blkgt50

I was wondering if I could bypass my heater core until I get it fixed. The person that I bought the car from said that the core was replaced about a year or so ago but when I go to defrost my window (when it's raining) I can smell the anitfreeze for a little while. I know that in older cars you could do that an not worry about it but now a days with cars and computers I don't know if it will freak the computer out. By the way it's an 88 lx 50.

fordguy17

i think all you have to do is take the two hoses coming out of the firewall and loop 'em together. i'm 98% sure thats what you have to do.

blkgt50

Not to seem like I'm being a smart a!! or nothing but I just wanted to know if I would start haveing trouble with the way the car ran by doing that. Thanks though....

88_5.0

i did it until i had time to replace my heater core. All you need is a plastic adapter, from one hose to the other. Never had a problem. P.S. replacing heater cores in our cars sucks!!

philthy89fifty

i've been running no heater core for years. if it doesn't make my car faster are look cooler i get real lazy about repairs.

blkgt50

Thanks. Just wanted to make sure that I could do it with out sending the computer to the crazy house. Now, to change out the heater core you have to take the dash down, right? I had ford do it for me and they only charged me about 250 to get it done. I don't think that's to bad of a deal.

Greybeard

Bypassing the heater core will definitely help cool down the interior in the summer. Even with the heater control valve off, hot water migrates into the core - eventually it will get up as high as 150*f and all those BTUs have to radiate into the passenger compt. If you have AC, you'll notice a big difference in the outlet temps, especially after a 15 minute shut down. All 8 of our vehicles get the heater core bypassed about this time every year. On my wife's supercharged Grand Prix, I installed a pair of 3/4" diverter valves (the hose connections at the core are impossible to see....) and ran two foam insulated heater hoses out in front of the radiator where I mounted a heater core from an Isuzu Trooper to help cool the engine. It adds about a half gallon of moving coolant and keeps the temp gage at about 160-190 where it used to climb up around 230 after spooling the charger up between traffic lights. Cost to install is less than $40 which is cheap considering the payback. I haven't done it yet, but on the 5.0, adding an aux core would really help get the coolant temp lowered, esp with a small 12v fan to get the air moving when the car is at idle or stuck in summer traffic and the temp gage starts creeping up.

blkgt50

My stang hasn't had any problems with the temp. but I don't like to smell the Antifreeze when I turn on the vent when it's raining. I didn't think about using a diverter valves that would make it easy to make everything work when I want to and then when I don't. Thanks....