2003 Eurovan Heater Core Replacement How-To

[Blaque Jacques]

I too am grateful for this post! I'm in the middle of a rebuild on an '02 EVC. A few notes that may help some. I have the manual, wire operated climate control. I just left the 3 wires/housing connected and removed as a unit by wiggling out the control. not too much of a hassle. When removing the dash I did it as a unit with the plastic and metal frame combined. I only had to bend the inner stamped steel 'tab' that supports the fuse panel about 30 deg out of the way. not too bad. otherwise everything went as described in this great write up.
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86 2wd Westy GW2200. 97, 99 02 EVC. Lots and lots of bikes

[Blaque Jacques]

A question to those who identified a good permanent and ignition switched power source: could you describe what you tapped into or ideally send a pic? I know its a mess of spaghetti over there! I'd love to find a good source.
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86 2wd Westy GW2200. 97, 99 02 EVC. Lots and lots of bikes

[vwwestyman]

[VanGeek]

OK I've got the dash out and the core/box as well! A few key learnings I'll add to this thread.....

I initially thought dropping the wheel was easier than removing it. But removing the wheel was easier than expected (see this: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10175819#10175819) and dropping it was more difficult than expected since the bolt that mounts my wheel to the steel cross-bar is recessed in a way that it was difficult for me to get a socket on it.

I removed the plastic dash and left the metal cross-bar intact. Would be easier to remove the blender box without it but really wasn't that difficult to wiggle it out.

I knew the blender box foam was decomposing and coming thru my vents, although the heat and a/c was still working. Opening the box and about half the foam is gone. This piece still has a lot on it although it is gummy and crumbly and falling apart. Dave states in this thread that the box must come apart to properly "re-foam" the parts -- have any others been able to perform a quality job without separating the halves? Those plastic bits that snap things together and must be wedged apart look very fragile to me...

Although I didn't have any obvious heater core leaks in the interior, the core I removed has an odd "water line" on it. Perhaps an experienced mechanic would know better, but was my core already starting to leak but not enough for coolant to escape the heater box assembly???

[kourt]

I found that opening the blender box was necessary in order to properly clean it, as the old foam had consolidated with other junk in the bottoms of both blender door chambers.

Added later: I remember now why I felt splitting the blender box was a good idea. After the foam cleanup, some persistent bad odors disappeared. I was happy to have odor free air.

kourt

[vwwestyman]

I agree, it is a good idea to separate the halves to properly clean things up.

If you think of the plastic tabs as alignment tabs and the metal clips as what holds it together, it is less frightening to think of breaking one!

I never did notice any sort of issue from the couple clips that did break when I was opening it up. Just go slow and careful and you should be fine! If you're super concerned, work on the plastic when it is inside and warm. I was outdoors in early November. It wasn't super cold, but it also wasn't particularly warm. Maybe even a hair dryer would be good to warm the plastic a bit and make it a little more pliable. Don't go melting it though!
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[VanGeek]

Thanks for the recommendations and encouragement. It's a relatively warm winter here in the northeast, but still cold enough for brittle plastic so I brought the box indoors and went to work.

Dave's technique for gently wedging the clips with a screwdriver worked well. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9743929#9743929
Patience is key as you work around the case to wedge each slot open for the clip to pass-thru and gently pry the case open.

I ALMOST separated the halves without breaking a clip. But as I worked around the perimeter, I didn't realize one of the clips slipped back into the locking position (e.g. one-side of the case actually closed while prying open the opposite side) and it broke. Lesson-learned is to keep examining all the clips as you work around the perimeter -- including the ones you already released - until you have a good gap of separation all around the perimeter.

Oh well, 8 out of 9 plastic clips plus two metal clips are intact. The broken clip still aligns the case and I may add a tiny dab of glue to its tip during reassembly to ensure everything is tight.

Waiting for foam to rebuild the doors. The McMaster Carr recommended solution here https://1705.net/dash-removal-and-foam-repair/ and here https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=749922& is very expensive and prices have increased. It's also considerably thicker than the OEM foam. I think I've found a more cost-effective and thinner silicone foam alternative that will work and will report-back after I try it.

[vwwestyman]

I don't know how expensive that McMaster-Carr foam ended up being, but I would say that to me it would be worth quite a lot to not have to worry about getting back in there anytime soon!

My pipe insulation worked well enough for the two years the van drove after that job, until the transmission went out this past fall.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[Blaque Jacques]

just finished this chore and a few more possibly helpful notes. I didnt break the box but I did use my strong shopvac to help remove all detritus from the box. I was able to re-foam all of the necessary parts with the box still together.

I did drop the steering wheel, which wasn't too difficult for me. I removed the dash whole (metal frame with plastic) and it was a serious pain in the butt for two of us to accomplish. I managed w/o breaking anything but would probably remove the steering wheel if I did it again. Getting the dash back in was even harder. it mostly hung up on the 'high point' of the heater box/dash vents. when I finally got it things went back together pretty easily.

While I was in there I did a stereo upgrade with component speakers and crossovers. I stashed the crossovers near the tweeters and glued the tweeters in similar to an uprade process written about in the forum. Nothing too expensive or nice but what an awesome upgrade. the sound is sooooo much better! well worth it.
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86 2wd Westy GW2200. 97, 99 02 EVC. Lots and lots of bikes

[Zeitgeist 13]

You can definitely leave the metal crossbar and steering column in situ. In the past I've pulled the plenum out the top, but this last one ('95 EVC) I dropped it out below the bar. I think it would drive me crazy to try and fit the replacement foam without splitting the plenum, but that's just me.

Even though the climate cables are fairly intuitive, I color label them with their respective terminus just to avoid confusion. Unlike the T3s, nearly every electrical connection point which needs to be removed during this job has just one obvious terminus, it's still a good idea to gather them together roughly where they need to fit just prior to dropping the dash back into place.

Don't forget about the foam at the perimeter of the dash lip where it fits under the windshield. This is usually all crumbly and gooey, like every other bit of foam in the vehicle.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[VanGeek]

Whelp -- just popped the rebuilt blender box and new heater core back in the Eurovan and this job was far easier to-do thanks to Dave's (vwwestyman's) Samba discussion thread here. All sorts of little challenges and head-scratchers that he covered. Most recently, fitting the blender box back into the van was a little tricky when aligning with the blower+A/C duct section. Dave highlighted a flange that must be aligned inside the duct to properly align and fit them together. Really appreciate insights like that -- THANK YOU DAVE!

[vwwestyman]

Fantastic! I'm glad you got it back together, and I'm glad that I was able to be helpful in that!

Enjoy your heat!
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[bigfoot_ev]

I want to add my thanks for this thread and these others for helping me through my right of passage.

Pieces of foam: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=749922
What else should I do: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=785610
And because I chose to remove my steering wheel: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9449793#9449793

I decided to keep the metal support bar in place and remove my steering wheel to get to all the necessary pieces. One thing I wish I had done is to remove the A-pillar trim. I ended up cracking the end that interferes with the door seal and dashboard when removing the dashboard. I decided to pull both trims and do a little repair work. This made putting the dash back in easy.

Now here is something I hadn't seen before. I was having a heck of time getting my new heater core to seat back into the box, until I noticed the flange was interfering with the mounting nut. I had to clearance the flange to get the heater core to seat correctly. Fortunately no issues passing through the firewall.

[VanGeek]

Hmmm... I didn't have the clearance problem. Which heater core did you use?

[bigfoot_ev]

Yeah kind of surprised me and I suppose I could have asked for a refund but I just wanted to get this project done. Interestingly, it had no effect on getting things to line up through the firewall.

It was Nissens from Europarts. I've had many good experiences with Europarts. This is a first.

[VanGeek]

I also used a nissens core but didn't have that problem. Got mine from RockAuto