it worth the time and effort to change it myself, or should i just bring it somewhere?

90lxstang

it is well worth the effort i think. someone would charge you a few hundred bucks for something like that. it is an easy job just veeeerrrryyy time consuming.

mattdel

i'm in mass as well, where are you

Maxwelhse

I've heard of people getting quotes of like $700 at dealers... A corner repair shop might go half that, which is still a ton to install a $30 part.

Like he said, it ain't "hard", its just annoying and boring work. If I didn't need the cash, I wouldn't have offered! It took me a few days to do mine, but I did other things while I was there. Just take your time and try not to break the dash getting it out.

Also, make sure you install a resistrictor plug on the pressure side. There's a Ford part # for it somewhere. I just made one out of some stainless round stock.

mattdel

restrictor pipe isnt needed. its electrolysis that kills them.

Maxwelhse

You're the first source, including the Ford written Mustang Performance Handbook, that has ever recommended not installing one for high performance applications.

I'm not trying to start a huge arguement, but its a cheap part (mine was free) that could make a difficult repair last a little longer and it can't possibly hurt. The only downside is the the heat takes about 10 more minutes to blow "hot" than it used to.